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The Arlington Heights location of Paprikash seems to be open for business. Has anyone checked it out yet?

I went there with a group of friends last Saturday night. It has replaced the long standing "Rapps". They were able to seat our party of seven easily with a half hour call ahead. The first thing I noticed was the noise levels. It was pretty loud, but I soon discovered the reason. They had live music. It was pretty good and added to the experience.

Before we ordered they brought us some garlic bread. The best way I can think to describe it would be a garlic flavored elephant ear. It was delicious. They also provided a cheese spread that was great with the garlic bread. I couldn't quite place the flavor of the spread though.

I ordered the gypsy steak. It was two 8oz pieces of steak that had some sort of breading on them. At first I thought the steak was a bit overdone, but it seemed to work. It was very tender and full of flavor. I had the flaming crepes for dessert which were stuffed with a walnut paste and set aflame (duh). These are not to be missed.

I think it is safe to say that I will return.

see also this thread

The garlic bread you had was called Langos. It is indeed very tasty!

And the cheese spread, if it is indeed what I'm thinking of, is körözött. (If it's orange, then it's the stuff).

It is normally made from either fresh sheep's or cow's cheese (something like a farmer's cheese or ricotta), butter or margarine, paprika, finely chopped onion, and salt. Whole caraway is also commonly incorporated into the mixture, and mustard is occassionally seen, as well.

A basic recipe from this Hungarian site very roughly translates as follows:

4 ounces fresh curd ewe cheese
2 ounces butter
1 head onion
salt, (sweet) paprika, ground caraway seeds

Combine cheese & butter. Finely chop onions (or chives). Add salt, paprika, and caraway to taste. Possible additives include dill, celery leaves, parsley, tarragon, saffron, mustard, etc.

mmm...is it bad that all I could think about was how good that spread would be on a bagel?

Nope. Absolutely acceptable, so far as I am concerned. It's normally just spread on a thick piece of Hungarian white bread, but a bagel would work well, too. You can feel free to substitute cream cheese for the fresh, small curd ewe cheese, but it'll be a slightly different result. I've even seen an Austrian version of the recipe that adds capers to the mix. Just make sure you use good quality Hungarian paprika for this. The Pride of Szeged stuff you'll find in some stores is fine, as long as it's the sweet kind.

Thanks for the awesome descriptions. I don't know if I'll be visiting Paprikash anytime soon, but let me just say that you have an even better screen name. That takes some inspiration (and garlic-flavored guts).

--Dan (aka "The Snob")

I just recently read a thread here about the Paprikash on Diversey. It mentioned that it was under new management and the quality was down, quantity was down, and prices were up. I'm very disappointed to hear this. I haven't been there since this change, but it used to have the best stuffed cabbage I have ever had in a restaurant in Chicago. Also, it was the only place I could find one of my favorite Hungarian dishes 'kapustas taste' (spelling wrong, my Hungarian sucks). It is shredded cabbage that is sauteed with carmelized sugar and some noodles. Doesn't sound like it, but it is very tasty. Also, I could occasionally get 'seke kapusta' , a stew made with sauerkraut and lean pork, in a creamy paprika sauce. Highly recommended when it can be found.

What I find most fascinating about this is that the Hungarian (actually, the Magyar) word for cabbage (káposzta) is so close to the "generic" Slavic word, kapusta (which works in Russian, Polish, and other Slavic languages). Magyar is so unique that I had not remembered that its word for cabbage is so close to the Slavic.

In any event, the first item ("kapusta taste") doesn't lead me anywhere, although the internet discloses a number of recipes for something called kapusta [sic] sefleke, made with cabbage, sugar, cinnamon, and pepper. Paul Kovi's book on Transylvania Cuisine doesn't have anything like this, although he lists kaposztas langos, "fried cabbage dough cakes," which are pretty much precisely that. (BTW: sz in Magyar is pronounced "s" and s is pronounced "sh".) George Lang's Cuisine of Hungary contains a recipe for kápostza töltelék, a sweet cabbage filling for strudel made with sugar and black pepper (as well as two and a half pounds of cabbage and a quarter pound of lard!) to be distinguished from töltött kápostza (stuffed cabbage of the familiar savory kind). But again, nothing like either "kapusta taste" or "kapusta sefleke." Lesley Chamberlain's book on Eastern European cooking has nothing whatsoever , which is also what I found in Nicolae Klepper's book on Romanian cooking.

The second item is likely Székely káposzta. The Székely (pronounced, very roughly, as say-KAY-ee) are an ethnic group found mostly today in north central Romania (a good chunk of Transylvania used to belong to Hungary, but we're not going to go there....) Recipes for this abound on the net and it shouldn't be hard to find at any Hungarian restaurant, including Paprikas or Paprikash.

Káposztás tészta ("Cabbage pasta/noodles") is what you're looking for.



Only two syllables in this word. SAY-kay. The adjectival form székelyi (used mostly in family names and means, basically, "of Székely") is SAY-kay-ee. Hungarian always stresses the first syllable (although there are secondary stresses in longer words, of course).

Without question. My poor attempt at suggesting pronunciation (complete with misplaced accent) was not an effort to indicate three syllables; rather, it was an unfortunate try at showing that the long "a" sound didn't end that way but rather closed with a distinct "ee" sound. I should have thought more carefully about the way I tried to show it. And I defer, of course, to the correction. Thanks, Binko.

BTW: do you know what this "sefleke" item is?

It's what I'm looking for too! Thanks, Binko. Do you like this stuff also?

I should try to learn some basic Hungarian grammar syntax so I can be understood without a team of translators.

Our office just moved down the street from this place.....had the lunch buffet...what can I say? Thought it was really really good....$9.95 gets you superb chicken schnitzel, chicken/pork papriksh, spaetzel, meatloaf, etc, etc......very heavy stuff (shocking!)..but a real (rare) treat.....lovely service too.....

HI,

Does this lunch buffet extend to weekends?

Regards,

I wouldn't say it ends on a distinct "ee" sound, but I'm not an expert on Hungarian--just conversational. The "ly" is the same as the "j" sound, which corresponds to an English "y." It definitely ends with that "y" semivowel sound (think the initial "y" in yellow,) but it's not quite hard enough to be a distinct "ee." Then again, I can understand how somebody could hear it that way.

As for "sefleke," honestly, I've never heard of it. I found a reference on the web to a Slovak dish called "sifliki," but it was only 3 references, so I'm not convinced that's the right spelling. It may be one of these regional dishes that just goes by a different name in certain parts of the country.
And the only reference to "sefleke" is on that epicurious site, so it's got me scratching my head.

I like all Hungarian food. When winter rolls around, it's nothing but pörkölt (goulash stew) and paprikás csirke (chicken paprikash) around the house. And it's so easy to cook, too.

Paprikash in Chicago has closed. The new owners of that place also run the Arlington Heights restaurant.

The original owner of Paprikash has now opened another place in Hillside:

The Epicurean
708/449-1000
www.thehungarianrestaurant.com
4431 W. Roosevelt Road
Hillside, IL 60162

I have not been to the AH Paprikash, which last I knew had the same chef as the Chicago restaurant. However, the Epicurean (named for an erstwhile Wabash Ave. establishment, but there's no direct connection) is quite wonderful.

Hot damn! You just made me a happy camper. Hillside is a stone's throw for me. Hopefully, I'll score some töltött kápostza tomorrow! Thanks! This is the first I've ever heard of this place, how long have they been there?

If this is the guy (Tibor: 50-ish, light hair, 5-8, stocky build) who had the original Paprikash on Diversey, I have high hopes that the food will be as good as I remember it to be. He sure does get around.

Since about February. I was there some time in March, and the place is great!

The founder of Paprikash and owner of The Epicurean is Tamas Bosze. As I understand it, he opened the original Paprikash as a tavern and expanded the menu at the urging of Louis Szathmary. I've heard -- but not verified -- that the chef at The Epicurean is a recent immigrant from Budapest.

You may be thinking of Tibor Liptay, who was a manager at Paprikash on Diversey. I don't know where he is now.


By the way, The Epicurean has a lunch buffet, too. I haven't tried it, but it sounds lavish: two soups, four salads; chicken paprikas, beef goulash, pork goulash, stuffed cabbage and five sides, $8.95, served from 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Monday through Saturday.

Right. The last time I went to Paprikash was when the original owners were still there, and Tibor was involved at that point. However, apparently he has retired, or at least is not involved in this new venture in Hillside.

The week before last, being Spring Break, the Ramon’s simply had to do something. So, with limited time and resources, we booked ourselves for one night at the Sheraton, Arlington Heights. The just built a new water park called Coco Keys, I think.

Searching LTH on Arlington Heights I came upon two possibilities for dinner: Paprikásh and Takkatsu. The family chose Paprikásh, largely, I think, because they easily found an official website with menu, and could not for Takkatsu.



We were warmly greeted and seated. My iced tea arrived quickly and I didn’t have to ask for more lemon. What has been described accurately before as “garlic elephant ear” was promptly brought to the table and so quickly and enthusiastically, and even noisily consumed. I barely got a picture – damn pack of wolves.


We all ordered salads in a vain attempt to stave off scurvy. They were good!

B got a cheeseburger off the kids menu and was quite content with it. It came with some potato wedges that were expertly fried and seasoned.

T got the Skirt Steak Romanian Style. It was luscious tender and oh so flavorful. She also quite enjoyed the accompanying boiled potatoes and cleaned her plate.


Mrs Ramon got the Roasted Lamb Shank having missed lamb at Easter. It came falling off the bone and full of flavor. She was very happy.


I got the weakest dish that night, surprisingly, the Beef Goulash.

The meat was tough and under-seasoned. The gravy was one-boring-dimensional. I love spatzle, but mine felt late, although The Mrs liked them just fine. Perhaps I should have taken advantage of the table condiments:


The Ramon’s are known to frequent Arlington Park Race Track on occasion. When next we do, it is likely to include a return visit to Paprikásh.

Paprikásh
602 W. Northwest Hwy
Arlington Hts, IL
847.253.3544

-ramon

Lucky you chose Paprikash, Takkatsu doesn't exist anymore.

Good to know. I will cross post in the Takkatsu thread to prevent others from making the same potential mistake.

-ramon

The Garlic Elephant ear is called Langos. It's a potato based deep fried dough. It's one of my favorite things. I've had it cooked outside over an open flame too but something about the hot oil and the garlic makes it much tastier.

You realize, Erzsi, you are quoting yourself from almost two years ago?!?


-ramon

I'm having one of those days where this weird sense of Deja Vu seems oddly appropriate.

You made me laugh on a grim day.

Wherever I heard this was wrong, since The Epicurean's chef is Bosze's wife, Alina, who is Polish by birth, if Hungarian by inclination.

The Epicurean
708/449-1000
www.thehungarianrestaurant.com
4431 W. Roosevelt Road, Hillside