G Wiv wrote:Ronnie, please note the name is Egg-O-Holic, might want to change the title for easier future reference.

Done, thanks!

=R=

G Wiv wrote:

diversedancer wrote:but to have essentially nothing but egg dishes is not a meal I'd make an effort to consume.

You might want to recheck the menu, there are nine or ten chicken dishes plus sandwiches and paneer. ----> Egg O Holic Menu

Personally, I love the specialization. I have no desire for everyplace to be everything to everyone. The uniqueness of the menu, especially given its backstory, is one of the biggest draws.

=R=

ronnie_suburban wrote:Personally, I love the specialization. I have no desire for everyplace to be everything to everyone. The uniqueness of the menu, especially given its backstory, is one of the biggest draws.

Agree 1000%

G Wiv wrote:

diversedancer wrote:but to have essentially nothing but egg dishes is not a meal I'd make an effort to consume.

You might want to recheck the menu, there are nine or ten chicken dishes plus sandwiches and paneer.

diversedancer wrote:I am glad I went, some dishes were different and interesting, but I doubt I'll ever go back.

Please remember that I did say that I was glad I went.

Inasmuch as one could go to one or two NEW restaurants every day, forever, and for somebody that can only afford the cost, calories, time, and miles to drive to, of 2-3 restaurant meals per week, that would be a choice of maybe 20 to 50 per meal. If half of meals were repeats, that number doubles for the remaining "new" ones. So that puts egg-o-holic in the top 1% to 5%, that is not good enough for you? The number comes from hearing there were about 500 new restaurants every year, and I think that was the City of Chicago proper, but maybe it was the metropolitan area.

(revised immediately after posting to include self quote and additional explanation)
(revised 2/22 for redundancy, grammar, typos and punctuation--no content change)
--Carey

Hi,

After a meeting last night in Schaumburg, I stopped by Egg-O-Holic for a snack of a Samosa Wrap and Desi Chai.

I really wanted a samosa-only, but that's not how they are offered. The samosa wrapped in a roti-type flat bread came with a packet of ketchup. I tried it as-is, then smeared a little bit of ketchup. Adding the ketchup is a good addition, though applying it lightly worked best for me.

I cannot wait for the next opportunity to visit when I hope to get a grilled cheese sandwich.

Regards,
Cathy2

Stopped in again with the wife this time and tried some other dishes. I left more impressed.

The masala fry is spicy and pungent. A great little dish, though they have a heavy hand with the fat here. Similarly the egg curry carries an excellent depth of flavor. The egg bhurji (it was between this and the kheemo) seemed a bit bland in comparison, but it worked between bites of the much stronger companion dishes. I also like their roti/chapati (they can't seem to decide what it is?).

Hit the River West location again this week for lunch with a few friends. This time, by the light of day and as sober as a judge . . . and I still loved it. We had some repeats and some new items, so I'll try to fill in a few blanks here.


Egg-O-Holic - 833 W Chicago Ave, Chicago
The entrance pictured here is on the east side of the building, on Green Street. Parking was tight on Green but we found ample metered parking on both sides of Chicago Avenue, just west of the restaurant.


Interior
Order at the register, pay, receive a number, and when your food's ready, it's brought to your table.


Garlic Full Fry | Indian style sunny side up with a hint of garlic
Obviously, there's a lot more than a hint of garlic going on here. It appeared to be a couple of loosely cooked eggs covered with a boldly flavored mixture of minced up garlic plus herbs and vegetables. Quite delicious.


Anda Masala Sandwich | Double layered grilled cheese sandwich with tandoori masala egg & veggies
I couldn't resist ordering this again and it was just as delicious as it was the first time around. I'm not sure I would ever need a whole one because it takes up a lot of real estate -- and there's so much to try -- but with four of us in the group, this worked out quite well.


Roti
Yes, it's referred to as both roti and chapati on different parts of the menu. No matter what you call it, it's nicely executed.


Toast
Until you start doing some digging, this seems so inauthentic. But toast has become a popular side dish among certain devotees of this cuisine and I have to say, it went extremely well with the food on both the flavor and texture fronts. As Jazzfood quipped at our lunch: "Eggs and toast . . . who knew?"


Red Fry Curry | Boiled eggs cooked with tomato gravy & garnished with cheese
This was another rich, flavorful winner, and it really had a kick.


Egg Bhurji | Scrambled eggs with veggies & spices
Just a good old-fashioned scramble, though not much like the ones Grandma Suburban used to make for me. I liked the flavor of the veggies and thought there were just the right amount of them in the eggs. I also appreciated how different this dish was from all the other ones we ordered. When ordering so many dishes, it's nice to have some contrasts in the line-up.


Jeera Rice | Indian cumin rice
This had a fairly aggressive and delicious seasoning set, including whole cumin seeds, which were really aromatic. I'm guessing they were bloomed in oil as part of the cooking process.


Paneer Cheese Masala | Paneer pieces cooked in a ginger-garlic gravy & topped with cheese
Rich, rich and rich but another dish that was just hard to stop eating.


Lachko
Probably the richest and least aggressively spiced dish but still one of my favorites. This is comfort food incarnate. Please, just give me a plate of this with a side of toast and leave me alone!

=R=

Long time Egg-O-Holic lurker...first time poster.

Do they make their items to order? In other words, will they cut down on the heat on a particular item?

Dave148 wrote:Long time Egg-O-Holic lurker...first time poster.

Do they make their items to order? In other words, will they cut down on the heat on a particular item?

They are made to order, so cutting down the heat should not present a problem.

Maybe I'm slightly allergic to eggs, but my stomach was still unsettled for 3 days after that meal.

Cathy2 wrote:

Dave148 wrote:Long time Egg-O-Holic lurker...first time poster.

Do they make their items to order? In other words, will they cut down on the heat on a particular item?

They are made to order, so cutting down the heat should not present a problem.

Thanks. You-know-who can be finicky with the heat.

I went for the first time yesterday and quite enjoyed myself.

We ordered the anda masala sandwich, which I was a bit skeptical about but which my Companion was intrigued by, and found it much better than expected. I'm not sure I'd order it again at the exclusion of trying new things, but it was quite good.

The surti gotalo was also quite good. As instructed by this thread, we mixed the over-easy egg into the sauce, which palpably enriched the dish.

The highlight of the meal was, as many have said, the lachko. I'm not sure why, but something about the particular combination of flavors worked really, really well. I'll certainly be getting this one whenever I return.

As a bonus, the masala chai is of very good quality, one of the better versions I've had.

Went on Saturday night and tried some new things. I had the Anda masala, Lapeti and Green Egg rice; along with Masala Chaas and Chai; with extra rotis. I don't have to say any more of the Chaas and the Chai. They are both fantastic.

The Anda Masala is better than it looks. It is like a Vadapav version with eggs and veggies (well mostly tomato). But that combination works well here and I will probably order this again. The tomato are a nice soothing complement to the spicy masala. Like a Desi Club sandwich (although, technically speaking; I have not had a real club sandwich ever; being a vegetarian).

The Lapeti and the Green Egg rice dishes did not work for me.

The Lapeti is a Omelette used as a burrito wrap and filled with shredded boiled eggs and cheese (essentially a cheese omelette with shredded boiled egg filling). The Cheese just felt wrong (bad cheese?) and the texture was all weird. Plus there is no real spice to it; and I probably will not order this again.

The Green Egg rice again felt wrong to me. The combination of mint; with a south Indian style tarka of mustard seeds and Curry leaves did not taste right. I am probably the wrong person to justly review the taste profile as I am a South Indian and am used to Curry Leaves being used in a certain way. The flavor of mint interfered with the fragrance of the curry leaves for me. Again, I will probably order other things from now on.

This still leaves me about 50 other things to try still!! This still leaves me Surti Kheemo, Lava Pulav, Amdavadi Touch etc. etc. that has me salivating already. Not to mention the grill items and the Paneer Curries. This place is a godsend for a ovo-lacto-vegetarian like me.

I already like Lachko, Toofani Curry, Surti Gotalo, Scrambled eggs, Desi Omelette etc. I just don't want to go there and order the things I like and miss out on things I may like. The investigations will continue....

Edited to highlight dishes

We had a great meal last week. However, we were there at about 7:00 on Friday night and the place was nearly deserted. When we got there, only 2 tables were occupied and they both left within minutes of our arrival. For the rest of the meal we were the only ones in the restaurant. I thought the food was delicious (the andra grilled cheese was my favorite) but the fact that the restaurant was empty on a Friday night does not bode well. The location definitely leaves something to be desired and the signage would make you think it's a breakfast spot if you saw it from Chicago Ave. I hope that they survive!

bon2mic wrote:. . .the signage would make you think it's a breakfast spot if you saw it from Chicago Ave

Their name might convey that message even more than the sign does.

=R=

bon2mic wrote: The location definitely leaves something to be desired and the signage would make you think it's a breakfast spot if you saw it from Chicago Ave. I hope that they survive!

I talked to the person running the till as I had the same question. I was there on a Saturday night and the place was only about a third full. I was told that the restaurant does about 70 percent of its business as takeout. While I was there I saw a steady stream of takeout orders. But considering that the takeout orders really cut down on the restaurant's profit margins; I wonder if this is sustainable.

I am going to do my part and eat here as often as I can; order about twice what I can consume at one sitting; and talk about this place to random people on the CTA.

Indianbadger wrote:... and talk about this place to random people on the CTA.

Given the quality of mutterings of random people on the CTA, I would welcome hearing someone like you!

Completely agree about the cheese product, which I’ve been subjected to in other Indian places. Melted into the lachko (at least I’m assuming it’s in there), its fakeness is obscured and it contributes to the texture, but on its own it’s unpleasant. Lots of great dishes without it, though!

Now for some bad news: This morning on the train, some weirdo was bothering passengers about this restaurant. I maced him, but he could be back by now. Stay safe, people.

cilantro wrote: I maced him, but he could be back by now. Stay safe, people.

And he took a deep breath, smiled, said "about 800,000 Scoville Units, hit me again."

cilantro wrote:Now for some bad news: This morning on the train, some weirdo was bothering passengers about this restaurant. I maced him, but he could be back by now. Stay safe, people.

I like the smell of Napalm in the morning.

I love the way you folks egg each other on in this forum

Omelette you finish, but when did this turn into the bad jokes thread?

I was there for dinner yesterday. I had the Desi omelette, Lava pulav, Chaas and tea. The accompanying Roti was on point as always. The Chaas and Tea are outstanding.

Everything was tasty. Especially the Desi Omelette. It was spicy as I remember eating in India. The Lava Pulav is something I will be getting more often, maybe to go which will let me try other things.

Has anyone tried their Paneer/Vegetarian stuff? It's just that when I go there I want to try all the egg based dishes.

The place was still almost empty on a Saturday night. I watched IPL on TV for a while and talked to the guy running the till. There was a steady stream of takeout orders, but I am afraid that this place is not long for closing. I really hope they find a better location for this to make a go of the business. It will be a sad day when this closes. Not just for the food; but also for the ambiance and the Cricket on TV.

Indianbadger wrote:and the Cricket on TV.

Lucky you, I love that cartoon! When I've been its guys on TV trying to hit a ball with a weird flat bat.

Unless anyone has some salient information from the inside, any talk about a closing of the River West location is wildly speculative, at best.

=R=

ronnie_suburban wrote:Unless anyone has some salient information from the inside, any talk about a closing of the River West location is wildly speculative, at best.

=R=

I apologize. I was definitely speculating. If you want I can edit that part out.

G Wiv wrote:

Indianbadger wrote:and the Cricket on TV.

Lucky you, I love that cartoon! When I've been its guys on TV trying to hit a ball with a weird flat bat.

JiminyCricket.jpg

. Also, even for someone who played the game growing up; the new version that is popular takes some getting used to, BTW. So I can only imagine what it looks like to someone who has no idea of the sport.

Hi,

I have only been to Egg-O-Holic three times. It is a good day when I am near Schaumburg and can get something from there. Next on my list are their cheese sandwiches.

Regards,
Cathy2

What would you regulars recommend a first-timer* should try?

*technically a second-timer, on my first and only visit I tried samosas, chicken masala sandwich and a chai and am looking to be more adventurous on my return

Lerdawg wrote:What would you regulars recommend a first-timer* should try

From the things I have tried; I would go back for Desi Omelette, Anda Masala, Lachko, Surti Gotalo, Toofani Curry, Lava Pulav. Ask for extra Rotis. Also the Chaas is really good here.

The Scrambled Eggs (Bhurji) are OK too, but I make it like that all the time. Also, if you like something different try the Indian Sodas like Limca, Thums Up ... and if you are really adventurous the Masala Soda.