Sabri Nihari opinions?

Friends of ours who know their way around Devon have pronounced this their new favorite. I know I've heard the name, but that's it. Hope to be trying it out soon. Any opnions amongst the cognoscenti?

Posted about it on another board not too long ago. The Chicken Charga is great, a dish not to be missed.

pd

Being the, ahem, Slow Food contributor on South Asian food (thanks A), I have an opinion on Sabri

My opinion: love it. I've had a few so-so meals, including one with a few fellow hounds, but the good far outweighs the bad. I especially love their signature nehari, their breads, and their oddly flavored with Louisiana hot sauce, chicken chagra.

Poke around chowhound, I've written a few reports of Sabri.

Rob

Thanks guys. I'm salivatin' already.

I ate there once by myself and was underwhelmed, went back with some folks (not sure if that's the occasion Rob is referring to) when I was more favorably impressed. So I'd say it's a spot with some dishes of excellence, but also some areas where they fall down; not least the fact that Gary requested a dish of peppers and such and got such a wan, dried-out bunch of dead stuff that he called the waiter over and kind of chewed him out about it. My impression overall was, good food, tired and bored staff and atmosphere.

My favorite all-around sit-down and eat place on Devon... Dal, Okra, Nehari, Fried Chicken all have done me well on the many occasions I've eaten there. Very authentic to my palate.

Good service (for devon) and easy to order menu make it quite easy for anyone to walk in and have a great meal.

We went there last night, having finally conquered our "is this a private party?" fear and were underwhelmed. Perhaps the highlight was dipping onions into the yogurt sauce. The shami kebab appetizer was subtly spiced and went down well, though kind of dry and unaccompanied by chutney (we used the raita). When we tore the foil off the chicken charga, an aroma distinctly resembling Harold's Fried Chicken hot sauce hit us, and it tasted the same too. Chicken was mostly tender and much better than Harold's; more onions along with some chilies were diced in a sweetish sauce at the bottom. The aloo palak (spinach & potatoes) was nicely spiced but much too oily. The garlic naan was difficult to tear, let alone chew. Though somehow we found ourselves fighting over the last few bites. . . I would return to try some different dishes, but it won't be a priority, there being so many great places on Devon.

DanR wrote:We went there last night, having finally conquered our "is this a private party?" fear and were underwhelmed. Perhaps the highlight was dipping onions into the yogurt sauce. The shami kebab appetizer was subtly spiced and went down well, though kind of dry and unaccompanied by chutney (we used the raita).
The aloo palak (spinach & potatoes) was nicely spiced but much too oily. The garlic naan was difficult to tear, let alone chew. Though somehow we found ourselves fighting over the last few bites. . . I would return to try some different dishes, but it won't be a priority, there being so many great places on Devon.

My views wouldnt be dissimilar to much of the above, sadly.

Have eaten *many* times at Sabri Nehari - it used to be my favourite place
on Devon. That, however, was before they moved - they used to be on
the "Pakistani side" of Devon, east of Western by about 2 blocks. They
were very good at the time, and very popular too. So much so that they
bought a larger spot on the "Indian side", west of Western, which is where
they now reside.

Sabri is still good for some things IMHO - their nehari might still be the best
on Devon, possibly (only last weekend, I met a man in Urbana-Champaign,
who said he actually drives down every 3/4 weeks from Urbana to
Devon, almost entirely to get the Nehari at Sabri Most impressive. But he is
from Pakistan, and I dont suppose there is a place around the corner in
Urbana which can properly satisfy a nehari craving when it hits

Being in Chicago where a good nehari craving *can* be satisfied around the
corner, maybe we can try to be more discriminating (some would say nit-picky).
Still, IMHO Sabri is quite uneven - the last few meals Ive had there have been
very up-and-down. I quite like oil in my food, but not for its own sake - in
the last few meals the dishes have been oily but not tasty, which isnt
much use. The kababs have been very poor, uniformly dry to me, almost
every time (I dont have the shami kabab with chutney anyway, not many
do I dont think, so probably never really missed it). And the gravy dishes,
as mentioned, oily but quite lacking in taste.

Thus, a while ago, I sort of shifted my allegiance from Sabri to Usmaniya.
Usmaniya basically does the same food as Sabri, an almost identical
menu I think - and it is actually located in the spot that Sabri *used* to
occupy (east of Western) before they moved! IMHO Usmaniya is now the
better of the two, in terms of consistency and taste - the last couple of
occasions Ive been to Usmaniya at least, the grilled kababs have actually
been moist and good and not dry as was becoming the norm at Sabri.
Usmaniya has also done some fine gravy dishes the last couple of
times - I dont know if their nehari is quite as good as Sabri's at the top of its
game, but that might be the only item on the menu for which that holds
true (and, of course, one never knows for sure if Sabri *will* be at the top of
its game even for the nehari). Overall IMHO Usmaniya is much the
superior option nowadays - which is why my last handful of trips with
that kind of food in mind has seen me skip Sabri entirely (thus Iam not a good
option to tell you how good Sabri is today, having not been for a little
while - but that will only change if reports such as yours above show up with
a little less regularity

Usmaniya even did a good falooda the last time - quite authentic. But the
dessert was uniformly disappointing, as it always is - much better to just
skip dessert and go across the street to King Sweets or Tahoora for
it, probably - dont think any restaurant on Devon does dessert as well
as those two spots. (The last time, though, I went with kulfi - and there isnt
a single spot on Devon that hasnt been disappointing for kulfi IMHO, most of
the time - including Tahoora and King).


c8w

P.S. I did mention the above to The Man in Urbana - and he said he had tried
Usmaniya once and liked it, and would go again after hearing more about
it from me. But he still said he thought Sabri had the best *neharis*, and if he
was driving all the way down and just picking it up to go, thats where he got
his neharis from.

even though I am not the slow food contributor on indian food, I too have an opinion on sabri nihari, which is that the nihari is consistently good, the kebabs are disappointingly inconsistent and the vegetarian fare is substandard (even by the lower emphasis place on veggie stuff by the pakistani places)

btw, c8w
I had a quite good falooda at kamdar plaza (ordered light on the rooh afza/rose syrup which otherwise can be quite overpowering) complete with saffron ice cream, semiyan, and tulsi seeds. they also make a very good dokla, but many of their other chaats aren't so good such as the bhel

another thing I like about kamdar is that the proprietress (of the store not the chaat shop) will willingly and forcefully give you her opininions about different brands they carry if you ask, telling you which basmati she prefers (golden qila) which she dislikes (tiger which is on sale and which having tasted I don't think is even basmati)

Can't not mention the Chicken Makhani. I'm lactose intolerant and can't get enough of the stuff (push the limits of Lactaid). The nehari is very good as well but the molten salmon-colored paint that slathers the chicken is really sinful. We ate 1/3 of it and the sauce lasted all week.

pdaane wrote:The Chicken Charga is great, a dish not to be missed.

Peter,

Once again I find myself in full agreement with you, amazing how often that happens. Ok, not that often, but I'm being nice.

Chicken Charga (Churga) at Sabri Nehari ranks high on my all-time chicken list! For those who have not had, picture a whole deep fried chicken, juicy, crisp, with some spicing in the flour, which I believe is (mainly) chickpea, doused with a Louisiana style hot sauce and strewn with ginger and onion.

Served whole wrapped in foil with a knife stuck in it's tush, it's a crisp/spicy/chicken lovers dream. These pictures in no way do Sabri Nehari's chicken charga justice.





I'm also a fan of Sabri's Nehari with it rich, velvet smooth sauce and drop dead tender meat, it well deserves it's place as Sabri Nehari's namesake item.

Nehari


We, I was eating with Peter D, also had Dal Palak (lentils/spinach), paratha and naan, for a well rounded meal.

Dal Palak


Sabir Nehari, as has been previously mentioned, is expanding into the next storefront, well deserved success from my perspective.

Enjoy,
Gary

Sabri Nehari
2511 W Devon Ave
Chicago, IL 60659
773-465-3272

C8w,

High on the list of posts I've been meaning to write for a week is one thanking you for the broader perspective on Usmania vs. some of the other restaurants in that area-- I lumped them together, not entirely inaptly when they serve the same dish, but it is good to have a sense of different classes of restaurants and why they focus on different things (and can thus be expected to excel, or not, in a given area). I'm sure I'll be back to Usmania at some point and your post gives several clues as to how to find what it should be best at.

Sabri Nehari remains a Devon favorite of ours as well. The Nehari. chicken mahakni and chicken Charga can all be excellent (tho the charga has been dry on occassion)...but please note this dish should be ordered in advance. As observed by other posters, kabobs are inconsistent but can be very good(esp Chopli kabob). Chicken Boti and frontier chichen are other good choices.

LTH,

Attempted a 1pm lunch at Khan BBQ, they were closed until 2pm for a holiday, so defaulted to Sabri Nehari for a round of terrific Charga Chicken, Dal Palak, Goat Biryani and Brains Masala.

Charga Chicken was it's usual incredible self, which I have described in detail upthread, Goat Biryani had good flavor, but was a wee bit light on goat meat, Dal Palak was it's wonderfully slightly spicy viscous self, and the Brain Masala was disappointedly neutral in taste, texture and overall richness.

Goat Biryani


Brain Masala


The brain masala was perked up by the addition of slivered ginger and sliced jalapeno, but I'll be going back to Nehari at Sabri in the future.

Overall a very nice lunch, typically smooth professional service, good nan and reasonable pricing.

Enjoy,
Gary

Sabri Nehari's menu lists the chicken churga at $14.99 - does that come with any sides?

No, it comes with a whole great big deep fried chicken.

I'm making Pasta with Hummus Sauce next week, and thought some nice paratha would be tasty with that, or Sabri Nehari's keema naan for a meaty touch. So of course, eating there for lunch was next on my mind, and man, all I want now is some charga.

However, my question is, is it wise to go around noon on a Wednesday? Or is it insanely packed? I remember going with Pie Dude and his sister and brother-in-law early evening on a Saturday and it was crazy busy, with a wait of 45 minutes. I'll only have 30-40 minutes to eat, and I was thinking of bringing companions.

Pie Lady wrote:However, my question is, is it wise to go around noon on a Wednesday? Or is it insanely packed?

Pie,

In my experience Sabri Nehari it is not packed, insanely or otherwise, mid week lunch. Busy or not, 45 minutes for lunch at Sabri might be pushing it a bit.

Enjoy,
Gary

Post fire address
Sabri Nehari
2502 W Devon Ave
Chicago, IL 60659
773-465-3272

G Wiv wrote:In my experience Sabri Nehari it is not packed, insanely or otherwise, mid week lunch. Busy or not, 45 minutes for lunch at Sabri might be pushing it a bit.

PL,
They say the Chicken Charga takes 45 minutes to make, although it usually seems to take less time. If that is what you want, then I would definitely call ahead.

quick update...

Had a nice meal at Sabri this past Saturday.

The Chapli Kabobs were amazing, best thing on the table. Moist and flecked with coriander seeds, herbs and spices... Alou-Palak was tasty, not overflowing with ghee, which is too often the case. Fish steaks were a surprise (I'd never have ordered myself, so thanks dad). The Nehari gravy was perfect, the meat wasn't quite as tender as it has been in the past. Chicken Charga was a work of art, as always. Delicious - maybe my favorite chicken skin in the city. All those spicies mixed with the chicken fat, soaked into the skin... mmmm

It was crowded in the restaurant and street - parked a few blocks south on Western (This has become a pattern, I think its the best spot to park if you don't feel like riding the devon merry-go-round and fighting for spots).

Grabbed gulab jamin and ludo's from Tahoora before heading back south.

Had dinner at Sabri Nehari last night, chosen partly based on proximity to parking: "Hey, I've heard this one discussed on LTH -- let's go there."

The Good: Frontier Chicken. Sort of a spicier, less saucy Chicken Mahkani in flavors, lots and lots of ginger, very rich and oily. Also, some sort of ground meat kebab whose name I've forgotten: A patty of beef with onions and possibly other veg, nicely seasoned.

The Not As Good, but Far from Bad: Beef Samosas. I've liked the lamb-filled keema samosas at other sites, these left me flat. First of all, they had more of a phyllo-like crust, I prefer the pastry shell of the more typical samosas. And the seasoning was kind of bland. The garlic nan (only one "a" in their menu) could have used more garlic, or perhaps a brush of ghee.

The Ugly: Kheer. Much thicker and pastier than typical. Nice garnish of pistacchio, lots of cardamom, but absolutely drenched with rosewater. I don't know if it was a return of another flavor that night, but the first bite tasted like horseradish or mustard greens -- quite off putting. It went away, but definitely disturbing, and far from my favorite kheer.

Has anyone been to the Sabri Nehari in Lombard? How does it compare?

Is it just me or does the website sound like you should be over 18 to view it?

Old ass thread, but when searching through, this seems like the right one to add on.

Made my first Sabri visit last night. Liked it well enough to definitely try again, but I was kinda hoping for a little bit more of a premium experience from their food. There were defintely some really good things, but definitely some lackluster.

Apps:
Shami kebab - table mate ordered it to try. He had never had them before. I went along with it. I have never been a big fan. These were decent enough. I just don't prefer the mushy texter. Flavor, however, was decent. It actually kinda popped, but the mush factor was too much for me to finish my one.

Veggie Pakora - outstanding. Well fried, crunchy and nicely spicy batter. Decent heat pop.

Mains:
We ordered with leftovers for our families in mind. LOL, this is what we ordered for two ppl -

Sabri Nihari - The beef was cooked very well. Super tender. The curry was bland as hell. Made me sad. I was hoping for so much more.

Mutter Paneer - This was excellent. Nicely spicy, HUGE portion.

Frontier Chicken (no rice) - This was also excellent. Huge portion, balanced flavors, it was kinda of like a mildly sauced makhani.

Chicken Charga - Breast was taken to overdone, so I was a little ticked about it being more dry than it needed to be. They should use a meat thermometer, imo. I'd assume they took the breast to 180. The other dark meat parts were a tad overcooked as well, but still moist-ish. Everything else about their Chicken Charga, tho? Really good. I'd like to have more heat, but as is, I would get this every time we go. The fried batter bits were hard to stop rooting around for.

Dal Gosht - This one ticked me off the most. They had to know they gave us all bones. They could have just said, "we're out, sorry." Instead, we got a heaping portion of the dal, and 5 big ol bones, no meat to be found, but some of them had a little bit of fat or cartilage on them. No marrow, either.

The naans and parathas were a bit lackluster, too. I was expecting big, fluffy, charred naans. My guess is that they were cooked the previous day. I even tried garlic naan for the first time. It was more like garlic powder and butter, with green specks. I was kinda expecting little garlic pieces. The paratha were obv made a few days prior, they had very little chewiness. More like, just dense, and lifeless.

Might sound nitpicky, and negative, but I can still totally see the obvious upside this place has, plus the room is big and nice. I'm guessing the food can be hit or miss, but the hits are good, and their portions are pretty big. I'd assume when we go back, the same stuff might be better or worse, just depending on who's cooking.