Noon-o-kabab

I did a search and couldn't find much.

I've been wanting to head here for a while now, based upon some friends' opinions and Check Please. I have a relative coming into town who was enamored with Reza's on her last visit, so I imagine this would be even better for her.

What are some of your thoughts on the place?

thanks.


Noon O' Kabab
4661 N. Kedzie Ave.
773-279-8899

Noon-o-kebab is significantly better than reza's, but also has far fewer vegetarian-friendly options, if that matters.

I think they've slipped in the past 18-24 months or so, partly due to the check please effect, and partly due to the liquor license they got shortly after appearing on check please (which meant they started very aggressively pushing alcohol down your throat). That being said, they're still the best persian game in town, and I still have occassional cravings.

To clarify: I do think the food slipped a little bit (one time my dill rice had cilantro in it, which was, uh, not what I wanted [I'm a cilantro hater]), but it's still rather good. In this particular case the "check please effect" was, to my mind, primarily on their quality of service.

Also I'm bitter at check please in general because it makes me stop going to restaurants I liked before they were featured:

Step 1: LTH or Chowhound points Ed to a restaurant
Step 2: Ed likes the restaurant and goes back with some regularity, once a month or more, never having to wait more than 10 minutes for a table
Step 3: Check Please features the restaurant
Step 4: Ed tries to go to the restaurant a week later to find there is a 4 (yes four) hour wait for a table.
Step 5: Ed gets bitter and goes to Greektown instead, and doesn't go back

This happened to me at Think Cafe. At noon-o-kebab the waits never exceeded an hour, from what I saw. It's not that I'm bitter at Think/noon-o-kebab for their success, it's just that I lost the ability to get a table without making a reservation. Since my cravings are somewhat sudden, this is a problem.

It's not Persian, but it is very, very good Lebanese. No Check Please problems yet, but probably in the near future...

Semiramis
4639-41 N Kedzie
Chicago, IL 60625
773-279-8900
11am - 10pm
Tuesday - Sunday

From LTH:

http://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?t=3135

I think some would dispute "very, very good lebanese with you". I'll just stick with "good, sometimes very good kind-of lebanese".

I miss the lebanese places around detroit. Sigh.

I'm familiar with Semiramis, but this is more of a Persian, dill rice-centric inquiry. thanks.

My go to place for persian now is cafe suron. Portions are not as hefty as Reza's or Noon-O, but I like the food better (get the fessenjan and kashkey bademjan) and last time I was there it is byob ($7 corkage metromix says, but I don't recall this).

Cafe Suron

1146 W. Pratt Ave.
773-465-6500

I'm also surprised that there aren't more posts about Noon-O-Kabab (although searching for "k*b*b" at least gets all the posts in which the name has been spelled wrong ). I think much of the discussion must have happened on the list-serve before LTH opened. Anyway, my kid has it right. Good food--way better than Reza's--but the atmosphere has gone downhill since the liquor license and Check Please. My favorite item there is a special (always available) called something like chicken-on-the-bone. It's actually an entire cornish game hen, cut into eighths, grilled and laid out along your plate like a kabob. Really tasty.

Extremely convenient to the CTA Brown Line--and the fun street-level part of the Brown Line at that. If you're on a major dill rice quest it would be worth a try.

I always had good food and good times at Noon-o-kabab. So good, that it became a must stop for visitors....until that one time the owner's sister refused to serve us tea because it was too close to closing time. I would have laughed it off any other time, but that was not the way to treat a loyal customer that had been coming since the pre-Check Please days.

I said I would never go back....but I have, the food is that good. How's that for an endorsement?

p.s. the owner's sister no longer works at the restaurant.

pdaane wrote:I said I woud never go back....but I have, the food is that good. How's that for an endorsement?

that'll work. thanks.

We were once weekly regulars at Noon O, and we said we would never go back after they botched our $40 carryout orders twice in 2 weeks and did not even bother to apologize the second time. This was about a month and a half after their debut on Check Please and about the time that my wife observed that they 'started getting full of themselves'.

Having said that, we found ouselves ending our boycott this past Saturday when we ordered the Family Platter to go which was our usual before the Check Please boycott. Overall, the food was consistent with what we had remembered, though portions had gotten smaller, and some in our group remembered the dill rice being moister and more flavorful. The various grilled meats (sorry but I don't immediatley recall the names) were still fine, and the ground chicken in particuar was moist without being undercooked.

We did notice a marked change in the pita bread. Pre-boycott, it was thin and delicate, almost like a roti, and was actually one of the high points of our orders, especially with the gormen sabza. This time around, it was much thicker and breadier. My first impression was that it tasted like store-bought pita, but closer inspection of the shape seemed to indicate that it was homemade. None of us liked it very much at all, except my 3 year old carb addicted son who will happily eat a stale bread heel if given the chance.

At any rate, I think it is still good food. I couldn't comment on service other than they got the order right this time and were congenial when I picked it up. I would hazard to guess that were we not to have known Noon O back before it became 'famous', then I would not know the difference. Unfortunately, we have such fond memories of what it was like before Check Please made them famous that it is hard for us to patronize them.

Thanks Abraus for the rec on Cafe Suron. My son and I will probably check it out for lunch this week and hopefully it can become our new 'go to' Persian place.

Mr. T. wrote:Thanks Abraus for the rec on Cafe Suron. My son and I will probably check it out for lunch this week and hopefully it can become our new 'go to' Persian place.

FYI, there's a decent thread with good info on Suron here. Enjoy!

Best,
Michael

Well I had my first Noon O experience this Saturday night. The food was quite good. Similar kabob fare to other places around town but done quite a bit better. The shrimp had some zesty, garlicky spread on it that made it the highlight of the night. The chicken was also fantastic and perfectly prepared. The ground beef and steak rounded out the meats and all were a slight notch above the competition. Unlike Mr. T, we loved the thin homemade pita with a bit of char to it. I suspect we got a different batch.

There were some negatives though. We prefer the dill rice and the museer appetizer at Reza's. However, the service is really where the place fell short. We were waited on by a woman I'd imagine to be the owner's wife. She was trying to push orders on us the entire night as if we couldn't read a menu for ourselves. Straying far beyond the helpful suggestion realm into the irritating, pushy, up-selling area. It was almost comical and carried all the way through the end of the meal. The place was a bit of a mess as well, with the floors being so greasy that our chairs were slipping around on them like it was a roller rink.

In short, the food was great (especially the shrimp), but I'd be hard pressed to make the trek out there next time I'm in the mood, rather than just making a phone call for Reza's delivery.

I went to Noon-o-Kabab tonight for the first time, and decided to get some take out. I desperately miss Anatolian Kabob in Lincoln Square and had such a taste for good hummus and some nicely spiced grilled meats. I have heard raves about Noon-o-Kabab from numerous people and tried to go there once several years ago after they were on Check, Please but the line to get in was insanely long.

I ordered their hummus and also their kabab that is comprised of choice rib-eye. When I ordered the waiter told me this was his favorite dish at the restaurant. He also said that the portion was "huge." Upon getting home and eating, I've got to say that it wasn't what I was expecting. The portion wasn't huge, and came with more rice than is humanly possible to finish; the meat was totally dwarfed by all of the rice. It wasn't bad, but I certainly wasn't blown over by this place. I'm hoping that I ordered incorrectly and you can point me to what is a can't miss here, I am only about a mile east of here, and it seems ashame not to go to a local place that is beloved by many.

Noon-o-Kabab has always left me cold. I've only had indifferent to horrible service there and the food is only OK.

We went to Noon-O-Kebab tonight for our 23rd anniversary. MrsF had been there with the Chicagoland Costumers Guild a year ago after a thrift-shop-a-thon, and there's mostly good reviews here, so we took the Things with us for a nice meal.

We started with a 'large' hummos, which I thought was a little skimpy for $4.45, but excellent: lots of oil, and some chopped tomoatoes and onion on top -- oh, that's after they brought us bread and creamy feta, plus onions parsley and radishes.

Entrees:
Thing2 surprised me by ordering a stew of lamb, eggplant, almonds and split peas. I ended up eating the eggplant, very flavorful sauce with one of those arabic hundreds-of-flavors spice mixtures. The split peas were a bit on the al dente side, which was probably good for Thing2.

Thing1 ordered the combo of koubideh and lamb shank, which he enjoyed very much.

MrsF had Shirin Polo, which was a hefty portion of chicken kebab and a pilaf with orange peel "jam", saffron, raisins, and pomegranite. Absolutely delicious.

I probably had the most boring of the entrees: the combo of koubideh and chicken kebab, partly to hedge bets against folks what might not like stuff. It was a little bland on its own, but their house harissa was wonderful, basically a garlic-heavy salsa cruda.

Their dessert menu has three trad items: baklava (a very syrupy and soft version, not my favorite), zulbia (which Thing1 described as a compressed funnel cake soaked in honey), bomieh (sort of a pair of short churros, with rosewater instead of cinnamon), and three obviously-premade-from-the-freezer pies: chocolate cheesecake, bananas foster pie, and one I forgot. Thing2 had the chocolate and enjoyed it.

They recently expanded their digs into the next storefront, from what I heard, and now have a full bar (I'm guessing they're Christian Persian, or there wouldn't be booze, right?).

I have to go back to that neighborhood and try a couple more places such as Semiramis, but we definitely had a great time. Perhaps a few bucks cheaper than Reza's (although Reza's filled us to overflowing), and the food is subtler and more refined.

JoelF wrote:Thing2 surprised me by ordering a stew
[snip]
Thing1 ordered the combo of koubideh and lamb shank, which he enjoyed very much.

This always cracks me up.

G Wiv wrote:

JoelF wrote:Thing2 surprised me by ordering a stew
[snip]
Thing1 ordered the combo of koubideh and lamb shank, which he enjoyed very much.

This always cracks me up.

Which, that I call my kids Thing1 and Thing2 (as in Cat in the Hat), that they enjoyed what they ordered, or that I was pleasantly surprised?

Fact is, they've always been pretty fussy eaters, shunning nearly all vegetables and the unfamiliar. Mexican food has been pretty easy, although they mostly avoid lettuce, tomato, refried beans and onions. Thai and Chinese work so long as its mostly meat and noodles. They have gotten better of late, though.

JoelF wrote:Which, that I call my kids Thing1 and Thing2 (as in Cat in the Hat),

Joel,

That you call your kids Thing1 and Thing2.

Enjoy,
Gary

Mr. T. wrote:my 3 year old carb addicted son who will happily eat a stale bread heel if given the chance.

I became an LTHer right around the time that Noon-O-Kabab was becoming a hot mainstream-media darling, and board regular were touting more humble places on the same stretch of Kedzie. Reading LTHForum at that time guided me to many wonderful places in what had just become my new neighborhood. Salam, Semiramis, and City Noor quickly became big, happy parts of my regular dining routine. Perhaps because those places have been so consistently good, and perhaps because of a predilection toward the more humble over the more popular, I have actually never been to Noon-O-Kabab, despite living so close.

Well, the NYCBoy in me likes delivery, and around the time that Semiramis stopped delivery service a few months ago, Noon-O-Kabab started it. So, while I've still never been to the restaurant, I did just eat a meal from there. And I'm sorry it took me so long. Fantastic food arrived at my door in about 25 minutes.

Kash-Ke-Bademjan, an eggplant dish with some kind of funky, sour yogurt was beautifully balanced by sweet, fried onions that were caramelized just short of burnt. The addition of fresh chopped mint added another dimension, and I found myself scooping more and more of this wonderful spread onto the toasted, still-piping-hot fresh pita.

Adass Polo combined sweet raisins with saffron rice, lentils, and more of those astonishingly sweet onions. Not a fancy or inventive combination, but one which was light and full-of-flavor.

As good as those two items were, a side of Ghormej Sabzi stole the show. Deep, dark, earthy greens cooked forever with beans, lamb and plenty of herbs until the whole thing becomes a rich, pasty spread for more of that pita. This reminded of me of some of my favorite Indian vegetable dishes, but without the fatty mouthfeel and sit-in-the-pit-of-your-stomach after-effects that I often find in those dishes.

For $25, this delivery order provided plenty of food for 2, with leftovers. I'm still not sure if I'll find myself in the restaurant anytime soon, as I prefer the byob options at Semiramis and Al Khaimeih when dining out on that stretch, but Noon-O-Kabab will definitely take a solid place on my delivery rotation.

Kennyz wrote:Kash-Ke-Bademjan, an eggplant dish with some kind of funky, sour yogurt....

That would be kishk, an ingredient so important and so fascinating that I have a file folder an inch thick, filled with research on the very subject, intending some day to write an article on it. Read about it--it's easy to find a lot of good basic information. And it is, I think, quite addictive (the ingredient, that is). Dried is reasonably easy to find up in my neck of the woods (Andersonville).

FWIW, Noon-O-Kebab has been in our ordering-out rotation for some time now. Mostly for all the reasons Kennyz adduces. Good, fast, hot, generously portioned, and--did I say--really good!

Gypsy Boy wrote:

Kennyz wrote:Kash-Ke-Bademjan, an eggplant dish with some kind of funky, sour yogurt....

That would be kishk, an ingredient so important and so fascinating that I have a file folder an inch thick, filled with research on the very subject, intending some day to write an article on it. Read about it--it's easy to find a lot of good basic information. And it is, I think, quite addictive (the ingredient, that is). Dried is reasonably easy to find up in my neck of the woods (Andersonville).

FWIW, Noon-O-Kebab has been in our ordering-out rotation for some time now. Mostly for all the reasons Kennyz adduces. Good, fast, hot, generously portioned, and--did I say--really good!

Thanks for the new vocabulary word - I will indeed do some research on it. Incidentally, that dish tastes even better on Day 2. I'm eating it now on crackers, with some anise hyssop I took home from Lockwood and a Valpolicella that has some nice cherry and licorice tones.

Where can one obtain Kishk? Pars? Do you know where I can get it in liquid form?

Thanks,

M

Liquid, no. I have bought it in "nugget" form at Pars (I couldn't find it and had to ask) and in powdered form at Middle East Bakery on Foster. If you find it in liquid form, please post (or PM me).

another phone call tonight, and in less than 40 minutes I was digging in to this plate:



starting at the bowl on top and moving to the right, we have:
- superb dill rice that is buttery and full of terrific flavor and texture contrast, with bright dill flavor, perfectly cooked rice, and soft, mild lima beans.
- baba ganoush that's smoky, smooth, and garnished with black olives
- the above-described Gourmej Sabzi, wonderfully earthy again, though this time the chunks of lamb were a little larger and dryer than last time.
- the Kash-Ke-Bademjan, also described above, which I simply can't get enough of. I assume it's the kishk that makes the dish so special, but the super-sweet onions and home-provided anise hyssop garnish certainly don't hurt.

I was excited to try Salam for the first time over the weekend so I was pretty disappointed to find out they were closed for renovations (should have checked LTH!). However, in the tradition of turning lemons into lemonade, I discovered Noon-o-Kabab.

I was looking for something quick so when I saw Noon-o-Kabab’s take out annex across the street (I think they also run their catering business out of there) I figured it was worth a shot. When I walked in I was immediately greeted by the elderly owner who insisted I have some tea while I wait for my order. I have to say sipping the aromatic tea (with a sugar cube under my tongue) was the perfect way to pass the time while they grilled up my kabobs.

I was in the mood for Lebanese food when I walked in so I ordered the hummus and the baba ghannoush, though in hind sight I wish I had ordered the more authentically Persian dishes. Nonetheless both were quite good. The hummus was smooth and creamy, though not as garlicky as I like it. The baba was the best I’ve had in Chicago (granted I haven’t had too many good babas in Chicago). Smokey and spiced, with just enough olive oil flavor to carry the strong smoked eggplant flavor. They were served with excellent and soft pita bread that was perfectly charred on the edges. I’ve had so much bad pita in Chicago I couldn’t tell you how happy I was to get some fresh bread.

I did order some Persian dishes too. I got an order of the borani which was made with creamy, thick yogurt and plenty of garlic. Of course, the main attraction was the kubideh (similar to kofte). The meat was tender and blended perfectly with light onion and spices. The key to great kubideh is to let the taste of the grilled ground beef do the talking, and this version was right on the money. It was served with either saffron rice or dill rice, so naturally I asked for half and half. The rice was fluffy and buttery but not swimming in oil which would’ve over powered the meat. And of course the grilled tomatoes were exactly what a proper kubideh needs on the side.

I’m still looking forward to visiting Salam but I can’t say I’m at all disappointed to happen across Noon-O-Kabab. It was quick, affordable, and delicious. I’ll be back.

Kabab Kubideh with grilled tomatoes, saffron rice, and dill rice (and diet Vernors)


Borani

I like Noon-o-kabab a lot, but I always seem to get stale pitas.

I eat their lamb shank on a weekly basis. I'm ashamed to say that I haven't really ordered anything else from there. I just don't see the point when the lamb shank is SO good! I always have them include an extra side of the sauce to pour over my dill rice. It's the only way to go.

I also enjoy their pomegranate martini. It's delish.

30 minutes phone-to-door tonight. Fresh, charred-edge pita and the old standbyes: funky, sour Kash Ke Bademjaan; rich, oily, complex Gormeh Sabzi; and saffron-scented Adass Polo with lentils, barberry and sweet onions. An easy, satisfying dinner for 2 with leftovers, and it came in at only 30 bucks with tip.

Darren72 wrote:I like Noon-o-kabab a lot, but I always seem to get stale pitas.

Hate to say it, but we have the same problem. We like the people--very accomodating and helpful--and we love the food. But their pita is the worst. Always dry/stale.