Conoce Mi Panama

It is not often when one hears of a Zabiha Halal Panamanian restaurant, so when we found out about Conoce Mi Panama ("know my Panama"), we felt daring and decided to check it out. It's a tiny restaurant located at 3054 W. Armitage Ave. in Chicago. It was a pretty cold night with some drizzling, and the warm hues emanating from inside the restaurant looked very cozy and inviting. Inside, there was a good blend of customers: a Caucasian family, an African-American Muslim couple, a mixed couple, a Panamanian couple, and a mixed Muslim group of friends. The restaurant was painted in deep reds and burnt orange. There were framed photographs of the Panamanian culture on the wall-people, geography, art, etc. 2 big tvs played Latino band music with a few salsa dancers (which my daughter loved and then proceeded to display HER dancing moves to the entire restaurant-sigh).

We were greeted by Antonio, the manager/owner with a friendly "Assalam alaikum" and by the rest of the Muslim patrons. Everyone else was very nice and inviting as well. Our waitress was Lulu, who was also one of the chefs at the restaurant and even has a dish named after her! She was very patient while explaining the menu to us novices of this type of food. She also pointed out the 2 most popular dishes which we ended up ordering.

For drinks, my husband ordered Chicheme, which is Hamony corn with sweetened milk. This was very sweet, too sweet. Lulu also let us sample the Saril, a drink made with the Hibiscus plant. This was also very sharp and sweet, but smelled beautiful because of the flower. For appetizers, we ordered Carimanolas, which are filled Yuca fritters. Basically, it was a potato-like shell, fried with ground beef inside. Those were not bad and were served with some Thousand Island dressing. We ordered chicken nuggets for my daughter since it didn't look like there were any kid-friendly options on the menu. Those were served with a ketchup-mayo blend.

For the main course, we ordered Lulu's Special-Bistec Encebollado a La Pimieta which is Lulu's Fried Flank Steak with Caramelized Onion. This came with white rice, bean soup, sweet plantains, and steamed vegetables. I did not like this dish at all. Even though most of the reviewers rated their steak very high on Zabihah.com, I thought it had too much black pepper in it, which quickly became overwhelming. The white rice was not all the way cooked and was hard. The only thing good about the dish were the steamed vegetables and the bean soup. My husband ordered the Ropa Vieja which is shredded beef (known in Panama as "old clothes"). This was served with the same sides as the steak, only my husband ordered a salad with dressing instead of steamed vegetables. This dish was pretty good. It was very tasty and filling. Usually, when I get shredded beef anywhere, it's pretty chewy and too stringy, but here it was very soft and easily digestible.

For dessert, they offer some pretty delicious-sounding Panamanian food like Caramelized Plantains with ice cream and bread pudding, but it was getting late so we left. The prices were pretty cheap for the amount/type of food they gave. My steak dish was $13.00 which is a pretty good price for the quantity of steak that was on my plate. All the other entrées range from $12.75-$14.75.

Overall, I thought this restaurant had good appeal for a date night, not so much for a family-friendly place due to the space limitations. I did not like the food, but that could be because I have no real knowledge on Panamanian food.

Spice Card

Atmosphere: B+

Staff/Waiter: A

Food: D

Chang's Hot Wok

Hot Wok Part Deux!  Yes, its true folks.  Hot Wok has come back from the ashes to rise again.  Ok, not literally, and definitely no pun intended.  I guess the story is that one of the two chef brothers that used to run Hot Wok in Schaumburg died.  2 years passed and so the other brother has now decided to avenge the family name by opening this new location and catering to Muslims yet again.  The bitter-sweet news is that only the chicken is zabihah according to inside sources.

The gauge I used to see if the quality was similar or the same was the Szechwan Chicken.  Red? Check. Mildly thick? Check. Sweet and Spicy? Check.  It passes.  Is it exactly the way it used to be at the previous location, no, but is it close enough to still be worth of ordering.  My new favorite now however, is no longer the Szechwan Chicken.  Its the Manchurian Chicken dry.  At the previous location and at other locations, I've found they put way too much Manchurian in it.  Ok, thats not exactly an ingredient, but thats the best way to describe it.  I think its too much cilantro.  But yes, it was amazing.  The ingredients were perfectly proportioned to the meat, it wasn't dry or burnt, very succulent and downright delicious.

We went out to eat in a party of 8, so everyone ordered a different dish.  This proves to be extremely useful to owning a blog.  One of the dishes worthy of noting was the mango chicken.  In my opinion, worthy of trying, but not reordering.  Its not mango, its the stage before mango (kari for the desi readers, raw mango for the non-desi).  

Overall, the place is clean and pretty well decorated, not sure why they were playing music from the early 90s.  Nice to see they stuck with the fish tank in the wall with the bulbous-headed koi/goldfish.  The young-in was amused thoroughly.  

Spice Card

Atmosphere: A

Staff/Waiter: A-

Food: A

Chang's Hot Wok

This past weekend my family got together and went out to a new restaurant that opened up in Carol Stream called Chang's Hot Wok. It is located on the corner of Army Trail Rd. and Irving Park Rd. As I'm told, the restaurant is currently owned/operated by the same chef that used to work at the Hot Wok that used to be open in Hoffman Estates.

Since it is new, there weren't that many people in there when we showed up around dinner time on a weekend; however, I have no doubt that it will gain popularity soon. Let me start with the decor. I love it! As any good restaurant, Chang's is clean and orderly and doesn't smell overwhelmingly of spices as soon as you walk in. Decoration-wise it is very nicely done. There is few artwork on the walls, but the true glory of the restaurant is in its design/architecture. Chang's has multiple raised areas that guests can dine in, and the color scheme is in muted browns and metallics (which I really liked). There are even some gorgeous chandeliers hanging around (one of which we were lucky to be seated under). The restaurant also has an enormous fish tank complete with large koi-looking fish which all the kids in the restaurant hovered toward the entire time. They have big, cozy booths or nice mahogany-like tables to chose from. We sat around a gigantic, round table in the back since we went with the whole family. In the middle of our table was a large lazy Susan so that was very convenient since we all wanted to try everyone's dish and didn't need to keep passing the food back and forth. This restaurant also included a bar in the back (not that we were interested) and clean "family bathrooms". However, I was disappointed to find out they did not have any changing tables for kids. :(

Service was very good though. We had 2 waiters that attended to us since we had a large party and both did an equally good job. One of them came right away to take our order, the other one brought out our drinks. The first one came back with the appetizer, then the second one refilled our drinks. This tag team effort carried on for the rest of the night and made our dinner very satisfying.

On to the food! We found out that this place served Zabiha Halal chicken dishes so those are the ones we stuck to. I'm told they are going to try to incorporate Halal beef/lamb dishes in the future (fingers crossed!). For appetizers, we ordered the Chicken Szechuan Stix and the House Spicy Wings. The Stix tasted all right and they were a little soggy for my taste. I also felt they could use a little bit more seasoning; however, they were perfect for our toddler because they were similar to the chicken nuggets she usually eats. The Wings were delicious. Very "chatputtay" (which loosely translates into "kickin"). They weren't too greasy either, meaning the sauce wasn't all over our hands when we were done. Both the appetizers were served sauce.

For dinner (see below from left to right), we ordered the Chilli Chicken entrée (dry), Manchurian Chicken (which we ordered extra spicy for my husband, of course), Kung Pao Chicken, Mango Chicken, Szechuan Chicken, and some vegetable fried rice. All of this came with a big bowl of white rice.

Sorry, I suck at taking pictures so it got a little washed-out.

Now let me quickly tell you how each dish was. The table favorite was the Manchurian Chicken, not necessarily because it was the spiciest, because we had people with us who do not each much spice, but because it was the most flavorful. They used a lot of seasonings in it, it wasn't soggy, and my favorite part, they loaded on the cilantro (I love cilantro! On a side note: there are haters out there who dislike cilantro and even go so far as to create websites devoted to hating cilantro-I personally feel that these people have no lives :) I thought the Chilli Chicken was the second best, because it was similar to the Manchurian Chicken, just without the cilantro. The Szechuan Chicken was also pretty good, more than the chicken (which was tasty too), I enjoyed mixing its sauce into my rice as I ate the other dishes. The Kung Pao was also good, although it was not spicy at all; however, the ingredients in it like the bell peppers tasted very fresh and crisp. The vegetable rice was also not bad, the most flavorful I have eaten anywhere, but it had bean sprouts in it which I don't like. The Mango Chicken was the flop for the evening as it was bland and didn't contain much seasonings. Even its sauce was forgettable.

For dessert, the restaurant offers different flavors of ice-cream which we decided to skip on since it was around 19 degrees out. Pricing wasn't too bad either, we had 7 people in our party (plus a toddler) and we all ate our fill and the bill was less than $100 including tax and tip. I believe each entrée was around $10-12. Overall, I would definitely recommend this place. Service is excellent, they are so warm and welcoming. Food is pretty darn good if you know what to order, prices are reasonable, and the environment is nice.

Spice Card

Atmosphere: A+

Staff/Waiter: A+

Food: A-

http://www.changshotwok.com/home

Bab Al Salam

When I used to work close to this location, I used to go here all the time for lunch.  Lunches get semi-packed, but the service is always quick and the food is always wonderful.  I have only ordered two items off the menu for the countless number of times, the beef shawerma sandwich and the hummos.  The beef shawerma sandwich, I would say is a lot better than most of the beef shawerma sandwiches I had in Egypt.  
The place itself is not upscale by any means, but the waiters (usually somehow related to the owner) are always friendly and helpful.  It is also not rundown or grimy either; very simple.  
The meat has always smelled appetizing and tasted wonderful.  The pocket pita that wraps and envelopes the delectable pieces of shawerma meat is always fresh and warm, never like the substitutes for contractor-grade brick I've attempted at consuming before.  The pita bread that comes with the hummos, also the same quality as the sandwich bread.  One note of caution, they do put onions, which I personally like, at the  bottom.  Either this, or it shifts and falls through the pieces of meat from the top to the bottom similar to the ball that travels through the little lotto machine to eventually end its journey at the very bottom.  I prefer the tahini sauce drizzled and glazing my shawerma meat; while others do not, they have no issue putting it on the side if one so desires to carefully reconstruct the sandwich on their own with more proper amounts the customer prefers.
To give you a taste of how much I was craving it from the last time I had it (~1 month prior), I drove the Mrs. over 18 miles in the snow, uphill both ways while she was hungry and super reluctant to find out what this sandwich was all about.  Needless to say, we both walked out very happy and satisfied customers.

Spice Card

Atmosphere: B

Staff/Waiter: A

Food: A

Bab Al Salam

This weekend we had Arab food for lunch and although I wasn't going to blog it, it was so amazing that I just had to write about it!

Bab Al Salam is located off of 90 at 5050 N. Cumberland in Norridge. I didn't want to go there at first because I was not in the mood for Arab food, but my husband convinced me that their beef shawerma sandwich was delicious (and he practically kidnapped me and took me), so we went.

It is tucked away inside a plaza and from the outside it didn't look fancy, but it looked clean. Seating was just regular tables and chairs as in any informal restaurant. There were paper menus already on the tables and a waiter came by right away to take our order. On the walls were geographical and artistic posters of Jerusalem ( I'm pretty sure the owners were Palestinian). The bathrooms, (yes, I'm going to even write about the bathrooms folks) were clean and although the women's restroom didn't have a changing table, it did have a lota and was pretty clean.

We brought our 2-year old with so once again it was important that the food come out quickly and it did. They had brought out olives and beets as soon as we arrived so my husband munched on those while we perused the menu. We ordered the hummos appetizer which was all right. I felt that it could have been a little more garlicky and the olive oil used was slightly inferior, almost watery. This was served with warm pita bread, which is a rarity these days as most bread served at Arab restaurants seems to be cold or only room temp. We both ordered the beef shawerma sandwiches, but I ordered mine with the tahini sauce on the side just in case this place had nasty tahini (which has happened before at other places).

To put it simply, the sandwich was THE BEST SHAWERMA SANDWICH I have ever had. I have eaten shawerma sandwiches at various Arab restaurants around Chicago, including the ever popular and mainstream Pita House. I have even eaten a few different shawerma sandwiches on our trip to Egypt, but this was the best I have ever had. The beef was moist and juicy, but the my favorite was the addicting seasoning/spices blend they used to marinate it with. I don't know what they put in that marinade, but it is fabulous! The sandwich also had fresh cut tomatoes and onions in it. For once, my husband and I didn't add any hot sauce to an Arab dish we ate because it was loaded with so much flavor (read-not spiciness)! Even my toddler thoroughly enjoyed it and kept asking for more. She also had plenty of the warm pita bread.

Overall, I thought the restaurant was a nice and simple place to go to for an informal lunch (even though they also serve dinner entrées). Price range for Bab Al Salam was also reasonable, none of their sandwiches are more than $5.25. The entrées are all less than $12 a plate. It's a good place to take kids to because the noise level they generate would not really bother the other patrons and they can get as messy as they want because the napkin dispenser is right at the table (which means not having to constantly bother the waiter with requests for "more napkins").

Spice Card

Atmosphere: B-

Staff/Waiter: A+

Food: A-

Wok 'n Fire

As you may have read below, the restaurant is located in confusing downtown Elmhurst.  The reason I say confusing is because if you're heading South from North Ave on York Rd, it stops and becomes a One-Way with cars pointing at you... Nevertheless, keep some extra time if and when you head down there in case you get confused like I did.  Once you find it, you wont be disappointed, if you share the same views as I do at least.  In case you have never had the pleasure of dining with me, you will come to know through my blogs, I am not the pickiest when it comes to the decorations or the ambiance.  This is not to say I don't appreciate it, but its not a deal-breaker for me.  For example, I'll go to a dhaba (run down cabbie joint) on Devon just because I hear there is some excellent food to be had.  When you first step aside, you are greeted by traditional Asian decorations including budhha statues and oriental scriptures on the walls.  The place is done up pretty nice. On to the food!
The waiter was interesting to say the least.  He responded any request made with a "Thank you".  What?  Yes, this is not a typo, "Can I have some water please?" "Coming right up, thank you".  The first few times, I thought for sure this guy is messing with us because we showed up 45 minutes before the restaurant closed.  But there were more than 50 instances of him doing so, far more effort than any prank would require.  He was very prompt and accurate though.  On to the food already!
Ok, so we ordered some egg rolls, they were ok, probably give them 8/10.  Not sure what could have made them better, but at least they tasted fresh.  I ordered the Pad Thai with tofu as the main entrée.  Both the appetizer and entrée came promptly.  Some background behind me and thai food.  I have tried to make it a point to try thai food, specifically pad thai any chance I can get.  I'm not going to say I am a thai food or even a thai cuisine expert, but I know good thai food from downright nasty.
This pad thai (asked for extra spicy) was not extra spicy.  It was barely spicy.  However, it was tasty, very tasty in fact.  I was quite impressed.  I hadn't had good pad thai as I had that night in quite some time.
We didn't opt for any dessert, plus it was already a bit past their closing time, so we decided to leave.  If I had room and time for dessert, I would have probably had the mango mochi or the great wall of (dark) chocolate.
As we were about to head out, he gave us two sealed envelopes with coupons inside which can only be revealed by the waiter on the next visit.  Apparently, they contain anywhere from $25 to $500 in gift certificates.

Spice Card

Atmosphere: A

Staff/Waiter: A+

Food: A

Wok 'n Fire

Our journey with Wok n'Fire didn't start out wonderfully, but ended beautifully.

Wok n'Fire is a Pan-Asian restaurant that specializes in Chinese, Thai, and Japanese food (including sushi) and is located at 108 Schiller St.in Elmhurst. It was nearly impossible to find on this particular night because the sign was covered by snow. We drove around downtown Elmhurst for close to 15 minutes trying to find it. Once we did, parking wasn't bad because there is street parking as well as a parking lot across the street that patrons can use.

The atmosphere inside was cozy and inviting. The lighting was all track lighting so there was a warm glow to the entire restaurant. The tables were a dark cherry wood and they added to the warmth of the room. The walls were tastefully decorated with unique and beautiful paintings, lots of conversation revolved around the artwork. The kitchen was visible from the dining area by see-through glass so it was fun to watch them prepare the dishes. The restaurant was clean and tables were equipped with all the necessary condiments.

I was craving some egg rolls so we ordered that as appetizers. Since this is not a Zabihah Halal restaurant, I ordered the Szechwan Wok-tossed Dish with shrimp, but without any bean sprouts and bamboo strips for my entrée and just water to drink. I like to order water when I go to Asian restaurants because they are typically high in sodium so I like to drink plenty of water to flush it out with.

The waiter we had was nice...too nice. lol, he kept saying thank you to everything! Thank you when he poured us water, thank you when we asked for extra napkins, thank you when he brought out our food.  This made for some amusing entertainment.

Anyway, the appetizers came out pretty quickly which I like because usually I'm starving or want to distract my 2-year old with some food. The egg rolls weren't as good as I was expecting. They had the usual blend of vegetables in them: carrots, cabbage, etc, but not seasoned well. They did have a lot of black pepper in them though which I thought was odd. The sauce they served those with was decent though.

Then our food arrived, right on time. Before I give them a great review for timeliness, let me point out that we were the only ones in the restaurant at this point because we came close to closing time. So that was most likely a big factor in why our food was arriving early. Although, I have been to other restaurants before where we were the only ones present and the food still didn't come out early.

I am big on presentation-as my husband will tell you-so it is important to me that the food be arranged nicely and everything look pretty in general. This place attempted to do a good job, but there wasn't any of the usual vegetables cut into fancy shapes like in other Asian places.

Anyway, the food was phenemonal. Of course we asked for it to be a little bit more spicy than they normally make it, and this place actually listened! Imagine that! It was very flavorful, the chicken was moist and seasoned through out. I usually like a little bit of sauce or something because I don't like eating a dry dish with rice. This dish did not disappoint, it had the perfect amount of sauce without being overwhelming. The ingredients all tasted fresh and the vegetables in the dish were nice and crisp. The food even tasted good the next day which is pretty rare, in my opinion, with Asian restaurants.

Finally, before we left, as a promotional offer they gave us 2 coupons to be opened the next time we come that can contain anything from $10-$25 off our next meals or even a $500 gift card. Can't wait to use them the next time we go, which we most definitely will. :) Overall, I think it was a nice place to go on a date without our daughter next time, nice atmosphere, and great food.

Spice Card

Atmosphere: A+

Staff/Waiter: A+

Food: A-

http://www.woknfire.com/Wok_N_Fire/Welcome.html