Hidden Gems
When Kurt Serpin says he’s cooking Ottoman cuisine, he doesn’t mean the extravagant feasts of the sultans, but he is talking about the traditional Turkish cuisine that evolved from the sultans’ expansive palace kitchens. The menu at Cafe Orchid, his compact Lakeview restaurant, is diverse, covering the expected mezes (hummus, tabbouleh, baba ghanoush, falafel), kebabs, and grilled seafood dishes (Serpin is from the Turkish city of Mersin, on the Mediterranean), but also a nice selection of less common items, like the tiny wontonlike pre-Ottoman meat dumplings known as manti, which arrive in a deep bowl of yogurt-tomato sauce. Serpin says it takes him and his wife, Iho, eight hours to stuff enough of them for 25 orders. He’s also doing alabalik, rainbow trout cooked with mozzarella cheese; balik sarma, or grilled grape-leaf-wrapped sardines; and mercimek koftesi, spicy, cold lentil fingers that are a vegetarian approximation of cig kofte, the raw meatballs served at nearby Nazarlik. No processed gyros cone spins in this place: Serpin, who’s cooked at A La Turka and the late Cafe Istanbul, stacks the meat on the Autodoner himself and shaves it for doner kebab or iskender, a luscious, comforting dish of shaved lamb, veal, and house-baked bread, all smothered in butter, yogurt, and tomato sauce. —Mike Sula
$Seafood | Breakfast, lunch, dinner: seven days | Cash only
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To gain access to Ed’s amazing repertoire of delicious northern Chinese specialties start by asking for the leather-bound Chinese menu with English translations, then ask about the specials hanging on the wall, and if something appeals to you don’t let anyone talk you out of it. You could spend weeks happily exploring: house pot stickers are long cigars of crispy, porky goodness, and the complex lamb, stir-fried with dried chiles, is carried from the kitchen with great regularity. Beef stew with noodle is a massive, very soupy bowl of tender beef chunks with a nice touch of spice. “Fish-fragrant” eggplant has nothing to do with fish—it’s really just a version of eggplant with garlic sauce that renders the fruit light and puffy, with a delicate, crispy outer crust. Don’t overlook the cold appetizers: a bowl of tofu with bits of preserved egg is a nice lesson in subtle textural contrasts, and the sliced pork leg with soy sauce is cut thinly in cross section so you can see the varying textures of the different muscles, rimmed by a layer of caramelized fat. Even cosmetically challenged selections tend to be terrific: lily flowers and bean thread noodle is sort of a grayish lump of noodles studded with wilted yellow flowers, but the pale yellow buds have a satisfying snap. —Mike Sula
Ghareeb Nawaz2032 W. Devon | 773-761-5300
Reopened under new ownership (with an actual Gloria at the helm) this little Colombian joint is putting out lovingly made home-style plates. My admittedly limited experience with arepas had me believing they were dry, lifeless pucks, but here the cheese and sweet corn (choclo) arepa appetizers both were moist and cakey—a lesson well learned. Empanadas with mild chimichurri were swell, particularly the spinach, garlic, and potato variety, as was a “Colombian Hummus” with no identifiable South American traits. Among Caesar and house salads there’s an unusual rice and shrimp ensalada with sweet plantains, chile flakes, and a sweet-and-sour sauce that wouldn’t be out of place on a Thai menu. Rotisserie chickens are marinated, blazed well, and available in various sums of their parts. The traditional and steak dishes come with ample starchy and fibrous sides (rice, cassava, plantains, beans). I’m particularly partial to the bandeja paisa (country platter), a manly pile of sides, chicharrones, chorizo, grilled flank steak, and a fried egg. —Mike Sula
$$Korean | Lunch, dinner: seven days
