Cabbie Food-5-Larosh

[Rene G]

Larosh is under the El on a dark block of Lake Street right next door to
an establishment called the Leatherneck Bar (their logo includes a
drawing of handcuffs). Above Larosh's door is a primitive hand-painted
sign that I like a lot.

The basement room has some formica tables, some counter seats, a huge TV
playing Indian movies on Zee TV, and a pool table. Tacky fake flowers
decorate the walls and tables. There's a kitchen in back and a counter
where you place your order. Same basic $6 for a full meal ($5 for a veg
meal) but note that tea is not included. Unlike the other places it was
almost deserted at 10PM on a weekday night. The guy at the counter was
very friendly and helpful and seemed concerned that the mutton might be
too spicy for me (it wasn't). Along with mutton came naan, rice, dal,
salad, mango pickle, and raita. The mutton came in a thick, spicy, oily
sauce but unfortunately the meat had a significant amount of bone (some
in dangerously small shards) and gristle. Naan was stale and straight
from the microwave. Ditto for the rice. Dal was pretty good, flavored
with roasted cumin. Salad was some tired iceberg lettuce and onion
slices. The pickle and raita were fine but standard.

It turns out that the place now closes at 11 so I was one of the day's
last customers. It used to be open much later but they lost their lease
on the parking lot across the street. Because easy parking is essential
to these businesses, I think Larosh is suffering. I almost got the
impression that they're just going through the motions until the lease
on the restaurant runs out too. I would only recommend Larosh to those
interested in "completing the cycle" of the Pakistani cabbie places.

New Larosh Restaurant
209 W Lake St
Chicago
312-263-9540
closes at 11PM

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