Chayhana — Restaurant in Lake View Township

Do you love food? I do. I love food, if I don't like the food, I will refuse to eat it, I will spit it out. I love good food. I have traveled to Europe, to Asia, to Australia, to various parts of North America with the idea of seeing culture and experiencing food. I spent about a year in Europe, mostly Eastern Europe and wanted a taste of borscht again.

Did I go to this restaurant to get borscht? No. I went there for the Honey Cake. I heard they had good honey cake. I really really really wanted some cake.

Why do I recommend this place?

It's not the fanciest place I've ever been, nor did it serve the nicest food. When I walked in, there were families, multi-generational sitting at tables. I'm here in Chicago on business so I'm away from home and family and I'm sitting at a table by myself. I promised my colleague to bring her back something but I was literally eating by myself. I worked 6 days in a row to get the work needed done and I'm tired, exhausted, even. I'm in a city without family, exhausted, and hungry. I take my first bite of bread and suddenly that fatigue starts wearing off. It's a soft cloud with a give to the dough and not dry but chewy exterior that makes the sesame seeds on top just pop with roasted flavor. Before the soup comes out I've downed almost half the basket. I regretted almost polishing it off and having nothing for my soup until the waitress simply offered more. The inner me gave her a hug, the outside me just thanked her politely, it's COVID-19 times after all. The borscht came out, I wanted my sour cream on the side. I dipped my bread in the cream and popped it in the soup and ate it that way. The cool cream was a great contrast to the soft bread and the hot (temp, not spice) and slightly tangy soup. The beef chunk in the soup was perfect, lean with a good sized fat chunk which flavored the soup beautifully.

I ended up having a chicken dish, a beef dish, and a beef and lamb pastry. The soup was so good, I ended up getting more portions to go. The honey cake was like biting into a sweet puff of amazing, I ended up grabbing more to share as well.

By the time I left, I didn't have the energy to walk. I overate, I was no longer homesick. I'm not from this part of the world but the food gave me my soul back after a long day of work. It really felt like a family meal. I only finished my soup and ate portions of each dish I ordered but I'll have meals for when I'm working due to the generous portions. I thanked the waitress with a nice tip and took a ride home with bags full of goodies to share, feeling like I'm ready for another week of whatever life wants to throw at me. Highly recommended if you love cake. ...

We stopped here for lunch earlier today and absolutely loved it. The place doesn’t have any crazy signs and doesn’t have much hype but usually this kind of places is worth visiting and recommending in the end. Which is why I’m writing here. Chayhana has a very family-like feel to it.

They have a variety of foods from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan. You can try out manti, pierogi, pilaf, stuffed cabbage rolls, stuffed peppers, Olivier salad, borsch, and lots of other things that are widespread across Eastern Europe and Central Asia.

We ordered a few things - pilaf, pierogis, and a yoghurt drink called ayran. Everything was made at home and tasted incredible. Our chef who was also serving us was amazing. She was super friendly and welcoming and took a great care of us. We ended up ordering manti and honey cake to go. We don’t live in Chicago but we couldn’t just leave without bringing some of this amazing food home.

Prices are very reasonable here and you get a lot of food for what you pay. I’ve been to a few Russian and Ukrainian restaurants in the U.S. but this place is like the best kept secret....

The lady at at the counter was pleasant and welcoming is the only reason I can give 3 stars. The food was mediocre at best but definitely not worth it considering the price. The plov had a handsome serving but the rice was dry and there was barely any meat with it. The noodles again, nothing impressive. Apart from the noodle itself which was handmade, it was just some vegetables with some broth (home made noodle soup is better). The Manti (dumplings) were actually good but again very average plus its very difficult to go wrong with dumplings in the first place, so nothing special. The place looks like it needs a renovation, the airconditioner was absolutely filthy. The menus were torn up with multiple stickers for changing prices. I dont know how expensive can printing some new menus be. Overall the place has potential but it seems the owners are happy with the regulars they have and are not looking for...