Essence of India — Restaurant in Lake View Township

My daughter recently moved to the square, of course you have to sample the food in the area. Essence has become a place for us to usually grab food during our visit. I dinned here now a few times, bragging to my husband of how good their food was. This visit, I decided to order him Tandori Chicken - he's a huge fan of this dish and has his favorite places. We have a few local Indian spots in the burbs that we dine at frequently. Walking into the restaurant we were relieved to see several tables open and we were sat very quickly. When it was time for us to order our food, we were interrupted twice so that the owner could take phone calls during our order. I have worked and built a business, and understand that juggling tasks are not always the best way to be efficient. And it was not. I ordered samosas and a lentel dish, rice and tandori chicken to go. When the food was brought out, my rice was forgotten - my daughter had to ask. Not a biggie - was recently in an accident and don't eat much rice anyway. Let's just bring that home... Except for the fact that they had forgotten my tandori chicken and was surprised when I asked about it - as if i just ordered it. I was told 5 minutes and he'll have it out. Ok! I get to hang with my two favorite ladies longer. Only..my granddaughter was starting to get tired of sitting now as we had been there for almost an hour. Toddlers do not learn the art of patience right away. 20 minutes later we are still waiting for our food. (I know its Tandori, if given the correct time frame and asked if i wanted to wait would have been appreciated). Instead, my daughter and I had to wrestle with an anxious to leave Toddler. Food was tossed while I picked it up and she tried to leave the building - twice. While it is true that this restlessness is an opportunity to try to teach a toddler a lesson in patience, it is difficult for me not to be upset at the additional stress the owner's bad juggling created for us. This is not a one time situ either. My daughter is a regular here. Surely this man has children or has children in his life to understand that parents do not always have a unlimited amount of time when dining with their kids. When I got the food home - finally - it was already cold being simply wrapped in a clump of foil. One piece was dry, stale and from the night before. So much for waiting for completely fresh chickie. Sadly disappointed that the owner does not allow his other staff to assist him with orders or take on someone. I have heard about the rents in the area and understand staffing can be difficult. Unfortunately its always a teeter totter when dealing with these factors. The fact that his location is gearing up for national attention, I would not rely on doing things yourself if you want continued growth. This visit was unfortunately a wth moment for me. Life happens, the food was good when we were sitting down. It's difficult to become excited about eating there again. eh..i know that i'm only one person, yet i am always happy to support small biz in that area being a city gal myself. If you go, and find yourself continuously interrupted by phone calls while your order is being taken know that you will be spending a lot more time then anticipated. and your order may...

A great Indian restaurant in the Lincoln Square neighborhood for those not wanting to venture a little bit further north to Devon Avenue. My dad and I came here for a late dinner on a weeknight, and we essentially had the entire restaurant to ourselves. That being said, the waitstaff was incredibly attentive and accommodating, which was great! After looking over their extensive menu, I decided to go with one of the "Lamb Essence" dishes, the Josh Rogan. My dad was craving his staple dish, Lamb Madras, which surprisingly wasn't on the men. Since my dad was unwilling to branch out, we asked the waiter if they could make it, and he gave us a decisive no and walked away. Although, a few minutes later to our surprise, he came back and said they'd make the Lamb Madras for my dad. This is fantastic customer service, and my dad was jubilant. The food took awhile to come out, but I don't mind that as it is typically an indicator that your meal is made to order and it's relatively fresh. To whet our appetites while we waited, we were served a crunchy chip like bread and a variety of chutneys. Their mango/jalapeno salsa was quite spicy, and I could see many not liking this, but it was balanced out by the other offering, which was a mint and sweeter chutney. I enjoyed these as they tasted very fresh. When the entrees came out I was pretty pleased with the dish, as it was pretty much what I expected it to be. A few pieces of the lamb were poorly cut, meaning they were chewy and gristly. This caught me off guard as the first few bites were very tender and melted in my mouth. This is pretty standard with most dishes in this style, so I wouldn't dock them any points. The sauce had a nice spice to it, but I'd probably order it "really spicy" next time as "spicy" was pretty mild. The portions were large and I had enough to tide me over for lunch the next day. Good, not great, Indian food. For the proximity to my apartment and the ease to get here on public transportation for those not in the neighborhood, it's definitely...

I am rating this restaurant on par with Indian restaurants I have sampled in across the United States, Singapore, and Thailand. Many reviewers on this site have attested to the fact that his place is "authentic." There is so many Indian styles (Punjabi, Gujarati, etc.) that I find it hard for them to argue this without more specificity. Here, I will avoid this over-generalization.

In this review, I will speak to the dishes I sampled: chana masala, tandoori chicken, murgh tikka masala (hot and mild), rice, and aloo paratha. However, I believe these samples speak to larger culinary style for this restaurant.

Everything was prepared together and timed well. My rating is not about the service, but solely about the quality of the food.

For appetizers/side dishes: The aloo paratha was prepared as I would expect, with a reasonable balance of mild spices in the potatoes and the paratha fried (but not overly oily).

The rice was basmatic, which is a plus. Some Indian restaurants in the United States do not use basmatic rice and I cannot understand why.

Main entrees: What is terribly unfortunate is the curries and the flavoring of the meat. I do not know if this restaurant went the way of "Americanized" Chinese food, or what. But they have infused a high amount of sugar/sweetener into every dish.

The murgh tikka masala (and chana) were incredibly sugary. The murgh tikka masala sauce was runny-- about the consistency of skim milk (and a pale color). The "Indian hot" version of this dish had some flicks of red in it for the kick, but that was the only difference.

These dishes tasted like someone had poured maple syrup into them. If you like this, then you will enjoy this restaurant. This goes as well for the tandoori chicken, which was more sweet than usual.

In addition, the murgh (chicken) in the murgh tikka masala was dry (and plain). Some Indian restaurants do a great job of marinating their murgh tikka before putting them into these dishes. This one clearly does not -- and in my case,...