iCafe Chicago — Restaurant in Lake View Township

This review is mostly about their Lahmacun and nothing else.

Alright, 26 y.o Turk over here. Been living in the US for about 10 years now but was born and raised in Istanbul so I feel like what I say carries some weight as I have been to quite a few Lahmacun selling restaurants/cafes in my life. Ofc, each region of Turkey has their own way of making Lahmacun, so do the countries in the region putting their twist on the dish, but being from Istanbul, a melting point of a city, you get to experience most of the variations of the dish.

This place "can" (see the pictures of the uncooked dough) be good I guess, if you've never had Lahmacun outside of the US, but if you've been to Turkey for example and had it there, I would not get their lahmacun as it'll be a massive dissappointment for the most part.

I don't wanna come off harsh because the cafe and the environment were quite cute and the staff was really sweet and all, but the lahmacun itself was pretty dissappointing.

It was bland to being with, and felt like I was eating a ground beef burrito for the most part, a pretty bland one at that. The meat wasn't really seasoned well, nor did taste like it included parsley or onions or peppers, usual ingredients found in a lahmacun mixture in most regions (it had some peppers as you can see but they barely gave any hint), the dough wasn't crispy, not just undercooked (see the pics) but also was more like a pita bread than a dough, and it was very thick.

I didn't want to waste what I had bought so heated it up a bit on the stove top and tossed in some chopped onions, pul biber (turkish red pepper flakes), salt, lemon, THEN it tasted like something. Hate to say that I won't be visiting this spot again for...

Hands down one of the best turkish restaurants in the city! Tucked away in a little nondescript spot next to the Irving Park cta station, this little eatery was a delight on the palate. They have an extensive menu with a tempting collection of meat platters, doner kebabs and pide. We tried out the weekday specials which included lentil soup with bread, chicken shish with rice, a side of fresh yogurt and salad. The meal was both delicious and affordable. The chicken was made to perfection and the bread was fluffy and fresh. The menu also offered a small dessert selection. We tried out the milk pudding, and if that is any thing to go by, im guessing the dessert section is a knockout. The pudding melted in our mouths and left us craving for more. However, the ambiance left something to be desired and the place could use some dim lighting and uplifting decor. The service was very fast considering there was only a single person both manning the front desk and doing the serving. Definitely coming again to try their...

It’s a small Turkish Halal cafe. I believe it’s independently run by an individual family ( just a guess) they have few different soups I enjoyed the one I ordered but I want to try the rest as well. Their entree seems good too but I ordered from the grill section- didn’t like them much it was missing some kind of dipping sauce although it wasn’t bad for a ribeye taste. Also, I was kinda little iffy about halal logo not found in the menu. I think it’s city of Chicago thing not to display I guess but as a consumer of Halal food choices I would like and want to see the halal logo sign on their menu. The Turkish tea is a no for me . Overall Soup was superlicious ribeye was okay and Turkish tea was a no but the bread served was freshly baked and was perfectly spongy will definitely revisit. Keep in mind it’s a paid parking by the street and not that...