CAFE NOVA — Restaurant in Rogers Park Township

Update: Went back and was super happy with their fish curry (served with rice): I called my mother as soon as I was done, so good! Two fish portions, generous amounts of rice and curry. Their gobi (cauliflower) manchurian is another familiar staple off Indian menus, and it delighted the soul. Kudos to Kishore and his team!

Please show them some love as Loyola crowds leave for the summer!

Original: Finally a good South Indian-Sri Lankan restaurant in town; so happy to see it open so close to Loyola. Definitely try Cafe Nova for a very authentic culinary experience (international students, give it a shot)!

Three of us shared an excellent chilli chicken (that made us crave a beer to go with it) in the Indo-Chinese style (classic appetiser in India); a chicken tikka dosa (what flavours!); a masala dosa (we were introducing a friend to the wonder that is dosa); and a kothu porota/paratha (which I haven’t had the pleasure of experiencing since India). The portions were excellent for sharing/left overs and the service was so friendly.

They’ve been open 20 days now, and deserve a lot of love and community support: Cafe Nova will now be my go-to comfort food spot, and I look forward to trying more of their offerings. (P. S.: the chicken curry that came with the kothu paratha reminded me...

Still recommended!

Edit February 5th, 2024: I had given 3 stars, which I'm changing to 5 stars, and here's why: The food is wonderful, and so is everything else, but I had a problem which I wrote about below and which the owners have notified me has been resolved. I certainly intend to come by for some of their delicious food often. Highly recommended.

The food is very good, and so is the customer service. What bothers me, though, is that the food is served on a stainless steel plate that's covered in a thin sheet of a sort of cooking paper so as not to have to eat straight off the stainless steel plate. The problem, however, is that the sheet of paper eventually falls apart, and you have to be really careful not to eat any of it together with your food. This may seems petty, but it really distracts from the enjoyment of my food because I have to be super careful every time I take a bite. The last time I was there I actually had to remove the bits of the sheet of paper, which had totally come apart, and eat off a stainless steel plate, which is very unpleasant. I wish they'd serve their food on a regular glass or ceramic plate. I'd come more...

We went to eat there a few months ago. We were so excited to eat some Sri Lankan food as there are no others in the Chicago area. We ordered the kothu and mutton rolls along with falooda and a few other items. We were expecting to experience similar taste as in Sri Lanka. While the roll looked like a roll, it did not taste like it from Sri Lanka. Either it was air friend or baked. Not sure. Should be deep fried with similar spices as whats used in Sri Lanka. Kothu did not taste similar to Sri Lankan kothu at all. It was more watered down taste. It’s great to have a location that serves Sri Lankan food, now they just need to bring the flavor as experienced in Sri Lanka. We met the owner, he was very kind and it was good to hear his aspirations. I would encourage him to work on providing an experience for paying customers as if they would taste the flavors...