Madurai Kitchen and Bar — Restaurant in Warrenville

There has lately been a deluge of new south Indian restaurants, especially in the greater Naperville area. Madurai Kitchen and Bar seems to be a newer addition catering to the culinaryily related south Indian cuisines. Being from the south of India, I am always excited to provide patronage to the up and coming restaurants that are cropping up, especially in the west suburbs where I live.

That out of the way, the food was a mixed bag. We started with an order of Chicken 65 and Paniyaram and followed it up with Chettinad Chicken, Chettinad Goat curry, Thalappakatti Goat Biryani and much to my dismay, Gobi Manchurian (at the request of someone in our party). The Chicken 65 was 12 half-inch bite size pieces which left us wondering if they just ran out and plopped it on a smaller plate to serve to us, until the Paniyarams’s arrived, which was only 7 pieces. At $16 and $13 respectively, with nothing special in terms of how these were presented, it felt like day-light robbery.

The theme continued with the entrees. The serving sizes are tiny. I came with two women that aren’t big eaters and in spite of having ordered 4 entrees and 2 apps, the leftovers were sparse, barely enough for a full meal. There was a clear sweet presence in the Chettinad Chicken that is definitely not native to the region. The goat curry didn’t seem to suffer from the same ailment. Aside from that, the food was fine. The standouts for us was the Paniyaram but with this being common among south Indian restaurants, isn’t such a draw.

I’m not averse to spending a bit of money on food if the food blows my mind away or if the ambiance and presentation are elevated to titillate the senses. Alas, there isn’t much of either, so it is hard to justify the prices. This is NOT a date night restaurant.

Where I felt the restaurant failed miserably was in attention to detail and service. Our Thalappakatti Goat Biryani had a mix of Chicken and Goat. The chicken variant costs $2 less, and when I brought this to the attention of our server, I was told she would inform the manager and come back to let me know how they would fix this. She never came back to our table again until it was time for us to pay. They didn’t bother addressing this at all. The server was also quite clueless about the cuisine. She mispronounced Jigarthanda (which we ordered for dessert as we were out celebrating my birthday), seemed to have no knowledge of the menu and struggled to offer one of our diners with vegetarian options when asked. It didn’t help that their menus are only available on the phone, so there are no printed menus. While this appears to be a growing trend, having printed menus for the elderly seems like such an oversight!

Lastly, a note on the menu itself. It appears to be a hodge-podge of North Indian, Indo-Chinese and protein variants of Chettinad curries. There are a few lentil items on the menu, but I find it hard to classify them as entrees as the restaurant does, and none of them are exclusive to the Chettinad culinary experience and the multitude of Kerala restaurant options are much better at providing more value or a more unique experience than Madurai Kitchen. You'll be hard pressed to find the Chettinad specific menu items in the avalanche of North Indian items available.

Overall, considering the fail on their signature dish (Chettinad Chicken), I find it hard to recommend this restaurant even if it were the only one in Chicagoland serving up this...

It is rare, close to never, that I will visit a desi restaurant twice in one week - Madurai Kitchen has somehow managed to draw me back within the week. It’s not somehow, actually, I know exactly how. From their absolutely delicious food, to their prompt and sweet service, to the ambiance - everything at Madurai Kitchen is top notch.

Let’s start with the food. These are the things I’ve tried in my two visits:

The Veg Thaali - I mention this first because this is the item that we specifically came back for. It’s very rare that EVERY item of a Thaali is delicious, and this Thaali happens to manage it! From the Kathrikai (eggplant) to the Rasam (omg, the tart goodness is to die for!) to the Veg Kuruma, each item is scrumptious and finger licking! We had Halwa one day and Payasam the next time and both desserts were delicious! The Thaali comes with chapaati which was delicious but the next time we ordered the Thaali with Parotta, just because it was so good…

Which brings me to the Parotta: the Parotta is a layered, flaky bread that is so good it can literally be eaten on its own. Its flaky layers pair well with any curry, but this would be great dipped in just milk or tea. We kept ordering additional pieces of Parotta because it was just too good!

Parotta/Chicken Chukka/Chicken Salna Combo: we already know the Parotta is amazing, however, the chicken chukka was exceptional. Spicy, flavorful with subtle notes of curry leaves. The chicken salna is very comforting and feels like it’s made by a Nani or Dadi in a home kitchen.

Mutton Chukka - we ordered this on the second visit, since we loved the chicken chukka so much. This was, again, exceptional. The meat is just melt in your mouth, and succulent, and incredibly flavorful and spicy!

Andhra Goat Curry - the goat curry is delicious, but not my favorite.

Prawn Masala - this was also more tomato based than I like, but the prawns were cooked well and not rubbery. Pretty darn good, especially paired with warm white rice!

MK Special Tiffin - the idli was perfect, not overly spongy, and not overly dense. The sambar was delicious. The medhu vada was the STAR, along with the DOSA. The dosa was incredibly crisp and fermented perfectly. The Ghee Pongal was buttery and delicious.

Lastly, the star of the show, the Lime Soda (Salt) - this beverage can be made seeet or salt or even with added masala! We went for the salty version of this, and my God, this was a flavor explosion! I ordered it the first time, then the second, and then one to go! Yeah, it’s THAT tangy, tart, citrus-y, and and refreshing!

Now to come to the ambiance and service. The first time we went there were a few people in there, but when we went Friday night, it was PACKED! Absolutely packed! Clearly the news of excellent food and service have reached far and wide - the power of word of mouth! The servers are young girls running around and doing their absolute best - from explaining the menu items to getting the items to the tables in a timely manner.

Our server, the first time, was Liya who patiently answered all our questions and made great suggestions. She was clearly very adept at her job, and very accommodating. The next time we had Meghna, and I tell you this girl (and Liya) were just powering through the entire restaurant and ensuring everyone got their food on time. Both girls were exceptionally sweet, soft spoken, courteous and polite. I definitely had to send a shout out to...

Nothing was right when we attended on Mother's day. It was not crowded for us to get a poor service. We were seated at a table where on one side, there was spilled rice. We didn't want to ask for another table thinking it is probably crowded. When we ordered, they didn't have many of the dosa varieties, no paratha varieties. I asked her why and the waitress said they dont have batter and it will take one hour to prepare and the restaurant closes in one hour. This was around 7.45pm. We ordered whatever was available. They didn't keep plates, spoons, forks. I asked for it once food arrived. They brought a stack of plates and serving spoons and napkins and placed on our table. The top plate was clean and the 2nd plate underneath was used and not washed. I called the waitress and told her. She apologized and brought new set of plates. Then my husband's item, Aloo gobi - one of the Aloo pieces was partially black in color which is a clear sign of spoilt aloo. When we showed it to the waitress she picked only that piece up in the spoon and never came back with the spoon. We asked for spoons and forks as only serving spoons were in the dishes. When she brought them, the waitress removed her gloves and kept it with the spoons. I had to call her and ask her to pick that up. Then suddenly came a cleaner to vaccum the rice that was spilled next to our table. After a very dissatisfied dinner, I decided to use the washroom. It was terrible. The bins were overflowing with paper towels and all over the place. There was another lady with me who was also visibly annoyed. So, this will be my one and only trip to Madurai kitchen in Naperville and have conveyed the same to my friends as well....