Category Archives: Skokie

Blaze Fast-Fire’d Pizza

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**** (4 stars)

This is a great concept for pizza.

It’s always bugged me that pizza places charge some ridiculous amount for each ingredient when you roll your own. Well not at Blaze. Here you can get anything you like, in any combination, for one reasonable price. Assembly is quick and easy, and the baking process is equally quick, so it’s as fast as fast food, but completely custom, and with much better ingredients.

Service was friendly and efficient, and they took extra care to get my crust crispy, the way I like it, and to melt the ricotta cheese I selected.

It’s great that there’s finally an excellent pizza place in Evanston!

Blaze Fast-Fire’d Pizza
4999 Old Orchard Center
Ste F9
Skokie, IL 60077
(847) 568-1649
http://www.yelp.com/biz/blaze-fast-fired-pizza-skokie

Kabul House

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***** (5 stars)

I’m new to Afghan cuisine, but I can’t imagine how it can get much better than this.

I wanted to try as many dishes as possible, so I designed my meal around the vegetarian sampler dinner, because it included several items that are also on the appetizer menu. The eggplant, pumpkin and spinach were all delicious, but my favorite was the cauliflower, which was rich and exotically spiced.

Dinner came with lentil soup, which had a nice balance. I also tried the cucumber salad, which was mixed with yoghurt and dill, and went well with several other dishes.

But the real show stopper was the mantoo. These are like little raviolis, filled with a meat and lentil mixture that is rich, exotic, and incredibly complex. I scarfed down every bit.

Kabul House is a cheerful corner restaurant with a modern interior. Service was very friendly and efficient. It’s BYOB, but the have a lovely mint iced tea that I found to be a perfect accompaniment to the meal.

Kabul House
4949 Oakton St
Skokie, IL 60077
(847) 674-3830
http://www.yelp.com/biz/kabul-house-skokie

Libertad

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***** (5 stars)

From the outside, with its dark windows, this place looks like a questionable dive, but step inside and it’s a trendy, vibrant (i.e. loud) and wonderful restaurant.

The menu offers fewer than twenty dishes, but if what I sampled is any indication, there is plenty of variety, and a lot of amazing culinary skill behind it.

Yes, it’s Latin American influenced, but if I hadn’t been told that I’m not sure I would have guessed from the dishes I was served. I had an arugula, blue cheese and walnut salad that was superb. Then scallops on black rice that were equally superb; in fact, they were quite possibly the best scallops I’ve ever had.

They have positioned themselves as a tapas style sharing restaurant, but the servings are much larger than tapas, and two dishes was all I could manage, although I wanted to try more.

The beverage service is also noteworthy. I had a specialty margarita with a smoky character that was quite interesting, and then I tried the sangria. Wow. This was easily the best sangria I ever tasted. In addition to Burgundy, brandy, apple and berries, there was also “hum,” a botanical spirit that added an amazing complexity. It was so fantastic I found it online and sought out a place to buy a bottle on my way home (Binny’s on Dempster, if you want some).

Service was friendly and fast. The place was packed, but kitchen service was prompt and didn’t seem stressed at all.

The only downside is the noise level. On a Tuesday night there was no possibility of conversing with a tablemate in anything less than a shout. But if that doesn’t put you off, this is a truly impressive restaurant.

Libertad
7931 Lincoln Ave
Skokie, IL 60077
(847) 674-8100
http://www.yelp.com/biz/libertad-skokie

Roka Akor

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**** (4 stars)

This place offers terrific ambiance, with a stylish, open plan that lets you view the 1900 degree robata grill from anywhere in the restaurant. There is also outside seating.

While several of the sashimi items we tried were excellent, the butterfish tataki was the event, comparable to the best sushi restaurants I’ve been to around the world. The other highlight here are the vegetables off the robata grill, which are all excellent. The Brussels sprouts and the mushrooms are particularly notable.

Roka Akor
4999 Old Orchard Ctr
Skokie, IL 60077
(630) 474-5039
http://www.yelp.com/biz/roka-akor-skokie