Jibek Jolu
This is comfort food, an excellent choice for a cold winter Chicago day. Three main components of Kirghiz cuisine are milk, meat and baked goods, and most of the time all three are combined. Choose juicy and tender beef shashlik (similar to kebabs) or hearty manty (steamed dumplings), add a helping of hot kesme (a type of soup with beef and veggies), and you can easily imagine that you are thousands of miles away from the metropolis, in the middle of vast Kyrgyzstan, and are about to climb its highest mountain Jengish Chokusu (if you manage to eat all you have ordered, you just may have enough energy to do so).
Jibek Jolu, 5047 North Lincoln, (773)878-8494, fjibekjolu.us
Best of Chicago 2012