Paulius Musteikis
Chicken korma recently showed up as a daily special.
When JD’s Soul Food took over from the short-lived Mexican spot called Limon at 317 N. Bassett St. in 2012 (itself the successor to the Copper Gable Cafe), I wrote, “You never know when a new eatery will rescue a hard-luck spot.”
Well, JD’s didn’t make it, although its late-night cart remains in operation. Now the space on the ground floor of the Aberdeen apartments is occupied by Madistan, a Pakistani restaurant that also caters to the nearby student population by serving gyros, burgers, shawarma, falafel and fried chicken. The only items on the regular printed menu that seem Pakistani are the chicken tikka roll, its sibling the beef kabob roll, and an appetizer of samosas.
Look, though, for the two or three Pakistani entrees scribbled on a whiteboard at the counter. There you’ll find chicken biryani, a lovable staple that’s available most days, and a couple of other changing daily specials, usually including one that’s vegetarian. The Pakistani dishes are cooked by Naheed Shaikh, who runs Madistan along with her husband, Amin. You might even have the good luck to run into her behind the counter.
I met her on my initial visit and asked what the most typically Pakistani item available was. She recommended the chicken biryani, which came with big hunks of bone-in chicken and really tasty, spicy rice, accompanied by a cooling yogurt sauce, an onion-tomato side salad and naan. This was a lunch-sized portion for about $6, and it reminded me most of the dishes at Fast Biryani on the far east side — fresh spices, not toned down for an American audience. My only regret is that I did not order that day’s other specials, a dal and a karhai chicken curry that I have not yet seen return to the whiteboard. The biryani is there all the time. But everyone has to start somewhere.
On my subsequent visits, I knew to head straight for the daily specials, and I have grooved on aloo chole, aloo palak and chicken achar. Each hovers around the $6 mark, each is pungent with fresh spices, and each has convinced me to keep coming back for more.
Probably my favorite so far has been the spicy chicken achar, a dish that’s Punjabi by origin and features a very tart, salty Indian pickle along with banana pepper and plenty of ginger, fennel, cilantro and fenugreek.
The aloo chole, a spicy chickpea stew, had its considerable spices clumped together in one section of my takeout tray. Whoo! I thought my first bites were bland; then I had a $6 trip to the moon. Stir and enjoy. This dish is not served with rice but rather the fried Indian bread poori. The poori in this instance were very greasy (they were kind of great all the same, in the way an indulgent doughnut can be). I’d have liked this dish better if it had more potato in it, or at least came with a serving of rice, even though that’s not the traditional presentation.
From the standard menu go directly to the beef kabob roll, basically a kati roll by any other name — heavily spiced, marinated, tender cubes of beef are paired with onions and a sour/spicy yogurt sauce and rolled up in naan bread. It’s more of a snack than a meal, but it’s really, really good if you like spicy and tart. The chicken tikka roll is the same deal, but with chicken. Kati rolls may be the apex of Indian street food, and I’m happy* to have these within easy walking distance of my office. (*Read: overjoyed.)
The restaurant’s falafel and shawarma are fine, though they won’t sway me from the Pakistani dishes. I am having difficulty imagining the circumstances under which I would feel the need to order a burger here.
Madistan is a takeout spot with a few dine-in tables; it’s more of a food cart with a permanent home than a traditional restaurant. But I think it’s worth making the trip.
Situated at the crossroads where Gorham turns into University and meets Bassett Street, there’s one big drawback to Madistan: no adjacent parking to speak of. But thousands of foot- and bike-based student commuters pass the place daily. And the Frances Street and Overture ramps are just a couple of blocks away — .3 and .4 miles away, respectively, according to Google maps. There, I’ve done your homework for you — because I hope Madistan is the eatery that finally rescues this hard-luck spot.
Madistan
317 N. Bassett St., 608-422-5422, 11 am-9 pm Mon.-Sat., $2.50-$10
