Lunch Special (Create A Lunch) from Kohan (Steamed Rice w/Beef, Pepper, Green Beans, Scallion, Tofu and Red Curry)

Item Purchased: Lunch Special (Create A Lunch) from Kohan (Steamed Rice w/Beef, Pepper, Green Beans, Scallion, Tofu & Red Curry)
Location Purchased: Kohan Japanese Restaurant / 730 W. Maxwell St. / Chicago, IL
Price: $7.95 + tax
Purchased on: 02/20/07

Review: Japanese cuisine isn't known for red curries, but I'm smart enough not to beg and choose at the same time. Lunch specials are never a good place to start if you are looking to partake in a cuisine's specialty dish. You take what you can get and try to order the dishes with ingredients that haven't been sitting around for days on end. Specials are basically the clearance rack of the restaurant industry, but with a little knowledge and a bit more acceptance, you can sometimes come up with a meal that tastes pretty damn good.

Such is the case with Kohan's "Create-A-Lunch" specials on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Stay away from the shrimp and peanut sauce, and you should be okay.

The size of this lunch special is always ample, but it was a great surprise when I received a red curry sauce that tasted better than most Thai cafes I've tried here in Chicago. Unexpectedly complex in flavor, Kohan's red curry seeps into the fresh vegetables, perfectly fried silken tofu (usually I hate silken tofu) and medium-cooked beef strips. Not only did the curry make everything taste jucier than it probably was, but also gave my tongue and nostrils a decent tingle with its ample spiciness.

So, while Kohan has several items on their menu that are sure to be better than this red curry lunch special, you can do a lot worse (and probably will if you go anywhere else on Maxwell St. for lunch.

Rating: 3.5 / 5

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Lunch Special (Create A Lunch) from Kohan

Item Purchased: Lunch Special (Create A Lunch) from Kohan
Location Purchased: Kohan Japanese Restaurant / 730 W. Maxwell St. / Chicago, IL
Price: $7.95 + tax

Review: Kohan has a sushi roll on their menu that goes by the name of "Awesome Sushi." I want so badly to try it, but these winter months are tough on the pocketbook, what with the gas bills and whatnot, so perhaps some other time. For now, the Tuesday and Thursday build-it-yourself lunch special will do me just fine.

Though fresh, tasty and expertly prepared, the combination of shrimp, tofu, noodles, sprouts, pea pods, and peppers I chose this week was not quite as good as the last time I purchased Kohan's special.

All of the ingredients were fresh and I hate to come down on a dish prepared by one of the friendliest restaurant staffs in Chicago, but I just couldn't get down with Kohan's peanut sauce or baby shrimp. To be fair, the waitress warned me that the shrimp was "the small kind." I appreciate that kind of forthright honesty from someone who is taking my money. It means that I will let them take my money many more times in the days to come. The peanut sauce, however, tasted a bit watery and though it's spiciness was ample, there was no significant flavor to back it up.

I will be back to Kohan again in the very near future. They do good work. I just need to realize that shrimp is something worth paying for and Japanese food is not usually known for its peanut flavor.

The tofu in this dish, however... It is absolutely fantastic!

Rating: 2.75 / 5

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Lunch Special (Create A Lunch) from Kohan

Item Purchased: Lunch Special (Create A Lunch) from Kohan
Location Purchased: Kohan Japanese Restaurant / 730 W. Maxwell St. / Chicago, IL
Price: $7.95 + tax

Review: It's hard to believe it, but amidst the cardboard cutout pantomime of Maxwell St, there are still treasures to find. Bypass those plaques and the vaguely demeaning statues of the amalgamated memory of people who used to live, work and hustle on Maxwell St. and you will find Jim's Original. Beyond that, it gets tough. The historic architecture of the area has been covered with pristine facades. The stores that old timer's remember have been torn down, flattened and reduced to ashes of ashes. To catch a deal, you have to head over the highway to Canal St. There's not much left here but co-eds, condos and the type of businesses that come with them.

So, while treasure may be a relative term, you can still hunt around for a lunch-time deal. A hearty meal while you pass through (because, really... what else would you do in this part of town anymore?). You'll pay a damn sight more in cash anywhere other than Jim's, but you might save a few days on your veins. And when you work in the area, like me, lunchtime variety is hard to come by and the thrill of the hunt is all one can cling to without going nuts.

Kohan is a fairly new and fresh addition to my repertoire and probably one of the healthiest choices in the area. A Japanese sushi restaurant is not my income bracket's idea of a filling and affordable lunch, but this is a college campus... There are deals to be found... specials that bet it all on the chance that some student who was given a cheap California roll will bring his doctor parents here for dinner when they visit. Kohan's specials fall on Tuesdays and Thursdays and, though I'm no doctor, I am thinking of coming back for dinner when I have a few extra bucks in my pocket.

For $7.95, Kohan lets you choose one meat (calamari and shrimp are choices), rice or noodle, six fresh vegetables, one sauce and up to five different spices. I was required to fill out a piece of paper with check marks to order my meal. Briefly, my choices were chicken, noodles, bean sprouts, bell pepper, broccoli, pea pods, tofu, and garlic with teriyaki sauce. Don't pay too much attention to what I ordered though. There is a near infinite number of combinations to be made from the choices on Kohan's create-a-lunch menu.

Waiting for my meal to be created, I expected a cup-a-ramen size entree. Instead, I received a huge and heavy brick of the freshest vegetables, perfectly fried tofu and tender chicken all soaked in garlic and teryiaki. Quite simply, it is amazing that this only costs eight dollars.

So, if you find yourself near the new Maxwell St., please accept my empathy. After that business is over with, you should stop in Kohan and give them some of your business. I can't hold a business owner at fault for trying to succeed in an up-and-coming neighborhood. Especially if they are good at what they do... And Kohan most certainly is.

Rating: 4.5 / 5

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