Tired of the same dull, old menu selections? I was. That's why when given the option to select…read morethe restaurant for my Birthday dinner I chose Ararat.
Tucked unassumingly in a shopping mall in Mundelein, Ararat is a tiny hidden gem. With only about an 8 table dining room, it is a cozy, intimate venue, with a huge and amazing menu, featuring Armenian cuisine.
A party of 4, we ordered drinks, 3 appetizers, and an entree for each of us. The portions were generous, delicious, and we probably over-ordered by at least one appetizer, but we wanted to sample and share as many dishes as possible.
We began with glasses of tasty Armenian apricot wine. Our appetizers came out in sequence rather than all at once, starting with Italian Lady's Fingers. A mixed salad of cooked bell peppers, nuts, onion and prunes. Very good.
Next we were served Khorovats, Armenian style grilled eggplant . Also an excellent dish.
Last was beef and lamb dumplings, Khinkili. One of these large, juicy dumplings could have been almost half a meal by itself. I've tried khinkili in a number of restaurants, and these were the best I've eaten.
Our entrees were Steak Kebab, Lamb Kebab, Lamb Rice Pilaf, and Frikasse, a chicken, mushroom, vegetable in sour cream sauce dish. All were very good, and were were saddened that we were all too full to try any of their baked goods desserts.
The meal was excellent, the small dining room comfy and the service very good. One word of caution: If you plan to dine here you must be patient. Dishes were served as they were prepared, and apparantly little if anything is prepared in advance. The advantage is hot, fresh, and tasty dishes. The disadvantage is that there was a 10 minute delay between service of the 1st and 4th entree.
We were in no hurry, so we did not mind. Also we were sharing our selection.
For a casual, relaxed, delicious dining adventure I highly recommend Ararat.