Mehanata Bulgarian Restaurant Bridges Comfort Food, Exotic Cuisine

Mehanata restaurant is tucked along Lee Street, close to the 7-Eleven store just north of Algonquin Road. It's easy to miss because the restaurant at 1141 Lee St. has done a fantastic job of creating a secluded feel. Brown wooden picket fences line the road, and they're ringed with a dense thicket of potted ferns and trees to create both a visual and sound barrier.

The welcoming outdoor courtyard has eight large tables with umbrellas and a wall cheerfully painted "Welcome to Bulgarian Tradition." Inside, the outdoor European taverna theme continues with ivy strewn trestles, creating a canopy over the tables, hanging lanterns and decorative wine casks. Even the bathrooms are artfully painted.

Finding a late-night meal in Des Plaines that doesn't include a toy surprise is a challenge. I was pleased to see a bustling crowd at 9:30 p.m. on a Wednesday, so I took a table outdoors and decided to take a chance on the mystery of an exotic cuisine.

The food is an insanely good deal for the money. If your late-night budget stops at a Happy Meal, you can spend $5 for a massive, moist chicken kabob and a side order of crisp seasoned fries.  Most entrees other than the beef are $9-12 and come in sharable large portions.

Appetizers range from $4-8.50. Since I brought along a cheese loving vegetarian, we started with the $6 burek (red peppers and feta cheese breaded and fried in a light, crispy batter), $6 kashkaval pane (thick cubes of feta cheese breaded in a tempura-like batter), $4 potatoes sauté (batter dusted potatoes pan fried in butter with garlic and dill) and a $3 chicken kabob just to satisfy my curiosity.

If you're a fan of mozzarella sticks, the kashkaval pane are a great alternative. The feta has a mild flavor, less tangy than mozzarella, while also being a good solid bite to sink your teeth into. The potatoes sauté was the hands down favorite of the night. Pan fried yet light, just the right hint of garlic alongside the dill and butter. The flavor really pops when you squeeze the provided lemon wedge over the potatoes. We finished off the entire substantial plate.  

I was curious about the Bulgarian specialties, so I picked the chicken kara bunar, described simply as "peppers, onions, carrots, and tomatoes." The onions were beautifully caramelized and the chicken was so moist I barely had to twist a fork into the meat for it to come loose. It reminded me of the freshest flavors of home made Italian food without the heavy pasta weighing it down.  

In fact, if you're on a carbohydrate restricted diet, whether for diabetes or dieting purposes, Mehanata has ample, and excellent, menu choices. The cuisine is heavy on grilled meats and fresh vegetables.

We also tried the $13 kareta, a beef fillet topped with mushroom sauce and served with a ring of fries. The chicken dishes and appetizers were all amazing, but the well-done beef topped with a heavy country-style gravy wasn't to my liking. It was reminiscent of a chicken fried steak without the breading. I will give the restaurant credit for both the tenderness of the meat and the portion size.

For dessert, we choose the $4 chocolate cake and a $4 chocolate crepe. The cake came in a dense, not-too-sweet slice filled with chopped walnuts. It reminded me of baklava without the Phyllo dough. The dessert crepe (which are also available with strawberries or the far more authentic Bulgarian option of honey and chopped nuts) was everything I want in a crepe: light, eggy, spread with just the right amount of Nutella before being folded and drizzled with chocolate sauce.

The crepes are also available for breakfast along with an assortment of $4-6 omelettes or some decadent sounding "deep fried pancakes." I'll be back to try them both.

Including a glass of surprisingly serviceable house white wine for my vegetarian companion, two bottles of Bulgarian beer, three appetizers, two entrees and two desserts the total came to $71.27. I included a $14 tip for excellent, patient service. Although we were stuffed. we still took home 4 large foam containers of food that provided two more full meals as leftovers.

ADDRESS: 1141 Lee St., Des Plaines, IL

PHONE: 847-824-0100

PRICE: $$ ($10 average entrée)

DÉCOR: 95 (authentic yet upscale)

HOURS: 9 am.-1 am daily

FOOD: 92 (moist, flavorful meats and amazing appetizers)