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| - Restaurant review
I may be on a roll here with 2 great restaurant experience this weekend in Chambana. I have seen this place so many times and thought that it would be over priced average Italian food. Instead I find out that it is a very reasonably priced italian food with above average food. Don't get me wrong, this is not a Volare or Quartino which are some of my favorite Italian places in Chicago. The restaurant itself is relatively small compared to the outside appearance. Staff are quite friendly and helpful. They have one of the best complimentary bread bowls in this area with garlic bread, french bread, and another bread all served hot and warm. You have fresh grated Parmesan and olive oil at the table. The bread company should come here and learn a thing or two about bread! I ended up trying the chicken saltimbocca which was breast filet with melted cheese and proscuitto in a white wine sauce. The chicken was quite tender, but the one comment I would have is that the sauce was lacking flavor or saltiness. The angle hair pasta was very bland otherwise, however with some grated parmesan cheese it tasted better. My wife had the Fettuccine Frutta Di Mare which was squid ink fettuccine along with shrimp, lobster, and mushroom in alfredo sauce. The noodles again cooked to perfection, sauce was lacking saltiness for some odd reason. Even with the flavors a bit lacking, the amazing bread basket along with the relatively inexpensive price of 17 dollar for premium italian dishes bushes this to a 4 star Yelp experience. I just wish they could get the sauce down. I unfortunately was too full to eat and review the dessert, but they say on the menu that it is the best dessert in town....
Pros: Hot/fresh/variety bread basket, noodles cooked perfectly, inexpensive
Cons: Sauce could use a little work, not enough saltiness or flavoring
Hidden deals: Mon and Thursday live piano during dinner hours, Wednesday 1/2 price wine, and Sunday brunch for 20 dollars (not sure if I will be back to try this as it looks like a pretty standard brunch food)
Health code rating: B, looked like a very clean restaurant but some off marks on the restaurant inspections http://champaign.il.gegov.com/champaign/estab.cfm?facilityID=2040
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