Milan Masala Cantina – Milan, IL

I come from a small town in Illinois. It’s spelled like Milan, Italy, but it’s pronounced like MY-Lin (don’t ask, it’s an Illinois thing where they steal the name of a famous city and then mispronounce it horrible). Anyway, small towns aren’t known for their adventurous culinary palettes, most of the time. You get tons of American diner-y places, you’re allowed one Chinese restaurant, an ice cream shop, and maybe some Mexican food places if you’re lucky. So, when Milan Masala Cantina put up its sign outside on one of the main streets, it caused a stir. And I knew I had to check it out.

The more I dug into it from my lair in Minnesota, the more I know I would be going there the next trip back to see Illinois family. This restaurant is covering multiple bases, and trying to both appeal to many different tastes that people are familiar with and then also offering Indian food to people who are flavor-cautious (I’m trying to be as nice as possible to citizens of small-town Illinois). Good on you, Milan Masala Cantina! This place has an awesome menu, and it’s big. Indian food options, Mexican food options, Nepaliese food options, even a couple of Chinese-ish offerings, and a very American set of options for kids. There’s even a fusion appetizer section where they combine things that may not have ever been done before. I’m not joking about this menu – it’s really worth looking at.

I wanted to try so many things, so I really had to do my best to narrow it down. I should have tried multiple ethnicities, but all I wanted when I walked through the doors was Indian food. So, I got a Chicken 65 appetizer, Chicken Saag (medium spice) and an order of Garlic Naan. 

While you wait, there’s a nice basket of both standard tortilla chips and also what I think is Papadum chips – someone correct me if I’m wrong. But, this is genius. Before people even know what they’re doing, they’re suddenly eating sneaky Indian food! It comes with three different dipping sauces that you can use like salsa. All three are wildly different and all three are great. 

While I was sitting there waiting for my food, there were two older women who were trying new foods and were raving about everything they eat. They were adorable and asking all kinds of questions to the server and she was so gracious in answering everything they asked about. Clearly, this restaurant had won over two new converts, which is awesome!

The Chicken 65 arrived and looked/smelled amazing. And honestly, it sounded amazing (which is why I took a video of this thing sizzling like a fajita). Some places have a saucy Chicken 65 and some places have a more dry Chicken 65 and they’re both good. This was not the saucy kind and the crunch on the fried pieces of chicken was really crispy. So delicious, and even had some great spice level when you got one with some chili pepper pieces on it. This was a generous portion for an appetizer, so think of these appetizers as “for the table”. 

Garlic Naan is always going to be delicious, so I won’t cover that at all. Perfectly cooked and seasoned and garlicky. Just perfect. 

The Chicken Saag was one of the better ones I’ve had. The boneless chicken pieces were super tender and tasted like real chicken, not some frozen nuggets or something. The spinach sauce was rich and buttery and flavorful. It comes with a container of rice that never seems to be depleted, as well. And again, very generous portion, and I got full quickly. 

I’ll try to get as many people as possible to go here, since if their Mexican food is half as good as their Indian food, it’s going to slay. Might even try a Chinese dish if I’m there soon! You all should give this place a shot and I really think you’ll be able to find something you like here. It’s a family-run business and they’re there to make sure you like your food, so don’t be afraid to ask questions. They’re sooooo nice.

I know they have a lunch buffet on Thursdays that I’m dying to get. It’s got both Indian and Mexican foods on it. It’s got to be good. I’ll keep my fingers crossed I’m working from the QCs soon!

https://www.milancatina.com