Unlike Zenterra, the first person who reviewed Punjabi by Nature here, I have largely positive things to say about the restaurant. And in a way it seems somewhat befitting to find food and glass associated closely in a place that serves vodka in gol-gappas.
Though in all fairness, the first could cause a slow and gruesome death and what?s a little vomitus compared to that? Yes, I admit it. I?m not very adventurous when it comes to cocktails and the very idea of ethanol soaked deep-fried street food (the restaurant?s much hyped specialty) is enough to make me stick my finger down my throat. Next they?ll be flavoring your dal makhani with essence of authentic Punjabi dhaba cook sweat ? they probably do it already if the waiter doesn?t like the looks of you.
But like I mentioned earlier, this review is not meant to be a bitch-fest. I visited the Vasant Vihar branch of the restaurant last Sunday. Though I chastised myself bitterly for not showing up on a weekday when I saw they have ?late? happy hours (probably to suit the Punjabi sophisticate?s habit of consuming overpriced shahi paneer at 11PM complemented by Chateaux de Old Monk), I did not regret my overall experience one bit. Of course, my peaceful post-dinner state of mind may have had something to do with the fact that someone else footed the bill.
However, if you order right, your meal need not be that expensive. Ordering right in an Indian restaurant, in my opinion, is to focus on what seems most distinctive on the menu instead of laying on the usual greasy tomato gravy based gunk that passes for North Indian cuisine. While the menu contains some of these ?staples?, I was encouraged by the fact that it did not run into a hundred pages of essentially the same thing renamed over and over again. What you get is a slab of wood engraved on both sides with what the kitchen has to offer and that?s it. It was also a relief to know that they don?t serve ?Chinese? food or what Vir Sanghvi aptly refers to as ?Sino-Ludhianvi? cuisine. Or something to that effect. You know what I mean.
The four of us got around to ordering once we?d settled down with our pitcher of beer and took in the surroundings. We were on the ground floor which was suitably spacious. I liked the giant paintings of faceless Sardarjis pictured against backgrounds of ?Punjabi? things such as trucks and fields. My delinquent brother didn?t like one that showed a bare-torsoed man alongside a demure ghungat clad sardarni. His verdict: the wrong subject was topless.
At least we now know he?ll never make it as an art critic. Fortunately, the service was very efficient and it wasn?t long before the fantastic Raan made its grand entrance and effectively quashed an increasingly uncomfortable debate about bits of flesh that have nothing to do with leg of lamb. Now this Raan is an absolute must and can easily satisfy up to four greedy carnivores.
It is superior in quality to even the one you get at Bukhara and is a lot cheaper at around 500 bucks or so. I read somewhere that it?s marinated in rum. Just thought I should mention it even though the booze doesn?t make it sing or perform amusing antics the way it does Punjabis. Other unusual dishes include tandoori quail, prawns marinated in wine (sounds about as Punjabi as veal parmesan!) and kastoori kebab.
If you really must stick to more pedestrian ware such as plain old Tandoori Chicken and the like, Punjabi By Nature may not be your best bet. You can get excellent deals at tons of more modest establishments or at takeaways such as Galena near Connaught Place. But if you want to sample more exotic dishes, then this restaurant is a wise choice unless of course your company has given you a massive expense account and you can afford to go to restaurants such as Dum Pukht or Bukhara in Five star hotels when you feel the urge to sink your teeth into something from the clay oven. But if you?re happy eating out and ordering butter chicken and dal makhani alone, then it doesn?t really matter where you go and you can be content in the culinary purgatory that is Pandara road.
I also wouldn?t particularly recommend Punjabi By Nature to Vegetarians but then what do you recommend to vegetarians? But for meat lovers this restaurant is well worth a visit even if it?s only for the Raan. I plan to try the quail next time and if someone physically restrains me from going for the draught beer perhaps I?ll even give their very interesting sounding cocktails a taste. So yes, I?ll be going there again.