I remember exiting the Mahalakshmi Temple along with my parents on a sultry Saturday evening dating back to my childhood and taking the cab to a heavily illuminated restaurant on Dr. Ambedkar Road called Great Punjab. The experience there was absolutely amazing, to put it in brief! The food was 10/10: the Malai Kofta was temptingly creamy, the naans had a smooth white buttery texture and the Pulao had just the right amount of spice. The ambiance was totally family-suited. In all, I felt like coming back to the place. But, I never got a chance to do so until recently on my Dad’s birthday.
Hoping that the restaurant wouldn’t have changed after so many years, we chose GP for our Dad’s birthday celebration(also because my sister had won discount vouchers at a quiz contest). We chose lunchtime for the party. Since the voucher was meant for two, we were told that the four of us would get a 50% discount. So, they were accommodating enough on that front.
I expected to see the grand restaurant that I had been to years before. But on entering what I saw was nothing but wear-and-tear that the eatery had encountered over the years. Somehow I felt that the place had shrunk in size; that it had become murkier and shadier, and looked like a bar more than a restaurant. Except for us and two men drinking beer, there was no patronage at all(though some customers came in later).
I had consulted some online reviews, including Mouthshut, for the recommended foods. So, based on our findings, we had agreed to order Paneer Makhani, Dal Makhani, Naan-Kulchas and Amritsari Pulao. Plus, we also thought of ordering Veg Lyallpuri(it comes without onion-garlic so we felt that it would suit Mom well) and Veg Kolhapuri. The next shocker came when the waiter told us that there was no Dal Makhani. What, a Punjabi restaurant has no Dal Makhani! We were, therefore, thinking of ordering the yellow dal, but since it’s prepared from Urad dal(not something we’d like to have in a restaurant), we decided to skip the dal altogether.
Serving time was approximately 7-8 minutes after placing the order.
Now, comes my verdict on the fare that was served to us:
- Paneer Makhani: The paneer was soft and well-toasted; however, the tomato gravy wasn’t cooked well: the rawness of the tomatoes was noticeable. A bit sour too.
- Veg Kolhapuri: Cold, not even warm. Spicy enough, but four red chilli pieces was too much in one serving!
Veg Lyallpuri: Tasted as if somebody had emptied an entire pack of Knorr Soupy Noodles Masala on a bowl of steamed veggies. Totally avoid!
Naans & Kulchas: Were cooked well; no issues.
Amritsari Pulao: Can’t see any reason why it’s priced at 200 bucks! Just some spicy vegetable curry tossed in plain steamed long-grain rice.
And in the end, I ordered a glass of lassi for myself and Dad tried a bowl of phirni:
Phirni: Sweetness was less compared to that of phirnis available at some sweet shop. But, was well-cooked though.
Lassi: The biggest let-down of all. Not enough sweetness. I guess the restaurant’s run out of sugar! Served in a glass made of glass instead of the traditional way(sad). And the worst part, no malai on top! Give it a miss, please.
Overall, the experience isn’t worth spending more than 800 bucks on. Head instead to Pritam: maybe it’s similarly priced but you’ll be guaranteed great food and a surreal experience. Totally paisa-vasool! I only hope it’s the same, even after the many years to come.