Punjab Grill – Gourmet Fine Dining: A Fine Dine Indeed!

The Punjab Grill experience is an exploration of the wonderful diversity of the Frontier Food and the rich streams of Hindu, Sikh, Pathan and Punjab cuisine. Owned by Lite Bite Foods and founded in 2001; Punjab Grill has achieved new heights of success ever since. It refabricates the culinary experience by making it richer and modern but also keeps the old ideals at the helm.

Punjab Grill has recently opened their terrace section which overlooks the amazing al fresco courtyard of the mall to allow patrons to dine in a fancy outdoor setting. Very tastefully decorated, the outdoor section seats about 40-45 covers and has some beautiful artefacts on the walls and ceilings to add to the décor. A perfect place for a romantic candle-lit dinner with a loved one or even a fun dinner with family or friends.

As part of the celebrations, the brand has unveiled a new ‘chakhna’ menu with dishes starting at Rs. 100 featuring some delicious, out-of-the-box bar grub. The menu is deliberately curated to a short list so as to focus on the dishes and present a unique bar experience to the patrons. All classic chakna items have a unique and quirky twist to it. Only thorn in the side is that the chakna isn’t chakna if it’s not served with alcohol. However the cocktails were served a little later and they were mind-blowing.

Chakna Items

The newly introduced chakna items start from as low as Rs. 100 per dish and offer good variety across peanuts, corn and egg preparations. The tandoor-ed chakna dishes too have great variety across veg. and non-veg. options.

Mixed Seeds Chana Jor Garam [Rs. 100] – An amazing combination of the chana jor garam and masala with the peanuts. Great flavor balance of sweet and spicy, this one worked best for me. #YumYum #HighlyRecommended

Kaffir Lime Scented Classic Masala Peanuts [Rs. 100] – Nice mix of tomato, green bell pepper and onion pieces with kaffir lime essence. However found it too spicy for my palate.

Chhalli Masalewali Corn off the Cob [Rs. 100] – This had boiled sweet corn with the usual salt-n-red chili powder mix. But being a tad on the spicier side, this would go brilliant with chilled beers.

Mixed Seeds Chana Jor Garam	Kaffir Lime Scented Classic Masala Peanuts	Chhalli Masalewali Corn off the Cob

Masala Ande with Corn Meal Toast [Rs. 100] – A very comic presentation to this dish. The scrambled eggs in a small saucepan with the two triangles of corn meal toast stuck to the top like bunny’s ears. [Although I felt it resembled Batman’s ears more than a bunny’s! ;-)] Jokes apart, perfectly made scrambled eggs that went well with the cocktails.

Masala Ande with Corn Meal Toast

Tandoori Pineapple with Shashlik [Rs. 250] – I’ve always been a fan of tandoori pineapple slices, right from the BBQ Nation days and this one only upped my love for it. Perfectly grilled slices with a beautiful char on the edges. A yummy combination of the sweet-acidic taste of the pineapple with the slightly bitterish flavor of the char. Went well with the bell pepper chunks served with it. #YumYum

Tandoori Pineapple with Shashlik

Tandoori Kukkad Wings [Rs. 300] – Small chicken wings marinated in a special sauce. Absolutely delicious, finger lickin’ good! #YumYum #HighlyRecommended

Tandoori Kukkad Wings

Paneer ke Soole [Rs. 250] – ‘Soole’ is a term used for smoke-roasted kebab on a hot charcoal grill. The paneer pieces were marinated in yogurt and spices and were very tender to the cut. And deee-lish-cious!!! However what impressed me more than the taste were the generous portions. The size of the chunks was huuuuge. More than sufficient for a couple of people. #YumYum

Paneer ke Soole

Chukandar ke Kebab [Rs. 250] – These were beetroot patty stuffed with cheese and coated with bread crumbs before being fried. Pretty to see and yummy to taste!

Chukandar ke Kebab

Chicken 3 Ways [Rs. 300] – Murgh Tikka [steeped in a marinade of royal cumin-enriched cream, cheddar and garlic and glazed in the tandoor], Murgh Malai Tikka [morsels of chicken marinated in yogurt, cashewnut paste and cheese cooked to perfection in the tandoor], Murgh Hariyali Tikka.

Chicken 3 Ways

Perfectly cooked chicken in all three variants with nice marination however didn’t quite like the taste of the malai tikka. Combination of yogurt, cashew paste and cheese with the chicken felt bland. The other two variants had bang-on flavors.

Murgh Tikka	Murgh Malai Tikka	Murgh Hariyali Tikka

Kotkapure da Atta Chicken [Rs. 300] – Finally a dish with some theatrics. Whole chicken wrapped up in a muslin cloth with the marinade and then entombed in an aata casing. The cutting of the casing was a ceremony by and in itself. So delicately cut and then opened, keeping the chicken intact. And made using ZERO oil. Yupp!! As healthy as it can get!! #YumYum #HighlyRecommended

Unveiling ceremony of the Kotkapure da Atta Chicken

Cocktails

While the menu offered multiple options in the cocktails, I opted for the Nimboo ka Achaar Caipiroska [Rs. 350] made with vodka and brown sugar. The achaar flavor was a brilliant twist to the original and the potency of the added alcohol made it simply divine. And very creatively presented in a pickle jar [or barni, as it is called]. #YumYum #HighlyRecommended

Nimboo ka Achaar Caipiroska

Mains

Paneer Lababdar [Rs. 525] – Cubes of cottage cheese in a thick, creamy gravy of tomatoes, onions and bell peppers and delicately seasoned with rare herbs and spices. The dish was truly ‘lababdar’ – a strong desire of and a complete surrender to something. Succulent chunks of paneer in the delicious gravy, this is a vegetarian’s dream dish. #YumYum #HighlyRecommended

Paneer Lababdar

Murgh Makhni [Rs. 475] – This had tandoor-grilled tikka of chicken in a tomato gravy, rich in cashew and made piquant with dried fenugreek. Gravy similar to the paneer dish however the grilled chicken tikkas added another dimension to the flavors. #YumYum

Murgh Makhni

Dal Punjab Grill [Rs. 495] – This was by far the best Dal Makhani I have ever had. And that’s saying something. Whole urad dal, simmered overnight with a trace of mustard oil, finished with tomato puree and cream and tempered with clarified butter. An absolute beaut!! B-E-A-YOU-TIFUL!!!! Made me go weak in my knees. Downed multiple bowls without any accompaniments!! #YumYum #HighlyRecommended #SlaveForLife #DalGasm

Dal Punjab Grill

Chicken Dum Biryani [Rs. 625] – Served in a black pot and covered with the flour cover, it had the choicest cuts of chicken dum cooked with saffron infused basmati rice. And the aromas wafting out of the pot once the dum cover was cut, simply amazing!! Set my olfactory senses tingling. #YumYum

Chicken Dum Biryani

Dessert

Desserts are an integral part of any Indian meal, more so a North Indian meal and we were not disappointed.

The Gulab Jamun with Phirni had soft centered gulab jamun stuffed with pistachio, Nutella, white chocolate honey and almonds. The Rice soufflé phirni garnished with assorted nuts was a perfect foil to the hot gulab jamun. Absolutely delectable! #YumYum

Gulab Jamun with Phirni

As a fine dining restaurant, Punjab Grill delivers scrumptious culinary delights right from barbecue and curries to desserts under the guidance of Chef Gurpreet Singh.

Sunday Brunchin’ with Punjab Grill

Punjab Grill has now introduced a king-size Sunday Brunch with live kebabs and flavorful biryanis. Known for its rich and robust cuisines from the royal kitchens of Punjab, presented with a contemporary twist, Punjab Grill adds taste and value to your Sundays.

The restaurant’s newly launched outdoor section is the perfect Sunday setting for this brunch. A live grill section which offers six varieties of Kebabs such as Paneer Tikka Multani, Bhutiyaan de Kebab, Lahori Seekh, Murg Tikka Punjab Grill, Murgh Malai Tikka and Murgh Haryali Tikka.

For the mains, there is a widespread buffet with signature dishes like Murgh Lababdar, Paneer Lababdar and Dal Punjab Grill with accompaniments like Salads, Papad, Raita and Assorted breads. Special mention to the delicious Dum Biryanis served which enhance the experience. Save the best for the last – dessert includes hot Gulab Jamun and Phirni.

Chef Gurpreet Singh adds “Located in the bustling Viman Nagar locality in Pune, Punjab Grill is a must-visit for all food lovers and our Sunday Brunch is sure to satiate their taste buds“.

The Sunday Brunch is priced at Rs. 649++, from 12 pm to 4 pm every Sunday.

A big shout out to the gorgeous ladies of Carpe Diem – Carina and Pracey for inviting us and Sanjay Wankhede and his team for hosting us.

Punjab Grill is located at Level 2, Phoenix Market City, Viman Nagar.

Disclaimer: The invite was for a complimentary food tasting event.

This review is a narrative of my experience at the event. The views expressed in this review are solely mine and others are more than welcome to agree or disagree with the same. The review is in no way influenced either personally or commercially nor has it been lifted, copied or plagiarized from any source however I have done my due diligence on the event via publicly available information on the internet.

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