Indian food consultant Jiggs Kalra's Punjabi cuisine restaurant may weigh down a bit heavy on your wallet, but not on your tummy. It serves innovative, high quality food in an elegant setting

Indian food consultant Jiggs Kalra's Punjabi cuisine restaurant may weigh down a bit heavy on your wallet, but not on your tummy. It serves innovative, high quality food in an elegant setting

Punjabi hospitality is at its best at a new restaurant that has tasty food, great interiors and attentive service.u00a0 What happens when the country's most renowned Indian food consultant, who has created meals for the PM and visiting Heads of State, starts his own brand of restaurants? You get Punjab Grill by Jiggs Kalra: a fine dining Indian restaurant specialising in Punjabi fare that beats the pants of its competitors.

Kalra, who has worked primarily with Indian restaurants at luxury hotels attempts to recreate the same standards at his stand-alone outlet located in the hoity-toity Palladium Mall.
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Expectedly, Punjab Grill is expensive, but the food is magnificent and service, attentive, making it a perfect venue for a special meal or if you wish to entertain foreign guests. The elegance of the food was discernible in the first sips of the tall, creamy Kesar Pisteywali Lussee (Rs 150), topped with flecks of dried nuts packed with pieces of crumbled peda. Delicious and, like most of the fare here, not heavy on the tummy.

The Tandoor section is elaborate and offers unusual options like Tandoori Scallops, Tandoori Duck and Lobster. We tried the simpler Bhatti Da Murgh Pindiwala (Rs 425), which is first cooked in a tandoor, then in a bhatti.u00a0

Made with a leg joint that had been marinated overnight and cut into two before serving, it was crisp, succulent flesh with a wonderful mesh of spicy flavours a great alternative to regular Tandoori Chicken.
Noticing that we hadn't ordered the Kham Khatai (Non-veg Rs 450, veg Rs 350), which is a signature dish, the manager offered us a tasting portion.

Their version of the Galouti, a kabab served on a tiny paratha and topped with a solitary leaf of mint inside a single onion ring on a bed of mint chutney, was soft and smooth like a French Pu00e2tu00e9, but tasted of robust Indian garam masala flavours.

Since we had passed over the Amritsari Machchi as an appetiser, we opted for the Patiala Shahi Machchi (Rs 450) for main course.

Unbelievably tasty, it was as structured and delicate as a fine wine. First you tasted the sourness of the yoghurt gravy, and at the back of the palate, the aromatic flavours of the whole red chilli and coriander tadka. The River Sole fillets in the gravy were fresh, and melt-in-the-mouth.

Their signature dish, the Daal Punjab Grill (Rs 350), their version of maa ki dal lacks the comforting wholesomeness that you normally associate with it.

There were just two disappointments the Raan Hari Singh Nalwa (Rs 690), large chunks of meat unevenly cooked with a marinade that hadn't really absorbed by the meat.

And the three different fillings nutella, white chocolate and hazelnut paste in the trio of Gulab Jamuns (Rs 175) were pointless and didn't enhance the taste. A complimentary shooter of paan blended with ice cream was an innovative touch to the end of the meal.

At: 3rd floor, Palladium Mall, Lower Parel.
Call: 43473980 / 81
Punjab Grill didn't know we were there. The Guide reviews anonymously and pays for meals

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