« White House and Capitol foreclose :+: Friendly neighbourhood Leander man »

Asides

Great Food, Cold Beer with a side of hypocrisy

By: Runa :+: Under: Asides, Humor, Restaurant, Review
On: ⋅ April 2, 2008 ⋅  Email this post ⋅  Print this post ⋅ Post a comment
Discuss in our off-topic forums

Looks like you are new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

The best part of a visit to India (next to meeting family and friends) is , for me, the ability to unabashedly give up any pretense of dieting and gorge on all kinds of gastronomic delights. On every trip to the des , I try to hit all my favorite restaurants at least once. This time , while in New Delhi, I had a great experience at Punjabi by Nature in Gurgaon .First off, it gets two thumbs up for what has to be my favorite restaurant name ever (edging out the predecessor in my mind Chor Bizarre). Its true that one has either to be Punjabi or married to one ( like I am ) to fully appreciate the nuances of the name !

Our dinner party was made up of the parents-in-law, my cardiologist brother-in-law, his wife ( another doctor) , yet another doctor friend and his wife. ( There is a reason for my mentioning their professions - believe me !). The restaurant is situated in the midst of a cluster of high rise buildings that house call centers. Naturally, the patrons of the restaurant include a healthy number of call center workers -which means the place is full of smartly dressed twenty-somethings with money to burn. Before we even got down to the serious business of ordering food, I was pretty impressed by the decor. Fresh from the US - where one of my pet peeves is the kitschy look of almost all desi restaurants ( the mandatory Nataraja, the tired Omar Khayyam posters etc ), I really appreciated the water fountain at the entrance. Each table was beautifully set with glass vases topped with lit, floating candles and flowers. The beige and gray color scheme was both soothing and smart.

A friend of mine here in the US had told me that I should not miss the Vodka Gol-Guppa ( aka Pani Puri - dough-fried hollow savory pastry that are usually filled with spiced water ) an exclusive specialty of this place. You see my dilemma? I am at a table with the in-laws and a majority of doctors - none of whom touch liquor and me the chhoti bahu (youngest daughter-in-law aka the bottom of the totem pole). I decided that since its been almost sixteen years since I got married - I could probably go ahead and order it without threatening the bonds of matrimony. So I did just that. The Vodka Gol-Guppa is a genius idea - 2 gol-guppas served with a choice of either tamarind -flavored or masala-flavored vodka and priced at Rs.450! (You have to know that - when I lived in India seven years ago- a plate of 6 ordinary non-alcoholic gol-guppas was available for Rs. 10 off the nearest friendly neighborhood chaat (street-food) cart). I went with the masala vodka and soon it appeared - two perfectly round gol-guppa shells, a shot glass full of masala-flavored vodka and - the piece de resistance - a 24 oz glass of cold,amber beer. I scarfed the gol-guppas which were everything you’d expect them to be- tangy, cold and slightly naughty .The cold beer stood there like a sentinel, silently. My mouth was burning and yet a curious sense of social hypocrisy prevented me from touching the beer. In my twisted world, the minuscule amount of vodka passed muster, but the thought of slurping from a tall glass of beer while surrounded by my teetotaling elders and betters was too much. I refrained.

The main courses followed. For the first time in my life I tasted the delectable “dahi ke kebab“.This is a pan-fried cutlet -type kebab , filled with an amazing mixture of hung curd, ginger and spices. Were it not for my aforementioned marital status, I could have married that kebab - it was so good. Almost as good was the tandoori chicken - props for it not being the dreadful neon orange color that one normally sees in this ubiquitous dish. The kali dal ( black lentil) was also to-die- for good. The palak (spinach) was slightly uninspired- though personally I have never found green,leafy vegetables inspiring at all .However, the naans were good. A word of caution: the spice level is extremely high in all the food.My eyes were streaming with tears - not for the beer, but because I found the food to be really spicy. The server took pity on me and brought us a dish of lovely, cooling curds (Uber tip: Water does not work to reduce the effect of too much spice - dairy - either milk or curds cools instead). At this point, a tip of the hat to all the assorted “foreigners” ( aka non-Indians) who occupied many of the tables - they were enjoying the food- spice and all - making me feel like a wimp.

Punjabi by Nature is a popular choice for business dining. Scrumptious food, great service and a nice ambiance make it the perfect place to introduce westerners to the wonders of good Indian food. I’ll definitely go there again on my next visit to India. By that time, I am sure that I would have overcome whatever few scruples I have left and will be able to do full justice to the gol-guppas , beer and all !

« White House and Capitol foreclose :+: Friendly neighbourhood Leander man »
Discuss in our off-topic forums