Brothers Dhaba, Amritsar

Amritsar. Golden Temple. Brothers Dhaba. The three words go hand in hand and it is due to both the location of the restaurant as well as the taste of the food that Brothers Dhaba has to offer. Brothers Dhaba is walking distance from the Golden Temple and is unmissable to the passer by on the way out of Govind Saab. It is highly recommended to complete the Amritsari Dhaba experience after paying ones obeisance at Govind Saab.

The full name of Brothers Dhaba is Bade Bhai ka Brothers Dhaba and is a direct outcome of the elder brother of the family that owned Bhrawan Da Dhaba starting up his own restaurant in 2001. The two restaurants run side by side without apparent trouble and Brothers Dhaba is clearly positioned on the hygiene platform on a relative level. The restaurant is fully air conditioned and there are a lot of uniformed staff attempting to be very prompt in service.

At Brothers Dhaba, we sampled two dishes which are the trademark of Punjab as a whole and Amritsar in particular. The Amritsari Kulcha and Sarson Da Saag with Makki di Roti. The Amritsari Kulcha is a many layered Kulcha with a stuffing of a potato an onion paste. Amritsar does not go easy on ghee and butter and the Amritsari Kulcha was not an exception. It was cooked to perfection soft when bit into, yet maintaining the essential crispiness of an authentic Punjabi Paratha. The Kulcha was served with Pindi Chole, some salad and a bit of boondi raita and is pretty much a meal by itself.

Sarson da saag and makki di roti is a staple for the Punjab households during winter. The leaves of the mustard plant are cooked into a gravy, and it is served with rotis made from corn flour. The dish is served with a generous dollop of white butter on top of the saag, which immediately banishes all thoughts of health food, but greatly augments the sensations of your taste buds. It is up to you which way you want to go, but Amritsar is definitely not a place for the cholesterol conscious.

The Sarson Da Saag was very tasty but I somehow like the one served at Urban Tadka Mumbai better. You can call me blasphemous but I am just being honest. The Amritsari kulcha however was outstanding and Bade Bhai ka Brothers Dhaba is not to be missed when in Amritsar.

A meal for two at Bade Bhai ka Brothers Dhaba will cost you approximately Rs 200/-

How to get there: As mentioned, Brothers Dhaba cannot be missed when you approach the Golden Temple. It is located right opposite the Amritsar town hall.

Makhan Dhaba, Amritsar

Fish Amritsari is possibly the most ubiquitous fish preparation found in the menu cards of Indian restaurants. In Amritsar and was saved culinary blasphemy by managing to taste the preparation at the restaurant Amritsar residents consider to be the veritable home of the dish - Makhan Dhaba at Lawrence Road.

Makhan Dhaba has been serving up Amritsari Fish for six decades now and is again a restaurant that is defined by the dish. The restaurant very basic to say the least and has sparse seating arrangements. Residents use the outlet more from a take away perspective, but you have to remember its Amritsar, the land of milk and honey, food is about freshest, purest ingredients, fantastic taste, if you are looking for ambiance you best remain in Mumbai or Delhi. The taste of hot fish, beautifully flavoured served fresh from the frying pan, in cold, wintry Amritsar is an experience to be treasured and a must do in the city of the Golden Temple.

The Amritsari fish is effectively fried freshwater fish, which has been marinated in a spice rub, having a distinct flavour of Ajwain which is the real trademark of the preparation. The fish used for the preparation in Amrtisar is the freshest sole from the waters of the Beas. Makhan Dhaba has apparently specialised in keeping the fish the freshest possible through a special process until the same is ripe for frying. The fish is served to you, soft and tender, the skin is nice and crisp, covering the soft white flesh. The spice rub gives every morsel fantastic flavour.

A nice touch is the fact that as you are waiting for the fish to be served, you are served a morsel after the fish is cooked just right to check for taste. I guess they fry it slightly longer for the customers who are not that comfortable with having fish.

Bengalis, myself included are slightly snobbish about fish, especially freshwater and believes that it is a sing for a non Bengali to even attempt to cook river fish. However I doff my hat to the chefs at Makhan Dhaba and rate the Amritsari fish as high as any that I have ever tasted.

How to get there: Makan Dhaba is on Lawrence road, and seems to have recently changed location slightly. However it is still near Lawrence road and the locals should be able to clearly point the newer whereabouts to you.

Fish Amritsari at Makhan Dhaba is served by weight, in multiples of 250 gm. Each 250 gm will cost you Rs 200/-

Aman Chicken, Ludhiana

There are dishes that define restaurants. The cello kebab at Peter Cat, the Bombvil fry at Gazalee, are dishes so tasty and flavorful that the restaurant almost suffers from patrons not going beyond that option in the menu card. There are restaurants that define dishes. Golbari, in Shyambazaar, Kolkata lays down the benchmark for the bengali Kosha Mangsho, Tunday Kababi for the Galaouti Kebab, these are restaurants which are the stuff of legend. Restaurants which are the unquestioned standard bearer of their signature dishes. Even if the dish at other places may taste better to the individual, it is caveat-ed with "as per my taste" as the standards at these holy grails can never be logically surpassed.

Then there are restaurants like Aman Chicken in Ludhiana, which redefines a dish, (in the case of Aman chicken, its just a side dish) and takes it to a whole new level, making the dish not only the star of the meal, but which makes all other versions one has tasted, irrelevant, inconsequential and not even worth spelling through the same words of the alphabet. Aman Chicken achieves redefinition and redefines the Butter Naan.

Punjab is the land of milk and honey, and cholesterol cannot be a factor in the land of five rivers where it is almost criminal to cook without using the purest ingredients and the most wonderful ghee available. So let us not even get into that area, and let us talk of the Butter Naan served at Aman's Chicken. The Naan is beatifully crisp, very hot and packed with so much butter that it has to be brought to the table folded in the shape of a samosa to prevent the butter from spilling out.

Gluttonous, sinful, unhealthy but so very, very tasty that it renders all else you have as an accompaniment, almost unnecessary. The purest Punjabi white butter is used and it is layered as well, permeating to each and every morsel of the bread and ensuring that each piece is as moist and sinfully tasty as the preceding. At Aman's chicken gluttony is not a sin but a way of life.

Not that the sides are any less tasty. The "side"s we ordered at Aman's chicken was half a plate of Tandoori Chicken and half a plate of the Rahra chicken which was cooked as per the high standards of any famed Punjabi dhaba. The Tandoori chicken was tasty and soft but had the advantage of being served before we were captivated by the Butter Naan.

The boneless Rahra chicken was served with a brown, thick and very rich gravy which went delightfully with the butter naan. The greatest achievement was the fact that the Rahra chicken managed to give us a sense of taste with the Butter Naan around. But there was only one thing that remained with me after the meal at Aman's chicken and will remain with me for life - The Butter Naan Redefined!

A meal for two at Aman Chicken without drinks will cost you approximately Rs 500/-

How to get there: Aman Chicken is at Shastri Nagar, near Ishmeet Chowk in Ludhiana. It is easily one of the more famed eateries in the city and you will not have trouble getting directions from the locals.

Punjab Grill, Juhu, Mumbai

Punjab Grill is an attempt to fill one of the most obvious need gaps in the culinary land scape of Mumbai. The city (at least the suburbs) really has relatively few options (discounting the 5 star chains) if you want to sample high quality North Indian / Punjabi cuisine and to a large extent Punjab Grill manages to fill that rather glaring culinary hole.
Punjab Grill is a fine dining restaurant aimed at bringing you the best flavours of the undivided Punjab and as soon as you enter the restaurant, one gets the impression that the evening will be an enjoyable one. They have two layouts, an air conditioned interior as well as an adequately fanned outdoor option. The outdoor option is very classily done up, so much so, that we decided to sit outdoors inspite of the Mumbai heat. What I particularly liked from a customer experience perspective is the outdoor bar they have set up near the entrance which can and was being used by guests while waiting to be seated.
What also strikes you is the amazing level of service you experience, the waiters are all smart and knowledgeable. Service is paramount and their is no division of tables or zones at least visibly, in case the waiter allocated to you is busy, others are most willing to pitch in. What I appreciated from the waiters was also their honesty with the items on the menu, we were very clearly informed when we were ordering some aam-panna that the same was not original Mango and so might not be as authentic as some other available options, especially the shikanji.
The food at Punjab Grill is something that they take a lot of pride in and not without reason as we experienced. We sampled their kebab platter, the galouti kebabs, Daal Punjab grill and Kheema naan. The Kebab Platter had servings of Mutton Chaap, Chicken Reshmi Kebabs, Chicken Tikka and Fish Amritsari. The chicken was soft, well flavoured and very tasty, the fish was authentic with the flavour of ajwain standing out. The star of the platter was undoubtedly the mutton chaap, well chosen pieces and cooked so that the mutton adequately stays attached to the bone while perfectly cooked. The melt-in-your-mouth Galouti kebabs were also very good, among the best I have sampled in Mumbai, the only negative being the way they were served, on a small bread with an onion slice. It looked great and tasted okay but it was almost presented too well to be interfered with. I like a little bit more freedom in the way I want to have my Galouti.
The Daal - Punjab Grill was as good as you expect in any high quality Punjabi restaurant and did not disappoint in the least, I however felt that there was room to improve with the Kheema Naan as I felt that the flavour did not really come through and got a bit awkward to finish and reduced me that I had opted for the Garlic Naan. Overall, while I would have to say the food was very good but did not floor me and make my mouth water. Call it being spoilt but the food of undivided Punjab makes me yearn for food I have sampled in Amritsar, Chandigarh and Ludhiana. I expect the food from present day Pakistan to be as good as the kebabs in Lucknow. While Punjab Grill does a fantastic job, those levels of culinary experience are never quite achieved. To be honest I have sampled similar culinary excellence only at the ITC Grand Maratha in Mumbai so the comparison might not be fair.
Punjab Grill however won my heart with the little touch at the end. I absolutely adored the complementary Paan shots. Served in Tequila glasses and with all the flavours of a good paan the Paan shot made me rank Punjab Grill as one of the restaurants I would definitely go back to, inspite of the slightly steep price.
A meal for two at Punjab Grill without drinks will cost you approximately Rs 3000/-
How to get there: Punjab Grill is opposite the Costa Coffee in Juhu. If you enter Juhu through Juhu Gali and turn right towards Juhu Circle, it will fall on your left. The gate falls to your left, after you take a left past the restaurant boards visible from the main road.

Pind Baluchi, Nehru Place, Delhi

I love chicken! I mean I just love the bird! The bird lovers and animal rights activists might hate me for saying so but I believe that the bird was just created so that the homo sapien could breed it, eat it and drool over the many wondrous preparations that emerge out of it. I have eaten more than my fair share of chickens and the two preparations of the bird that I absolutely adore are the Fried Chicken, and the Tandoori Chicken. Not just any fried or tandoori chickens however, but specific ones. If you want to have Fried Chicken, it has to be at KFC, thanks to the Colonel, the standardization is great and chances are that you will have one very near wherever you are. If you want to have Tandoori Chicken, it has to be in Delhi, either at Karims or at Pind Baluchi.

Pind Baluchi has an iffy entrance to say the least. It is right in the middle of a bazaar and is located on the first floor of the market, unless one has been there before one is really not sure if the winding staircases are leading into a high quality restaurant or to a shop for electronics repairs. The interior however is a lot better. They have modeled the interior on the village or the “pind”, there are makeshift trees and décor on the walls trying to impart a village atmosphere and doing a reasonably successful job. The seating is comfortable and the waiters are prompt as is the pace at which the food is delivered on the table.

Apart from the obvious Tandoori chicken, we ordered the other specialty of the North, the butter chicken. Combined with the butter naan, it made for a great meal, albeit slightly high on the cholesterol count. But when in Delhi, especially in winter, cholesterol count should not be on your priority list. The tandoori chicken was all a great tandoori should be, just the right amount of masala, soft, yet not at all undercooked, carrying the flavour of the tandoor yet not with a single unwanted char of carbon. Totally delightful and somehow a version that at least Mumbai and Kolkata have been completely unable to replicate or reproduce. Down right awesome!

A meal for two at Pind Baluchi without drinks will cost you approximately Rs 500/-.

How to get there: Pind Baluchi is located on the first floor of the main market at Nehru Place. You have to ask around a bit, but the Tandoori Chicken will make it all completely worth your while.

Pal Dhaba, Sector 28, Chandigarh

Pal Dhaba is one of Chandigarh’s more famous outlets for some really nice tasty Punjabi food. I chanced on the restaurant during my last visit to Chandigarh and was not disappointed at all. Pal Dhaba immediately conveyed what all Dhabas are meant to. Go over. Sit comfortably. Enjoy some very fresh, tasty and hot food at extremely reasonable price.

The décor at Pal Dhaba is very rudimentary. Not exactly Khatiyas but not much beyond. Units of 4 chairs and a table pepper the restaurant floor giving the view that food is the clear value that is to be expected. The service is well like that of a typical Dhaba, do not expect to be waited on. A decent amount of arm waving will be required to get the waiters attention even if the restaurant is not exactly packed. The service is also slightly on the slower side. The other slightly economy driven aspect was the refusal to serve onions at the table. The rising prices meant that one had to order onions for Rs 20 a plate! Otherwise you had to do with the mooli (or radish) and the ubiquitous green chutney!

The food was delicious, as is expected in a Punjabi Dhaba. We ordered Masala Chicken and Mutton Keema Kaleji, with some Roti. The Chicken Masala was basically a form of chicken Kassa with a bit more Garam Masala than usual, it went down very well with the roti and served to warm the body in the Punjabi winter. The Keema Kaleji was good without being exceptional, basically a few pieces of mutton liver mixed with some mutton keema. The only issue I had with the dish was that the liver and the Keema did not go add anything to each other and may have been tastier as separate entities. The rotis were warm and soft, like Punjabi rotis should be. Overall a great meal, the place would be highly recommended to get a typical Punjab dhaba experience in Chandigarh.

A meal for two at Pal Dhaba without drinks will cost you approximately Rs 350/-

How to get there: Pal Dhaba is in Sector 28 in Chandigarh. Impossible to miss once you approach the main market.

The Dhaba, Baghajatin, Kolkata

In 1984, when the first pogrom ensued in the history of independent India and Sikhs were mercilessly slaughtered all through the country, Kolkata was spared. The communist Government in one of its few moments of glory ensure that not a single Sikh was hurt. Kolkata became one of the favourite cities of the Khalsa outside of the land of five rivers and the culinary scape of the Kolkata was the winner for it.
There are a couple of Punjabi Dhabas famous in Kolkata and one of them most joyfully has decided to spread its wings. The Dhaba at Ballygunge Phari has decided to open a branch at Baghajatin mod towards Garia and was the place where I had a typically hearty Punjabi meal in my last visit to Kolkata.
The Dhaba has very simple, sparse decor. Clean but without any unnecessary pieces of art on the walls or on the floor. The focus is wholly and solely on food and jolly good food it is as well.
As is the case as with most restaurants in Kolkata, the menu was fixed in my mind even before I stepped in. The Naan is a must at The Dhaba, large, and very soft. With Naan, we ordered the Egg Tadka and the Chicken Bharta, two of Kolkata's great dishes and especially good at The Dhaba. The Egg Tadka is basically nothing but Daal Tadka cooked with a bit of egg scrambles with it. The taste of egg adds to the flavour but what really gets me is the slightly burnt taste you get with the Tadka of Kolkata. The burnt flavour gives a whole new twist to the taste buds and takes the Egg Tadka on a whole different plane of quality. Super and incredibly good!
The chicken Bharta is shredded chicken and a sliced boiled egg cooked in a sauce not very different from the standard butter masala. The taste is not exceptionally different but is as good as any butter chicken anywhere in the country. The fact that the Bharta is not usually available at restaurants outside of Kolkata makes the dish that much more special and a definite order in all visits to The Dhaba.
A meal for two at Tha Dhaba without drinks will cost you approximately Rs 450/-
How to get there: The Dhaba is right on Baghajatin Mod, where all the buses and autos stop to unboard passengers. If you are travelling from Jadavpur towards Garia, The Dhaba will fall towards your left.

Great Punjab, Cypress Market, Powai

Great Punjab is a typical Punjabi style dhaba which is usually difficult to find in Mumbai. Replete with a Sardarji owner who is not averse to loudly telling you that you are parking your car too close to his vehicle even when your on your way in as against on the way out. I love sardarjis for their forthrightness and the Great Punjab is an honest attempt at a Punjabi style Dhaba in Mumbai. Great Punjab does most of its business through the phone on the delivery model and the seating space is slightly on the cramped side. The ambiance is not great but the food usually is.
I say usually because while we swear by the Chicken Malai Kebab and have ordered the preparation multiple number of times at home, when we ordered the 2nd helping at the restaurant we found that parts of the Kebab were slightly raw. Although implicit in the statement is the fact that we were so delighted at the first helping that the second was demanded. The other problem the restaurant faces is the inability to step up to the plate and serve up a deserving follow up to the outstanding starter that is the Chicken Malai Kebab. The last time we were there we ordered the Chicken Dopiyaza with Roti, which was eatable but nothing to remember the meal by. We left the restaurant slightly disappointed at the undercooked second helping of the Chicken Malai Kebab, but that will not stop me from continuing to order and devour the preparation. Maybe, they were really under time pressure for speedy delivery of the 2nd helping and ended up serving it slightly raw - I will give them the benefit of the doubt based on my home delivery experiences.
A meal for two at Great Punjab without drinks will cost you approximately Rs 600/-
How to get there: Great Punjab is on the Cypress Market road in Powai. If you are driving from Haiko towards Cypress Market the restaurant will fall on your left.

Apna Dhaba, Andheri East

Apna Dhaba on Andheri Kurla Road is another one of the decent, if unspectacular food joints in the Andheri East area. The restaurant takes its Dhaba promise very seriously and the decor is great if slightly over the top. There are a sprinkling of posters of old Hindi classics, but what strikes you are the Matkas and Khatiyas which hang from the ceiling. Giving the place a definitely Punjabi touch and feel.
On the food front we ordered Chicken Patiala, Paneer Kadhai and Yellow daal. The chicken Patiala had a little too much gravy for my liking and after the first two servings one had to really fish for the chicken pieces. The Paneer and the Daal were fine. The food was decent without being really great, and "passable" would be the most apt adjective.

A meal for two without drinks at Apna Dhaba would cost you approximately Rs 350/-

How to get there: Impossible to miss, Apna Dhaba is opposite the Trade Star building that houses Axis Bank on the other side of Andheri Kurla Road. For those who are not as conversant with the area. Drive on Andheri Kurla Road from the Western Express Highway towards Sakinaka. Apna Dhaba will fall on your left around five minutes after you cross Kohinoor Hotel.

Only Paratha, R-City Mall, Ghatkopar

Only Paratha is probably the second entry of a pure vegetarian restaurant in this blog, that fact complimented by my going there more than once and my intent to do so again as testament to the quality of the fare served up by the outlet. If you are vegetarian and even if you are not you must go there pretty soon and its my word that you will not be disappointed.

Only Paratha serves its Parathas with two servings of Daal, some onions and some Boondi Raita. This time luckily for me they gave me the option of taking some Rajma instead of the yellow daal. There is no guarantee that they will do this for you too, but go ahead and ask... If there is any milk at all to be had... it will go to the baby that cries! I am not very adventurous at ordering veg food and therefore stuck to a Aloo and Gobi Parathas. Only Paratha serves more than 50 varieties so all you veggies can really freak out. You will not be disappointed, more than the Parathas I think what they really do well is the combination they serve. The rajma and the kaali daal were both very very good. Must do when in the mood for some really good vegetarian Punjabi food.

A meal for two at Only Paratha will cost you approximately Rs 300/-

How to get there: Only Paratha is in the food court in R-City Mall