I have some very fond memories associated with Punjabi by Nature. It was the venue of my first date with my wife during our courtship where we could hardly finish anything because of their huge portions and got most of the food packed. Then who can forget their chilli golgappa shots or the famous raan-e-punjab.
I believe the ownership has changed hands and yesterday along with a couple of friends, I discovered that they have an outlet at Apparel House, Gurgaon. Their manager informed us that the outlet has been there for almost 8-9 months but somehow we never heard of it. The same was also evident with the very few tables occupied at the restaurant.
The restaurant is quite big and can seat almost 100+ people including their alfresco area and the bar is already functional. Because they are located in a corporate area, probably they see more traction for lunch than dinner.
Food was delicious to say the least. Whole tandoori chicken came cut into four big pieces. The bird was small and it retained its juiciness and marination just right. I especially loved the coriander-mint chutney which was thick and coarsely ground. It could have a bit more of khatai in the form of anardana etc to give it more spunk. Dahi kebab were amongst the best I have had. The texture of the soft hung curd complemented the small bits of ginger and green chilly with a nice crust on top. A sweet jam kept on top of kebabs further accentuated the flavours.
We all loved the nicely done tandoori prawns. The four pieces of delicious jumbo prawns marinated in cheddar cheese and garlic vanished in a jiffy. However, we felt that the portion size didn’t justify the pricing of Rs1495. It was perhaps the only thing on the menu that we felt was over priced.
For mains, we ordered their speciality jumbo garlic naan along with dal makhani, murgh masala and bullet pudina aloo. This garlic naan at just Rs195 can easily feed a family of four but we wanted to be greedy and ordered a single laccha parantha also which was again pretty Punjabi-sized compared to what you get in the market.
I won’t go dish by dish for the mains since everything was good except the aloo. I would have loved some more of the tanginess and pudina flavour. Having said that, it went well with the dal.
Looks can be deceptive. Mango icecream looked hard and pale in colour. But one bite into it and we knew how wrong we were. Meal ended with very soft and an overly sweet gulab jamun.
Overall a great meal with attentive service. Apart from Prawns, I felt that Punjabi by Nature pricing has also come down from its earlier Avatar. More reasons for foodies to rejoice.
PS: Don’t remember to get the parking charge of Rs50 waived by getting your parking slip stamped by the restaurant on eating your meal here.
Ratings (Out of 5):
Food: 4.25 | Drinks: 4.0 | Service: 4.5 | Ambience: 3.5 | Overall: 4.0
Address: Punjabi By Nature, Plot Number 101, Apparel House, Insitutional Area, Sector 44, Gurgaon | Phone: 8650884913
