Punjabi Hut Wednesday 23 March 2016

Ratings out of 5 stars
Ambience = **
Taste = ** 1/2
Value = ** 1/2
Service = **
Overall = ** 1/2

Present: Jim, Karen, Megan, Kim, Ron

As its name suggests, the Pujabi Hut specialises in Indian cuisine from the Northern state of Punjab.    The restaurant has only just opened in Manuka but has been in the Canberra area since 2003 and now boasts 3 venues around town (Queanbeyan, Erindale and Manuka).  According to the restaurant’s web-site,  Punjabi cuisine is reknown for its rich (butter/ghee) sauces and is also “simple and healthy”.  We were intrigued by this description.  How can a cuisine be both rich and healthy?  And exactly how did the rich Punjabi dishes differ from the rich Indian dishes offered at other restaurants?  We headed off to Manuka to solve this mystery.

We couldn’t find the answer in the menu. While it offered a nice range of dishes, the choices were similar to other Indian restaurants and if there were simple and healthy options, these were well-hidden.  Despite this, we found plenty of dishes to try and Ron (in particular) was impressed with the number of interesting seafood dishes.
For 5 people, we ordered 5 main dishes: fish marsala (fish cooked in onion, tomatoes, beans and Punjabi Hut’s special spices), butter prawns (king prawns cooked with a rich creamy butter sauce), lamb saag (a mild dish cooked with spinach and exotic sauces), Sabzi korma (seasonal vegetables cooked in cashewnut gravy and spices) and Malai kofta (fresh cheese and potato dumplings simmered in a rich creamy sauce).  We also had 2 side dishes [raita (yoghurt and cucumber) and (banana and cocount)] as well as a mix of garlic and plain naan. 
The dishes came out quickly but without the rice accompaniment making it difficult to start the meal.  We had ordered 2 types of rice – “plain rice” (basmati saffron coloured rice cooked Punjabi style), and “Nargasi Charwal” (rice mixed with nuts, dessicated coconut and sugar).  The Nargasi Charwal came out particularly late and even then had to be made again when the kitchen used salt rather than sugar in the dish.  When the final (sugared) version arrived, it was quite interesting. On its own, it was far too sweet but it combined beautifully with some of the sauces cutting through their richness (and heat) allowing the more subtle spices to come through.
Of the main dishes, Kim, Jim and Karen thought the fish marsala was particularly nice.  It was lighter than the other dishes and had a delicate and tasty blend of spices.  In an amazing “about face”, Ron enjoyed the vegetarian Malai kofta dish while Megan was taken with the Saag lamb (will the world ever be the same again?).  However, neither was the best example of either dish – the kofta were a little dry and the lamb could have been been more fall-apart tender.
The butter prawns had an unusual coconut flavour which worked well with the texture of the prawns.  The first taste of the dish was very nice but the sweetness of the sauce became a little cloying after a while and our final impression was less favourable.  The last dish (Sabzi korma) was also a little uninspiring.  The sauce looked the same as most of the other dishes and wasn’t sufficiently different in taste to stamp its place in the banquet.
Overall the main dishes were all OK without being spectacular and if there was a difference between Punjabi and other types of Indian cuisine, it was not obvious. This was also true of dessert where we ordered 3 serves of the ubiquitous gulab jamun. 
Our meal came to $26 per person which is average for an Indian meal in Canberra and perhaps sums up our experience of the night.  While we were keen to try a different type of Indian cuisine, we found that the Punjabi Hut simply delivered standard Indian fare – rich and tasty without being distinguishable from other restaurants.  As for the promise of “simple and healthy” cuisine, we couldn’t work that out and that part of the mystery remains unsolved!