Punjabi Grill

[noire.livejournal.com]

I went to Punjabi Grill last night. This restaurant has just opened where Namaskar used to be, and they have not changed the decor at all, which was a bit disconcerting.

The food was excellent. We had the chicken tikka appetizer, which was juicy and tender and bursting with spices and flavor. I had the beingan bharta and my companion had paneer. Both were complex and interesting, with layers of subtle spicing and flavors. (We ordered "mild" and "medium" and neither were spicy-hot. I will order medium and not mild next time.) Even the rice was full of peas, carrots and hints of spice. Bread came to the table too hot to touch, perfectly done, crisp and full of garlic (we ordered garlic naan.)

The portions appear smallish but we were stuffed to the edge of overly full by the end of the meal.

I highly recommend the place. They were empty last night--I do hope other people are ready to try them out and make them a regular.

Comments

[nathanjw]

I'm a little perplexed by the change, and the extent to which it's not much of a change. It's still an Indian restaurant, has the same decor, is in the same decent-but-not-totally-prime space... what are they going to do that will be more successful than Namaskar? If the food is better, it will be important to see if it stays that way. Is it clearly at a different point of the price/quality curve than Namaskar was?

[ron_newman]

It's a Pakistani restaurant. How different that is from the previous Indian food, I'm not sure. They have another Punjabi Grill restaurant in Framingham.

I brought a friend to their lunch buffet yesterday between noon and 1 pm, and saw a steady stream of customers.

[ron_newman]

Mark and I both enjoyed the lunch buffet.

[kelkyag]

different that is from the previous Indian food

No pork. More goat options. A section of Pakistani dishes I haven't seen on the menu at the Indian restaurants I've been to (and also a lot of familiar-sounding Indian dishes in other sections of the menu). A friend and I went last night, and we got the hakeem chicken (I may be misspelling that) and the fried fish dish that per the article in their window was developed by the chef at their other location. Both were very tasty and unfamiliar.

[teko.livejournal.com]

With all the trouble Diva's having, it'll be nice to have another Indian option. Namaskar started to become known for poor food and spotty-to-awful service near the end of their life; if Punjabi Grill has better food with better service than Diva, I think they'll do well. Plus they've got a reputation for quality at their other location.

[emcicle.livejournal.com]

What trouble is Diva having? (anything new, or the standard crappy service?). I liked Namaskar better both in terms of quality of food and also service compared to Diva, but I do admit we haven't been eating out much in the last year or two, so if things had declined, I wouldn't know.

[teko.livejournal.com]

There's been several demonstrations outside Diva in the past few weeks -- at lunchtime, aimed at driving business away -- from a group representing their unpaid workers. I personally haven't eaten there in awhile after too many experiences with awful service, but I can't imagine the bad press is helping their business very much.

[cheeseydreams.livejournal.com]

Definitely looking forward to trying out Punjabi Grill, I was bummed when Namaskar was closed.

[somervillesnow.livejournal.com]

Restaurants often spend hundreds of thousands of dollars remodeling the spaces they are leasing. (though a purely cosmetic renovation would probably be more modest, but still 10s of thousands.) I always think of how wasteful it seems. But based on comments here I can see why restaurant owners feel it is a value, marketing wise. On the other hand I'm glad these folks found a turn key space for their needs and will definitely be adding it to my rotation.

[nomacmac.livejournal.com]

They need to rearrange the seating or change the lighting or do something so it doesn't look empty and closed all of the time. It does not look inviting from the outside. I am looking forward to trying the food. I liked Namaskar.

[supersojo.livejournal.com]

Looking forward to trying PG. As long as we're talking about Indian food in the area, here's a plug for Masala just up the hill in Teele Square. Dishes from both the Indian and Nepalese sides of the menu are flavorful and satisfying. Nice atmosphere and good prices, too.

[avacon.livejournal.com]

We went last night and were quite pleased with the food. The two dishes we had (Chicken Tikka Masala and Bihari Chicken Kadai) were very flavorful and much better than what we had at Diva before we stopped eating there, and at least as good as Namaskar and most of the other Davis/Teele Indian/Pakistani restaurants we've eaten at. We had a Paratha which was tasty but a little on the greasy side.

The decor and service still need improvement and have gone downhill a little from Namaskar. For example, they overfilled water glasses and weren't too good about checking up on us after we were served. One problem they have with how empty they appear is that the booths are some of the most comfortable places to sit but aren't visible from the front door. I'll have to try and remember to sit more towards the front the next time that I'm there.

In trivial matters, the menu also could use some editing. (We were amused to find "Achari Ghost" on the menu.)

Since we'd missed Namaskar, I'm hoping that they will stick around and be a good replacement.

[liryon (from livejournal.com)]

I went there on Friday night and the places was a little over half full. That is more full than I ever saw it be when Namaskar was there. I truely missed Namaskar, and so I don't mind that they kept the same deccor at all, its just like the place never closed. The wait staff is cearly new. They were unable to answer questions I had about the menu, and they were quite awkward with the water, but I assume they will get better and more knowledgeable. I went with two firends and we each ordered a different spice level, mild, medium, and hot. Everyone was very satisfied with their dishes and the spice level, which is something I've never been able to say about Diva. Chicken dishes were 13-14, goat and lamb were a little more. That seems cheaper than Diva to me, but then Diva always has those coupons/deals.