Thursday, May 29, 2008

Restaurant Review - Punjabi by Nature

"Punjabi By Nature", a chain from Delhi opened up in Hyderabad 2-3 months back admist quite a lot of hype. And of course being Punjabi by birth and also being Punjabi by nature we were very eager to visit it.


So one Saturday we landed up in front of this place and man was it crowded!! The whole of Hyderabad and its aunt was there, waiting. So we did the sensible thing and went to Ohri's next door. Hyderabad is crazy in this particular way. You can see hordes of people hanging around every new restaurant. I think we Hyderabadis just love to eat out and try out every new place.


Last weekend, we decided that we have given enough time for things to cool down at PBN and we can now try it out. So we again landed up there. The crowd was still there and we waited for 30 mins and finally got a table.


It is a two level restaurant with a pretty good modernish ambience. The stairs to the upper floor are lighted and look pretty good while walking into the place. We were escorted to our table at the upper floor near the good-looking bar. The seating in that particular section is very spacious. And then we were handed the "Liquor" Menu which had only Mocktails.Imagine the horror!! We learned on inquiring that the restaurant has applied for the liquor license but have not received it yet. So we ordered our mocktails which were pretty good and refreshing.


The menu, I felt was pretty limited. We ordered Fish Tikka for appetisers. It was pretty good. Soft and Juicy. For the main course, we ordered what else but "Punjabi Chicken" and 1 Tandoori Roti and 1 Naan. Imagine our surprise, when the waiter told us that 1 tandoori roti will be enough for both of us as their rotis are two feet long!! And no he was not exaggerating. The food, I felt was strictly OK. I was very underwhelmed by the place. Maybe it was because we had heard so much about it from our Delhi friends and had our expectations really high. The food was very very heavy and both of us had upset stomachs the next day. It was not a good feeling.


But I must mention that the service was excellent. The guy who waited on our table was cheerful and had a great attitude.


Food - Not really good. Need to visit again
Ambience - Good
Service - Great

Repeat Visit - Yes ; to give it another chance

If you love punjabi food and want to give this place a try it is on Road # 12, Banjara hills very close to Ohris' but on the opposite side. They do not take reservations on phone.