Winter has arrived. Temperature is dropping and we Mumbaikars are enjoying every bit of it. Removing the old never used jackets and buying some new ones cause we never thought it will be this cold in Mumbai. But no ones complaining everyone is saying only one thing – The weather is so NICE !!!
As everyone is taking in the cold weather and enjoying it in various ways. One thing which is definitely a “to do” if you want to enjoy the winter is eating winter foods. The dishes that give you with the warm and pampered feeling which makes you enjoy the weather even more. So to make us enjoy the winter foods and also giving us the fine dining experience Punjab Grill which is at Phoenix Mills & Juhu has come up with a special winter menu.
Getting the invite and seeing the menu and reading about the whole thing got me really excited. But then I remembered my trip to Punjab Grill Juhu, a few weeks back when my nephew had returned to India for holidays and was craving Punjab Grill’s food ( yes he was specific about it). We both wanted to eat our hearts out so hence we went to Punjab Grill’s lunch buffet. Well lets just say I fell sick after that. And there weren’t even many dishes there to literally eat our hearts out. So I was really really skeptical to go back and eat.
But being a foodie that I was I couldn’t resist and I wanted Punjab Grill to stand there and prove that all the great reviews and word of mouth about the food being amazing is absolutely true. So then I went.
It was an outdoor event which was actually a plus seeing that the weather was perfect. One thing I have to mention here is that the event was fabulous in terms of management, service, ambiance and quality & quantity of food. Now I will be realistic here I haven’t been to many restaurant events but how many ever I have been this one takes the cake. The servers knew about all the dishes and how it was cooked. The quality and quantity of the dishes were amazing.
Coming to the food now –
The food was definitely rich. You could actually taste the richness in it. Some dishes I will say tasted really good but were heavy on the stomach. But then it is winter food and winter food is supposed to be heavy, specially North Indian dishes cause of the extreme winter there. The heavy food gets you through the winter. So probably for some Mumbaikars like me it will be a bit heavy on the stomach ( and by heavy I mean waking up at 5.30 am and having a acidity tablet).
Now the snaps here are a mix and match of what I have clicked ( very poor lighting) and what is given to us by the restaurant ( I must say they were smart to know that clicking pictures will be an issue).
While I was enjoying my non bhaang Thandai which was yummy. Everybody was raving about this drink which I think had guava and vodka in it. So if you drink you can definitely try this.
As we got seated and pampered with a refreshing wet napkin. Then came this wonderful well seasoned Kaali Gajar “Kaanji”.
I absolutely relished this delicious Chukandar ke kebab which was filled with beetroot and pine nuts. ( and I am not a beetroot person) but these were super tasty !!!
Those small breads on the right were yummy and dipping it into this hot cup of super rich lamb trotter soup was absolutely perfect.
I liked the steaming potatoes on it but the starfruit was okay.
I loved the marination and tenderness in this dish. This is the only item after the beetroot kebabs that I finished it full.
Tabak Maas is a Kashmiri delicacy which I have already tasted it at the Kashmiri food festival at The Trident BKC, Mumbai. I remember the steward (if that is the right word) told me that this is a very tricky item either you will love it or hate it. She was right. I am the person who hates it. So you could be either one.
I wish I wasn’t so full when this was served. I loved the Dal Makhani which also I couldn’t eat much.
These bread basket with kashmiri naan, bajre ki roti and makkai ki roti were just outright delicious and soft. I want to go back and just order these and keep eating and eating !!!
I missed all these dishes as I was too full and had to leave early. But as I was leaving they made me taste a dessert by saying that it was the “lightest dessert in the world” –
This is milk froth sprinkled with sugar. Well they were true and this was the lightest dessert but I can’t comment if it was lightest dessert in the world or no. But I like fancy desserts so just giving me milk froth with sprinkled sugar is just not enough.
Probably/Hoping there were more desserts but I couldn’t stay for them. I left but wait there was more –
They gave me this wonderful winter food hamper with yummy items like mutton ka achar (pickle), vegetable achar (pickle), Till Patti ( sesame seed brittle ), masala tea, kaanji and many more delicious items. I had a feeling I was being bribed. I mean I got this wonderful basket as a give away.
On the whole it was a fun night with good food and meeting new and fellow foodies all courtesy FBAI – Food Bloggers Association India. So as much as we hope the winter in Mumbai to continue for a long time to enjoy it fully I would suggest go and try the winter food menu at Punjab Grill.
toxicbaker 