Great Punjab

If you're ever looking for a late night drive and dinner, look beyond the boundaries of the city.
Saturday night saw us guys head out to Great Punjab beyond Aundh.

I'm not very sure of its location. It's on the road connecting Aundh and Hinjewadi. Take a car with a good suspension. Bad roads.

We had to choose between Great Punjab and some place on the Expressway where the booze sells for lesser than the retail price. Unfortunately, money saved on the drinks wouldn’t have covered the cost of diesel to go all the way out there.

So, Great Punjab it was.

10:30 Saturday night and the place was packed.

We are 'starter' people. i.e. we have roti/ nan/ parantha with the starters itself and then have one dish from the main course(if we're still hungry).

1. Tandoori Chicken

Ordered for me. It's what started me off on meat a month ago after a 4 year hiatus of eating shrubs and roots.

There were a lot of small pieces, unlike some places where they give you 4 huge pieces. They were nice and fleshy.

However, there was way too much color in the chicken. Its Monday morning and my fingers are still red. Of course, it can also mean that I haven’t washed my hands since then.

Also, it wasn’t spicy enough. There was another thing missing which I can’t seem to recall now.

Overall: 5/10

2. Sholay Kabab

Cubes of chicken. Red in color with fluffy egg whites on top. It was very good. Ranks among my top favorite kabab's after chicken tikka and sheekh kabab.

Overall : 9/10

3. Mutton Bullets

I have to give them a 10/10 for presentation.

Mutton Balls in very little gravy on a sizzler plate (I think). Just before putting it on the table, he(the waiter) poured some alcohol onto it and set it on fire. So, we had flaming mutton balls which were still ablaze when he served us.

The gravy was very good. The downside was that the outer surface of the balls was pretty hard. It's not usually so. We just got unlucky.
Overall: 9/10

4. Garlic Nan

Thin, slightly crispy and still soft. Very Very good.
Overall: 10/10

5. Dal Fry

Don’t remember it. I just took a bite.

The service was pretty slow with the Nan’s making an appearance after the show was nearly over.
But the place was overfull and Deepak(our waiter) did the best he could.

Also, I didn’t even look at the menu or the bill so I have no clue about the cost of food there.

Whiskey was pretty expensive though. Rs 160 for a nip (thanks Nikhil).

The ambience was funny. There was a guy playing a dholak while parading up and down the restaurant.

I liked the place.

In totality: 8/10