Whether it be during the holidays, or entertaining guests from out of town, if you admit to it or not, we’ve all be guilty of over eating and all the wonderful stuff that comes with it. The post-glutton depression, the various “sweats” brought on by various meats and that sinking feeling at the bottom of your stomach, this my friends is the “event horizon”; the moment when you started to feel full, starts to be eclipsed by the feeling of you hating yourself. All the things that happen when you find yourself heaved over the side of the sofa living an anti-acid TV commercial. That being said, to exercise these caloric daemons and detox my body of impurities, I couldn’t find a better way to cleanse my emotional palate than to break some Indian food against my face.
I like any place that has a permanent vinyl sign plastered to their windows indicating that they have air conditioning inside. More appreciated when it’s summer and you’re about to stuff your face with spicy Indian food. With the plethora of Indian restaurants peppering Parc-Ex’s section of Jean Talon, it’s tough to decide where to get your Karuvaattu kozhambu on. My friend and I were talking about Indian food and she said promised to take me to her favorite place. Being led by the nose, we found ourselves at Punjab Palace.
We started with the Samosas. The wrap wasn’t overly thick, it was glistening, crispy and extremely hot (probably because they were fresh from the deep fryer – duh.) Delectable pillows of peas and potatoes, herby and spicy and tasted wonderful with the tangy, sweet tamarind sauce or Cilantro chutney.
Next up was the vegetable pakoras. Fried vegetable fritters, crispy on the outside, soft and chewy inside. It was light and fluffy, definitely different from the kind I’ve had before, but great nonetheless. It was comparable to a Japanese takoyaki… besides the fact that it isn’t Japanese… or made with octopus or covered in a soy-mirin sauce, other than that it was practically the same.
As to my friend’s suggestion, we ordered the butter chicken. The chicken was still tender and juicy, and quite flavorful. The sauce was smooth and silky and finished off with a swirl of fresh cream; remained OFF my shirt. I have a really bad tendency to wear white while eating anything that can get messy, not intentionally of course. It just happens on it own… kind of like destiny.
Next was the Rogan josh… and no, not Joe’s brother. Lamb in a spicy cream sauce, this dish packs a little bit of a punch. As with the chicken, the meat was not overcooked and still retained its moisture. The ratio of cream to spice was great; it toned down the heat just enough so you can taste the herbs and spices without having it so spicy that you spend most of your meal blowing your nose.
Social protocol states that drinking sauce through a straw is not acceptable, no matter how delicious it is. Ergo the naan bread and basmati rice. The perfect sopping vessels for sauce to mouth transportation.
Punjab Palace also has really great lunch specials (excluding Mondays), however, the regular menu spoke to us that day, in English no less. With such vibrant and colorful tastes, Punjab Palace makes a sunny summer afternoon even brighter.
Restaurant Punjab Palace
920 Jean Talon
514-495-4075
www.punjabpalace.ca
*Bring your own wine
There are two different types of people who eat spicy foods, The “Chiliheads” – people who use Tabasco as eye-drops and Habaneros as breath-mints and the “Part-timers” – the kind of people who are capable of eating spicy foods but suffer certain bodily repercussions of the heat experience. I fall into the second category.
I went to Bombay Mahal in Parc-ex to reassess my limits. There’s often a misconception with Indian food being really spicy and covered in a thick yellow curry sauce. WRONG. Yes, Indian food is spicy… in the sense that they use a lot of spices in their dishes and only half the time is it pertaining to a spicy-heat. Like the title says, “curry” means sauce, it’s not one thing. Just like the term douchebag, it’s is not only a Jon Gosselin or a Michael Lohan, or a Tila Tequila, but them as a breed, a people.
This place comes highly regarded, as voted top Montreal Indian restaurant by many sources as well as a slew of verbal recommendations, I had to check it out. The menu might seem a bit intimidating to the uninitiated, but with so many people in the restaurant, it’s easy to glance over at another table to check out what’s happening; I went in with a few suggested dishes in mind already.
The vegetable Pakora. A mixed vegetable fritter served with a spicy coriander dipping sauce. That sauce is HOT. I’m sure in the right context, it probably would have been able to strip paint. The fritter itself, extremely crispy and crunchy, full of deep-fried battered goodness.
Vegetable samosa with a tamarind dipping sauce. A spicy, fried potato and vegetable dumpling. Eat it slow, I learned the hard way that you don’t put something that’s fresh out of the fryer with steaming and boiling hot filling into your mouth before it has time to cool off first… for the millionth time.
I was impressed that all the dishes came all at once.
We ordered the butter chicken. Creamy and rich and one of those things with a deceiving name. Butter chicken contains no butter, like the chickpea, where it is neither chick nor pea, but unlike Chop Suey, chopped and busting with suey.
Lamb Korma. Not gamey at all as the yogurt marinade probably cuts most of it out even though the bone is still in.
Chicken Jalfraizi. Really really fragrant and a bit tangy. The chicken was a bit dry as I can imagine white meat was used, but would have probably tasted a lot better had they used dark meat.
We had a side of fried rice and naan bread. Usually I’m the type of person to put sauce on my rice but I fount myself sopping up the sauces with the bread and eating the rice on its own. They offer three different kinds of rice and naan.
We were only two people but we wanted to try a little bit of everything, so we decided to order as though we were going to have Indian again. It was needless to say that I was having Indian again the next day for lunch.
Bombay Mahal is vegetarian friendly, and even if you’re not a fan of spicy food, there are many great non-spicy alternatives for you wussies out there. This place should not be overlooked. I assume any day of the week is a busy day for these guys, because we went on a Wednesday night at 8:30pm and the place was bustling. The waiter took a while to take our order though, and when he did, it seemed like we were being rushed and was hard to get any explanation of the menu from him. We did however talk to a really nice and cordial guy behind the counter when we went to pay, I didn’t get his name but I take it he’s from England because he said “quid”… and because of his accent, duh.
Just remember to all waitstaff out there, if you’ve having a bad day, your tip at the end of your customer’s meal will definitely reflect how well you’re dealing with it, so check your attitude at the door, cos in the end it’s the customers that make or break you.
Bombay Mahal
1001 Jean-Talon Ouest
514.273.3331
www.restaurantbombaymahal.com
