Punj Aab's

Excellent new Indian restaurant glad we tried. We had samosa and fish tikka starter , beef vindalo and Chicken tikka masala with some naan bread and rice,which were the best we had ever. We were surprised by the quality of everything from food to drinks menu which complemented each other very nicely. Definitely recommend to all food lovers

FOOD TYPE
Indian

FOOD QUALITY
Four of us dined on a chilly mid-winter’s night on the last day of June. We took advantage of a generous Dimmi deal, to get 30% off our food bill. Due to congestion in the kitchen, and staff clearly being under some pressure, all the food came out at once, so there was no distinction to be made between entrees and mains. We ordered a selection of the traditional favourites to share: papadums with mint sauce, veg samosas, lamb rogan josh, chicken tikka masala, lamb madras, a mushroom and pea curry for our vegetarian friend, plus a serve of cheese naan and lashings of basmati rice. And to drink, a few bottles of sparkling white wine and a refreshing long tall glass of Kingfisher Ale. All the food offerings were fresh and tasty and brimming with those spicy and aromatic Indian flavours that we love so much. They were brought to the table straight from the ovens, piping hot and nicely presented on stylish white crockery or colourful copper bowls. The samosas were quite small with a crispy coating a soft veg filling. The rest of the serving sizes were generous. My lamb rogan josh was a deliciously creamy dish with soft, tender chunks of succulent lamb. The cheese naan and steamed rice made the perfect complement, and everyone enjoyed their meals. And to finish off, what else but our old fav, gulab jamun: Soft and spongy round balls of sweetness in a syrupy sauce, and served with a dollop of fresh vanilla ice cream.

ATMOSPHERE
This is a small place, with seating for about 60-70 people. It’s just south of Falcon St, about ½ km away from the main eating hub of Crows Nest, which is on Willoughby Road. The interior has been smartly decked out with white walls and large, upholstered chairs in a tasteful light brown colour. It’s a fairly minimalist design, yet modern and stylish with a bunch of low hanging lamps, which give the place a bit of a sparkle. On the night that we dined, there was a large party of about 30 ladies there, so that did make the ambience a bit hectic, as staff had to direct most of their energies to attending to them. There were a few other occupied tables as well, although plenty of room still left. I guess without the party it would have been about half full, and I wonder about the viability of a place that can’t fill up on a Sat night. Still, the ambience is casual and laid back and once the large party had left, it was just us and one other table of six diners, and from then on, things became more relaxed, especially for the hard-pressed waitresses.

SERVICE
There were two polite young ladies on duty, both neatly turned out in smart black uniforms, but no maitre d. One of the two, seemed to be new to the job and a tad hesitant and inexperienced. Because of the large party, I was expecting a delay, and I wasn’t wrong. It took about 40 minutes, from the time of ordering, until the food arrived, and it arrived all at once, as mentioned. However, despite my initial irritation at the wait, I give full marks to the two young servers, because despite being under pressure, they remained calm, friendly and courteous and did their best to ensure that things ran smoothly for everyone. They even found time to check in with us a few times to enquire how everything was going. I think the problem for them was compounded by the fact that the kitchen is downstairs, out of sight of the dining area, meaning that they had to run up and down the stairs each time to bring out the meals.

COMFORT
This is a comfortable venue with large, roomy tables, well spaced out, and firm, upholstered chairs. Despite it being the middle of winter, we were quite warm inside so I’m assuming that the internal heating was doing its job.

MENU
The menu is fairly small, with only a limited amount of choices, although sufficient to keep all four of us happy. It’s well laid out and easy to read in the strong lighting, and neatly enclosed in plastic laminate to keep it hygienic. There’s a separate drinks menu and a little card with the specials, although that looked to me like a permanent fixture, not something that changes from week to week.

TOILETS
There is a single unisex/disabled toilet at the back, but no signage from within the restaurant. It’s large, clean and well provisioned, although by the end of the night, they were running perilously low on hand towels and I wasn’t optimistic that anyone would find time to replenish them. And nobody did. Also, having only one toilet is not enough. However, you can see the comings and goings from your table and I knew when it was occupied.

ACOUSTICS
We initially found it quite a loud venue, especially when the party of 30 were in full cry, although, to be fair to them, they were a mature and well-behaved lot. Once they’d left, it did quieten down, although it has to be said that sound engineering doesn’t seem to have been at the top of the designers’ agenda when fitting this place out, because it has no carpets or any other kind of noise absorbers. And with lots of wood and glass, it’s bound to get noisy even when partially full.

COST
After our 30% Dimmi discount (food only) we paid a modest $115 and for that we got two serves of papadums with mint sauce, a single serve of veg samosas, four mains, rice, cheese naan, a single beer, a single small bottle of sparkling white wine. We also brought our own bottle, and the corkage was charged at $4 a head.

BOOKING
If you want to take advantage of Dimmi’s 30% discount, you will to book through them. Otherwise, I wouldn’t think booking is necessary any night of the week.

PARKING
I find, that when I’m in this area, the easiest place to park is in Ernest Street, where there are no weekend or evening restrictions. It’s about a 12-15 minute, level walk to the restaurant. Of course, you could try for something closer, or even the nearby Woolworths car park, where you get two hours free, if you can find a spot, but personally, I prefer to have to walk a little bit, rather than stressing about finding a park, and Ernest Street is always a good bet.

SUMMARY
It was a bit of an endurance test with a longish wait for the meals and staff clearly under pressure dealing with a large party. But apart from that, I was quite impressed with this place. It has a stylish and elegant ambience with a nice, modern fit out. Food is excellent and staff are polite and helpful. Getting a 30% discount on the food, is a generous deal and we will probably do it again, especially as it seems to be always available. However, I’m not sure about Punj Aab’s long term viability. The location is a little bit too far away from the main dining hub of this area and the few restaurants that there are in this locale, south of Falcon St, seem to be struggling.

It is worth the extra 50m walk from the other Indian restaurants on Pacific Hwy! Most importantly the food is full of flavour and I recommend trying dishes on the special menu you will not be disappointed. The service is amazing and the wine selections are great too. Will be coming back and changing my usual Indian preference in the area. Thank you!

Loved the food and service. Fried mushrooms is my favorite in starters. Palak paneer and Goan vegetable is my all time main course dish. Would really recommend PUNJ AAB'S for all food lovers. Great place for dine out!

We booked table for 4, We were 10 minutes early but they were very accomodating and warm welcoming. In our entire experience we could have not asked for anything more. Food was excellent, wine menu was very good and had wines from Italy, France, USA etc. ambience itself is very good and relaxing with very nice music. Will definitely recommend and visit.

We went with our friends and ordered Tandoori Chicken and Bread platter as a starter which were great. For mains we got Chicken Tika Masala and Fish Curry with Garlic naan and rice, all very top quality and flavours. We all had great time. Service ambience and music all were very excellent.
Will return SURELY!!!!!!!!!

We went with office team and had amazing time here. Food is best, mouth melting lamb chops were best, all curries had their distinguished flavours unlike many other places where they feel kinds same, drinks menu is thoughtful with good variety of wines from good regions, music very different and funky to other Indian restaurants, ambience is comfy and restaurant is crisp and clean. Will be rushing back soon, thanks for amazing service Pritie.

This new restaurant has small but very delicious and excellent food menu, surely they believe in quality over quantity. Wine list was decently priced and featured wines from USA, France, Germany etc. Service was very warm and professional, Since we live very near we will be regulars and congratulation on their new venture.

Great food, great ambience, brilliant service! My husband and i have recently moved to a suburb close to crow's nest and have been trying all restaurants in the area. This one is by far our favourite among all Indian restaurants here!

We decided to try some takeaway from Punj aab's and were surprised with such good food. We ordered Tandoori chicken, lamb roganjosh, prawn masala with rice and Garlic naans all were very nicely flavoured and high quality. will try dine out soon and highly recommend this new restaurant.