PUNJAB GRILL A new Indian restaurant but there’s a familiar name in the kitchen

hat’s the best way to make a bold statement on a city’s restaurant scene? Poaching a chef from one of its best (and rival) outlets is a good start, and that’s exactly what new Indian eatery Punjab Grill has done. Its culinary king has spent the past five years making curries in the multi-award winning Ushna. Now he’s crossed over the Maqta creek to set up this outlet in the Venetian Village.

Punjab Grill specialises in north Indian cuisine, and does a very good job of it. The venue is upmarket, with multiple glitzy chandeliers hanging from the ceilings, and slick, simple pastel furniture giving it a modern feel. While you’ll find classics

Won the menu such as butter chicken and biryanis, there are plenty of unique dishes as well, and also an extensive section for vegetarians.

To start, try the beetroot kebabs. Shredded veg was stuffed with figs and pine nuts and crumb fried with a droplet of peanut sauce on top. Satisfyingly crunchy on the outside, the three flavours worked well, although we wanted a little more from the sauce – in terms of portion size and taste. Some colonial influences were apparent in a starter of battered fried fish, sweet potato fries and mushy peas. On their own, the lightly battered fish and chips weren’t anything to shout about, but worked phenomenally well with the peas.

While the starters were decent, the mains were exceptional. The laccha palak paneer was dynamite – for a change, there was no cream or cashews in this mixture of cheese and spinach, and it was all the better for it. The flavours were rich, warm and moreish and quite possible the best palak paneer we’ve tried. A main called Dhaba prawns featured plump seafood in a tomato-based sauce with bell peppers and onions, and was also of a high standard. It was bursting with flavour and was neither bitter nor too sweet. It demanded repeated mopping up with a paratha once we’d finished the prawns.

For dessert, make sure you try the kulfi ice-cream with a salted caramel sauce (that would have made last issue’s 20 Best Dishes Of 2015 feature if they’d opened a month earlier) but skip the churros. The portion size was too big and the fried dough too heavy after a big Indian meal. The coconut mousse on a Swiss roll with saffron cream on top, though, did deliver – it was creamy and light and looked a little like eggs Benedict. Like all the dishes we tried, it was well presented.

We visited Punjab Grill only 11 days after it had opened – and the food and service both excelled, which is impressive. If you want high-end Indian cuisine, you’ll be visiting here a lot in 2016.

Venetian Village, Al Maqtaa, Abu Dhabi, daily 12.30pm to midnight. Tel: (02) 4087201. Taxi: Venetian Village, by Ritz-Carlton. foodquest.ae