LumDimSum Discovery: Punjabi’s Ginger Garlic Soup

Punjabi’s Manchu Shorba – Ginger Garlic Manchow Soup (RMB 28)

WARNING my fellow Beijingers: This Thursday, Beijing’s weather forecast predicts temperatures to drop to -11 degrees Celsius.

That is scary cold, but with enough layers/puffer jackets together with enough hours of sleep and an appropriate diet, you should be able to prepare your body for the dramatic drop in temperature.

What’s a proper diet for cold weather?  Probably lay off the ice cream and other cold treats and stick to foods that will warm you up like hot pot and soups.

I recently discovered Punjabi’s Manchu Shorba, ie Ginger Garlic Manchow Soup (RMB 28) last week when I went to meet owner Gireesh Chowdhury with his recent order of candy&caviar’s webstore exclusives.  I was exhausted from lack of sleep, stress and all the things that come from a busy work week and it was clearly written all over my face because as soon as I walked into his restaurant, Gireesh ordered this soup for me straight away and I’ve got to hand it to him as it immediately warmed me up inside out and that night, I slept like a baby.

Thanks to this amazing Garlic Ginger Soup, I was able to get through the rest of the week and make sure everything was in order for my BICCO and Kagen Christmas Charity dinner last Saturday night (which was a HUGE success! – stay tuned for event pics and summary)

Packed with heavy doses of garlic, ginger, and vegetables, this chunky soup is packed with germ-fighting ingredients to boost your immunity system and get you through Beijing’s cold winter months.

“Of all the soups on my menu, this is the one that’s best for winter. It’s got ginger, garlic, veggies, black pepper and a dash of mint – a perfect cure for winter blues.” – Gireesh Chowdhury, owner of Punjabi Restaurant

Finally, medicine that actually tastes good! Well, it’s not technically medicine and as it’s not actually something doctors will prescribe to their patients with colds, but maybe they should!  Anyway, it really did work for me so I figured it would be beneficial to share this dish with my LDS readers and hopefully it will cure your winter blues too!

If you happen to be a vampire/someone who can’t handle garlic, then my second choice on Punjabi’s soup menu is their Tamatar Ka Shorba, ie Tomato Soup (RMB 28). It’s different from your typical rich and creamy American-style tomato soup because it’s a lot lighter with less cream.

“Punjabi’s tomato soup has no cornflour, no additives, just pure, fresh tomatoes with a dash of white pepper and cream.” – Gireesh on his tomato soup

Punjabi’s Tamatar Ka Shorba, ie Tomato Soup (RMB 28)

Next time you are dining in Punjabi, you must also try my all-time favorite Indian dish – Punjabi’s Baingan Bharta Dish, made from mashed chargrilled whole eggplant with fresh tomatoes and zero oil.

*LumDimSum Discovery Explanation: Whenever I try a dish worth sharing, I will post this find as a LumDimSum Discovery.  Just search tagged “LumDimSum Discovery” articles for more recommendations.

Punjabi Indian Restaurant Contact Details:

• Address: Located on Lucky Street, opposite 21st Century Hotel, 朝阳公园路C-8号二层

• Tel: 5867-0221/23

• Email:  punjabibj@gmail.com

• Website: www.punjabichina.com

Veg Out at Punjabi this month of October

October is World Vegetarian Month and Punjabi Indian Restaurant is celebrating with new vegetarian set menus every week this month.  

Owner Gireesh Chowdhury is a vegetarian himself, so I expect all veggie lovers are in a treat this month with delicious vegetable feasts available every day this month.  

One of my favorite dishes on their menu is their Baingan Bharta Dish, a super healthy Indian specialty made from charcoal-grilled whole eggplant and tomatoes. (click here for preview LDS post).  Whether or not this dish is on the special set menu of the week, I highly recommend all diners to order this dish! 

Book now to reserve your next meal at Punjabi.  

Punjabi Indian Restaurant Contact Details:

• Address: Located on Lucky Street, opposite 21st Century Hotel, 朝阳公园路C-8号二层
• Tel: 5867-0221/23
• Email:  punjabibj@gmail.com

LumDimSum Discovery: Punjabi’s Baingan Bharta Dish

Baingan Bharta: A Specialty Dish by Punjabi Indian Restaurant

Every time I go to Punjabi, I am inspired more and more to travel to India.  The food here is phenomenal. Every time I bring a new friend to Punjabi, they are stunned they did not know such awesome Indian food is available in Beijing.

I guess it doesn’t hurt that Punjabi’s owner Gireesh Chowdhury is always spoiling me with off-the-menu dishes and although he will let me look through their new menu, he still offers to help me to order a selection of dishes that leaves me in food-coma-heaven.

The first time I asked for something off the menu, he introduced me to Kathi Rolls which is like an Indian burrito.  A Northern Indian snack, Kathi Rolls come rolled with veggies, cheese or meat stuffed into a rolled Roomali Roti bread (flour is similar to naan bread, but Punjabi can make it with whole wheat naan). Punjabi’s Kristen Kathi Rolls (yep, he named them after me!) are stuffed with either BBQ chicken, lamb and mushrooms or there is also a veggie option filled with vegetables, BBQ cottage cheese, mint and tamarind sauce.

Most recently, he introduced me to a new favorite dish, Baingan Bharta (RMB 42 and pictured above). It’s super healthy as there is no added oil whatsoever.  Made from charcoal-grilled whole eggplant, we then mash the eggplant and then sauté with tomatoes and add a pinch of turmeric and salt.

“This is a dish I remember from when I was 7 years old when I would always steal from my friend’s ‘packed lunch’ his mom made! It’s completely vegan, and not a drop of oil used in it!”  - Gireesh Chowdhury, Owner of Punjabi

This aside, he also introduced me to a fried cauliflower dish called Chilli Gobhi which was exceptional along with the Yellow Dal Tadka, the lentil curry featured below.  And although everyone loves a good garlic butter naan, I also prefer the wheat naan option – Tawa Paratha.  And to wash it all down, Punjabi’s got the best homemade Mango Lassi.

Here is a sampling of some of Gireesh’s recommended dishes of the day.

LumDimSum Snapshots of other Punjabi Dishes:

Chilli Gobhi: An Indian Chinese street snack: Sauteed Cauliflower in sweet and spicy sauce (RMB 38)

Malai Tikka: Cream marinated boneless chicken with minimal spices, cream and green chillies, and then barbequed in the “Tandoor” (RMB 50)

Saffron Rice: Long grain super fragrant Indian Basmati Rice, slow cooked over night with spices and saffron. (RMB 35)

Yellow Dal Tadka: Split Gram Lentils, slow cooked along with tomatoes and “Tadka” on the top. (RMB 44)
“Tadka” means a dash of “Sauteed seasoning of Indian spices and chillies” which brings out all the flavors to the max!

Kathi Roll (RMB 36) / Tawa Paratha (RMB 18)
A home-style whole wheat pancake. Cooked in a non-stick pan, with minimum butter, some cumin seeds and multi-layered, since it is folded and then rolled with a rolling pin. A very healthy and light alternative to standard naan bread!

*LumDimSum Discovery Explanation: Whenever I try a dish worth sharing, I will post this find as a LumDimSum Discovery.  Just click tagged LumDimSum Discovery articles for more recommendations.

Punjabi Indian Restaurant Contact Details:

• Address: Located on Lucky Street, opposite 21st Century Hotel, 朝阳公园路C-8号二层
• Tel: 5867-0221/23

CAI Fundraising Evening at Mughal’s

CAI is hosting a fundraising dinner at Mughal’s Indian Restaurant on Thursday, March 10 with funds donated to CAI’s empowerment programs for migrant children and migrant teacher training.

The event will include a 3-course dinner by Mughal’s (appetizer, main and dessert) + complimentary drink for RMB 200 per person (RMB 110 will go directly to CAI).  *Tickets bought after March 7 will be RMB 220 per person.

The fundraising event will also be displaying a silent auction featuring CAI’s migrant children’s original artwork.

Seating is limited, for reservations, email: janel@cai-china.org or call 134 3922 9636

Event Details:

• Date: Thursday, March 10, 2011
• Time: 6:00PM-8:00PM (first seating) and 8:00PM-onwards (2nd seating)
• Location: Mughal’s Indian Restaurant
• Address: 4th floor of Nali Patio, Sanlitun North Bar Street 三里屯酒吧街3.3大厦南侧, 那里花园4层

• RSVP: 134 3922 9636 or e-mail janel@cai-china.org
• Website: www.cai-china.org

Final ‘Eat 4 Haiti’ Hurrah Dinner @ Punjabi

Punjabi should get a lot more credit.

I admit I am not an expert on Indian cuisine and I have never been to India , but I’ve tried pretty much every Indian restaurant in Beijing from Tamarind @ the Marriott Northeast to the Ganges & Taj Pavilion chain, Indian Kitchen, and Mughal’s, and there is for sure a reason why Punjabi’s got such a loyal following (my friends aside, Punjabi is the designated destination for Indian tour groups visiting China AND they cater to the Saudi Arabian Embassy). Not too shabby.

At first glance, there are a few reasons why Punjabi may not stand out:

1. Punjabi’s location is far from central, tucked away on Lucky Street – a street with the most diversely random combination of venues from a giant Nashville Bar to Japanese teppanyaki, a German bakery and a newly opened Chinese restaurant called the Lobster House.
2. Punjabi does not advertise and they are not always listed in magazines, which can make them seem overshadowed by the extensive list of other Indian restaurants in the city.

However, when you do actually step inside, you will find only Indian chefs serving up authentic North Indian cuisine. The dishes are flavorful and satisfying rather than heavy and artificial and the products they use are high-quality and fresh. The meat is tender, the recipes traditional.

The owner, Gireesh is very professional and a super nice, down-to-earth guy.  He reached out to me initially to join the ‘Eat for Haiti’ campaign and when my friends all chose to have our final get-together dinner at Punjabi, Gireesh booked out the entire second floor for our dinner party, helped us take care of the ordering, and even surprised us with a dance show! The service was great, the food was beyond our expectations and everyone left happy and full.

Review of Punjabi: On Lucky Street, Chaoyang Gongyuan Xilu 朝阳公园路C-8号二层 21世纪饭店西门对面好运街   Tel:  5867-0221/23

Best Part:

• Authentic Indian cuisine that will get you coming back again and again…and again
• Great service and a nice touch to have the owner, Gireesh, attending to customers on a daily basis
• Greats deals include a lunch buffet for RMB 48, dinner buffet on Tuesdays for RMB 68 and Weekend buffets for RMB 88 per person which includes 21 items plus unlimited beer & soft drinks.  Amazing deal.

Comments:

• Don’t judge a restaurant by its cover – location may be a little out of the way, but a worthy destination for quality Indian food.
• They are currently working on finalizing a new menu that will feature photos of all their dishes, a big help to those who may not be as familiar with Indian cuisine. But rest assured, regardless of their menu, they are great at recommending dishes – my personal favorites include the combination tandoori meat platter, butter chicken, prawn curry, and mushroom masala.

Rating: (on a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being best)

• Food: 9
• Atmosphere: 7
• Service: 7
• Overall Experience: 8

3 More Days to ‘Eat for Haiti’

As Posted on theBeijinger:

For All You Foodies:

Join us at Punjabi Indian Restaurant at Lucky Street on Wednesday, February 3rd for a last hurrah to the ‘Eat for Haiti’ Initiative and some BOMB Indian grub.

We have booked out the second floor of the restaurant, so there is plenty of room and as always, the more the merrier!

**Complete List of participating restaurants:

Hotel Outlets: Another Beijing Paradox

Tamarind Indian Restaurant, Marriott Northeast

I had made an exception for Tamarind.

In my list of top destinations for CW Gourmet Month (the two best months of the year for dining in Beijing), I made Tamarind a priority even though it is a hotel restaurant.

I have nothing against hotels restaurants, I just think that for the most part, they don’t work in Beijing.

I’ll break it down for you:

With the exception of very few, hotels have one sole purpose – to provide a nice bed for incoming travelers. Now that the Beijing Olympics is history, we are left with how many ridiculously massive, not mention EMPTY hotels scattered throughout Beijing?  Regardless of the number, it’s too many.  And too many have tried to make up for their lack of occupancy with restaurants and bars targeting the masses…and still remain empty.

I know this concept works in places like Dubai, where the best venues are often in hotels, but Beijing is another animal.  With the exception of Weekend Champagne Brunches, Centro in the Kerry Center, Touch at the Westin Chaoyang and of course boutique hotels like The Opposite House & Hotel G, hotel F&B venues in Beijing are pretty weak.

Just Imagine an Irish Pub in this Hotel

Perfect example: Molly Malones in the Legendale Hotel.  It’s a newly opened, gigantic space with beautiful interior design in a ’5-star hotel’ and it just won’t work. Why? Because it’s an Irish Pub opening in a 19th Century Parisan Hotel serving Japanese sushi.  Confused much?

And from my experiences last Gourmet Month in April, I found that each and every time I dined in a hotel restaurant, it was very, very empty.  It’s just creepy to be the only customers in a restaurant.

And I feel bad because all hotels try really hard – lots of marketing, lots of advertisements, lots of promotions, and often times, they have an amazing product, and yet they still seem to fall short.  Something is missing.  That something is more of than not: People.

Having read so many good reviews about Tamarind (Marriott Northeast), I made it a point to go during Gourmet Month. I read that Tamarind’s Chef Kurly is from Mumbai (interview here), that he is Bollywood’s finest, and that this is Beijing’s best Indian restaurant.

For Gourmet Month, it was a fantastic deal: for only RMB 150 per person, you were served 9 dishes plus nan bread plus rice PLUS dessert. The food quality and quantity was great value, the open kitchen was impressive and service was attentive. But at the end of the day, it was very much a ‘hotel restaurant’ with hotel service and a hotel vibe for a typical, overall unsatisfying hotel experience.

Review of Tamarind: 2nd floor of Marriott Northeast, 26A Xiaoyun Lu,Sanyuanqiao 海航大厦万豪酒店, 霄云路甲26号, Tel: 5927-8888

Best Part:

Tamarind's Open Kitchen

• Fresh Quality & Generous Quantity of the dishes: I recommend their Mushroom Kurkure (Spring roll stuffed with finely chopped and sautéed mushroom, served with spicy tomato chutney) and Butter Chicken (Juliennes of Tandoori chicken, finished in creamy tomato gravy, flavored with dried fenugreek leaves)
• Massive Open Kitchen (pretty unique to an Indian restaurant)
• They have hired a chef from Mumbai and this is the first Marriott Indian restaurant outside of India
• They cater to vegetarians with half of their menu meat-free
• Prices are reasonable with a kebab bar special (all-you-can-eat kebabs for RMB 140, RMB 100 for vegetarian kebabs)

Comments:

• Even if the food was excellent, it was pretty empty on a Sunday night, which I guess is expected considering the Marriott Northeast is out in the boonies (North of Nuren Jie)
• I really think that if Tamarind was in Sanlitun and not in a hotel, it would do really well.

The service was attentive, but similar to most hotel service, its quite overdone and forced rather than comforting. Also, at the end of the meal, the restaurant manager Sudeep Menon was about to only give my friend his business card until I shot him a glare and even after that, he proceeded to only ask for my friend’s business card upon leaving. Not Cool.

If You Like It Hot

With Beijing’s sudden drop in temperature, what’s better than a spicy meal to warm your winter blues?

If you’re like me and you crave meals filled with flavor and spice, here’s a breakdown of some of my top picks for different styles of cuisine, known to make you sweat:

1. Best Sichuan – known for its liberal use of garlic, chili peppers and Sichuan peppercorns which produces a “tingly-numbing (Ma La)” sensation, unique to Sichuan cuisine.

• Chuan Ban
• Yu Xin
• The Sichuan Restaurant in Solana by Tsingtao Brewery (forgot name)
• Black Sesame Kitchen
  

  Karaiya's Spicy Pepper Diced Rib Eye

2. Best Hunan – As spicy as Sichuan, but without the numbing sensation. Hunan’s spice is much more flavorful

• Karaiya Spice House

4. Best Hot Pot – An interactive, dining experience- you get to cook raw food in a boiling stew (opt for the spicy one)

• Hai Di Lao
• Hot Pot on Gui Jie
• Xiabu Xiabu – a reliable chain of hot pot restaurants

5. Best Yunan – Spices are not as dominant or as intense as Sichuan or Hunan, but many dishes are quite spicy and diverse.

• Middle 8th 中8楼 – nice decor and good food with low prices.  I’m quite addicted to their rice wine, and I love that it comes in a big bamboo container.   Always a good option for guests or a casual lunch with friends.

6. Best Indian – One of the most popular cuisines around the globe, known for its abundance use of spices and herbs, with signature curry dishes.

• Mughal’s (Indian/Pakistani)
• Ganges
• Punjabi
• Hazara (in Face Bar)

7. Best Thai – Known for being spicy and hot, the heat is also combined with flavors that are sour, sweet or bitter.  I particularly like the combination of coconut milk in Thai soups and curries.

• Aroy-D (Shuangjing/Fulicheng Area) – where I was first introduced to Thai cuisine
• Purple Haze
• Lantung Thai Bar & Bistro
• Very Siam