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Restaurant Punjab Palace
Categories: Restaurants Indian Restaurants Pakistani Indian, Pakistani [Edit]
920, Rue Jean-Talon OuestMontreal, QC H3N 1S6
(514) 495-4075
- Hours:
Mon 5 am - 11 pm
Tue-Sun 11 am - 11 pm
- Attire:
- Casual
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Street
- Price Range:
-
$
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Delivery:
- Yes
- Take Away:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Good For:
- Dinner
- Alcohol:
- No
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- No
5 reviews for Restaurant Punjab Palace
5 reviews in English
-
Review from A b.
Montréal, QC
6/6/2010
Yes yes yes!
I love the Punjab Palace. We had been going to Bombay Mahal, but then we ventured out to Punjab Palace (really not much of a venture, only two blocks over!). But we were pleasantly surprised that this place is BETTER than Bombay Mahal. Better you say? How can that be? Well I have no insight as to their recipes, but I will share why I think their food outpaces Bombay Mahal on any day.
Their Korma is subtle, spiced with cardamom, not too heavy, and not over-turmeric-y. It is really a revolution in Korma, for me anyway. The Korma at Bombay Mahal is good, but not special or different than Kormas I've had elsewhere. Punjab Palace has a recipe that I haven't had elsewhere, focusing on ginger, clove, and cardamom notes that really make it shine.
We tried the Jalfrazzi as well, which is a meat/chili/curry dish. Again, densely composed, spicy, and flavorful through and through.
My favorite dish here is the Rogan Josh, which is curried gravy-like pureed spices and veggies and chunks of meat. It is incredible. I have dreams about Rogan Josh, but it is very oily, otherwise I would eat it every day!
Other favorite dishes: Mullagatawny soup, Shrimp Biriyani (spicy!), and their Aloo Ghobi, also the okra curried veggies (I forgot the name) are amazing! The palak paneer was fresh (bright green spinach, not the normal dark green overly cooked color) and delicious.
Also, I can agree with Ari S, that the Vindaloo is not very good at the Punjab Palace. It tastes like veggies and meat with Sri Racha sauce all over it. But Vindaloo is from West India, and the Punjab Palace shines in Northern India/Eastern Pakistan dishes, such as Rogan Josh and Korma.
I think the service is fine, it's usually quite busy, so yeah, expect a wait. The prices are pretty stellar, so accept the fact that there are three waiters for 60 people, factor in the prices and if you're still unhappy, then I don't know how to help you, because you're crazy! Those guys work hard, and are really friendly (most are at least tri-lingual as well, which I find impressive on a more general level). I've done takeout twice before, and that avoids the waits, but is really only do-able in you live in the neighborhood or have a car because public transport is a bit sparse in the evening in the neighborhood.
Seriously if you love Indian Food as I do, try Punjab Palace! -
Review from Dean A.
Montréal, QC
1/22/2011
Good little restaurant on Jean Talon - they have decent service and do all the staples nicely.
Warning - if you order for pickup, the little bastards won't make it until you actually physically show up, forcing you to wait 45 minutes for your food. I guess too many people have called to order and then never shown up, so beware. -
Review from Trena B.
6/23/2010
I headed to Punjab Palace while visiting Montreal because as a vegetarian Indian food is always a safe bet for me. It was easy to reach from the Metro, another plus. When I arrived in the neighborhood I saw that it was a heavily Indian ethnic neighborhood with many little restaurants, but they had not been listed or reviewed on Yelp so I stuck with Punjab Palace.
I was on my own and didn't get any weird looks or comments about asking for a table for one (believe me, it has happened). However, it took about 5 minutes to get a menu, and then another 10 minutes before I could order, even though there were only a few tables occupied I could not get the waiter's attention. I received my own little pitcher of water, which I greatly appreciated.
I ordered the vegetarian thali. It had chole (chickpeas), palak paneer, and khumb matar (mushrooms and peas), along with raita, naan, and rice. I have never had a thali without a dal, and was a bit disappointed to see it missing. I don't care for Indian dishes with peas in general, but the khumb matar was good for what it was. The chole and palak paneer were quite good. I was also disappointed that there was no dessert, as this is also something you generally see on a thali.
The food was definitely fine, but nowhere near the best Indian food I've had and somewhat below average. Along with the slow service, this gets it 3 stars.
It was quite cheap ($8.50, I think) and you can bring your own wine. For a couple or a group that is a boon but for one I was not going to bring an entire bottle of wine. Note that you pay at the register in the back of the restaurant, rather than having a bill brought to your table. -
Review from Ari S.
Ottawa, ON
2/11/2009
The Punjab Palace is my favorite Indian restaurant in Montreal (out of, say, the dozen or so that I've been to, including the more expensive Taj downtown). I've probably eaten there more than any other restaurant in the city over the years but that probably says even more about their prices than it does their food (but not about its vicinity - it's a bit of a hike north and not too accessible to public transportation). It's not only bring your own wine (and beer), but it's pretty hard to get out of there spending more than 15 bucks per person with tax and tip (including appetizers, main course, nan, etc).
On the other hand, I'm not sure that I agree with the review below that claims the service is good. In fact, I'd say it's pretty bad. Come to think of it, it's just outright awful. I've waited twenty minutes just to get a menu (having to wildly flag down the server). Even when the places is half-empty, the service is still pretty bad. But if you factor the price in, you can accept it with zen-like serenity. However, I'd advise that the restaurant is not only bring your own wine but preferably bring your own wine opener too. We started bringing ours because we struggled so many times to get the attention of the server to come over and open our bottles. Once the bottles are open and alcohol is flowing, waiting is less frustrating. In fact, the last time we did that, our waiter ended up borrowing ours. Of course, he disappeared with it and then we had to hunt him down to get it back when we were ready for the next bottle.
But enough about bottle openers. The Punjab has a fried fish appetizer (damn if I don't forget what it's called) that's spectacular. The only dud is the vindaloo which is not only not spicy but somewhat flavorless. Everthing else is a winner. -
Review from Robert S.
Hampstead, QC
12/20/2010
Best Indian in Montreal.
