Wednesday, April 23, 2014

Punjab Grill by Jiggs Kalra @ Marina Bay Sands

Many of you who have walked around in Marina Bay Sands would have noticed this Fine Dining Indian Restaurant and probably did not go in. We were there recently to try out a special festival menu, the Kashmiri Festival. The festival is from 16 - 24 April, so if you want to try the Royal Kashmiri Cuisine, you got to try it quick.

I remember when I was doing my post graduate studies, I did a project with 2 PhDs students and it was so interesting because I partnered with a Pakistani and an Indian. In between project discussions we get to listen about the Kashmir Conflict! There are just too many stories to tell, but I shall save it for next time. This post will be filled with photos of the Kashmiri Cuisine instead, to tempt you to try!

Royal Kashmiri Cuisine @ Punjab Grill, Marina Bay Sands

I have to confess I don't know much about fine dining Indian food as the Indian food I have is the usual stuff I have at Singapore or Malaysian restaurants and not from India. So obvious I am quite ignorant about who Jiggs Kalra is until I googled about it. You should too!

Maybe I should visit other places to try out more India version of Indian food. The wife who was recently at Hyderabad for work trip said that their Briyani there is so good. Even the food served in their office canteen is very different from what we usually have here.

Royal Kashmiri Cuisine @ Punjab Grill, Marina Bay Sands
The crackers that was really crispy. I could not catch the name, but it was addictive.
I call it a cousin of 'keropok', it's crispy and I just kep eating it with the dips below.


Royal Kashmiri Cuisine @ Punjab Grill, Marina Bay Sands
The 3 different dips for the crackers. I love the last one, which is some sweet chutney the most.

Royal Kashmiri Cuisine @ Punjab Grill, Marina Bay Sands
Wondering what to order for drinks, Mr Manu the restaurant manager said he will serve us some in shot glasses. Left: Salty Yoghurt aka Mattha was interesting. It's an acquired taste, after the third or fourth sip, then my brain said it's ok. Centre: This is called Spicy Water aka Jaljeera. It's basically a chilli based drink, and this non-Indian tongue can't take it. The flavour jolts me up too much. Right: Saffron Pistachio Lassi. This is my favourite of the 3 drinks. Sweet and smooth!

Royal Kashmiri Cuisine @ Punjab Grill, Marina Bay Sands
We were told the menu's Royal Kashmiri Cuisine. This is a fine dining restaurant, so this is the Amuse Bouche. Pretty fancy eh?

Royal Kashmiri Cuisine @ Punjab Grill, Marina Bay Sands
Bhune Badam Ka Shorba

This was the first course we had. It's roasted almond soup. It's very good. The 4 of us who drank it wondered if there's like mushrooms or anything else inside. It has the texture and even slight smell of mushroom soup. The chef said no. It's almond that had been roasted, milk and some spices.

Next came the various Appetizers:

Royal Kashmiri Cuisine @ Punjab Grill, Marina Bay Sands
Left: Kashmiri Kukur Tikka. It's chicken thigh marinated with Kashmiri Whole Red Chilli Paste and Green Saunf Powder (fennel) and cooked in a clay oven. We were told the Guest Chef brought all the Kashmiri spices over to Singapore. It's spices that is hard to find in Singapore.

Middle: Tabakh Maaz. This is Lamb ribs marinated with aniseed powder and saffron milk. It's done in a traditional Royal Kashmiri style of cooking. We were told the same pieces of meat goes through 3 different cooking processes and the last step before serving to us.

Right: Wazwani Handi Aluv. It's potato marinated with fennel powder, ginger garlic paste and Saffron Kewda Milk cooked in the clay oven.

I love the chicken and the lamb! Very nicely done.

Royal Kashmiri Cuisine @ Punjab Grill, Marina Bay Sands
Kashmiri Tsaman Sarson Tikka.
A nice cube of paneer tikka infused with Kashmiri yellow chilli powder and mustard oil. Quite an interesting taste.

Royal Kashmiri Cuisine @ Punjab Grill, Marina Bay Sands
Nadru Kabab

It's a signature kabab of the Kashmiri Valley. Pan grilled lotus stem marinated with kashmiri red chilli dust and roasted mint leaves powder. They also had some herbs that when I ate it reminded me of incense. So we asked the chef. It has sandalwood powder inside as well. That explains. No, not my kind of food. For some of you, you might find it wonderful.

Royal Kashmiri Cuisine @ Punjab Grill, Marina Bay Sands
After the appetizers that activated all our taste buds we had a special sorbet to cleanse our tongue. Just the appetizers and our taste buds have tasted so many kind of different flavours! My mind's confused. LOL

Now to the mains and we were served this breads from the Kashmiri Bakers.
Royal Kashmiri Cuisine @ Punjab Grill, Marina Bay Sands
The Naan is made from whole meal flour and has saffron stands on it. It's really quite nice. It has a nice toasted flavour and has a nice aroma to it too. The bread hidden below is made from refined flour and has fruits and nuts in it. Very filling, so don't take too much before the main meal!

Royal Kashmiri Cuisine @ Punjab Grill, Marina Bay Sands
Gucchi Pulao

This basmati rice with jumbo morels and royal cumin cooked on Dum under flaky puff pastry. This rice is so good! It kind of reminds me of the basmati rice that I watch on TV recently the extravagant Indian weddings serve.

Don't eat it first when the rice is served. There are more things that will come!

Royal Kashmiri Cuisine @ Punjab Grill, Marina Bay Sands
The mains are being served one by one! Be patient as it comes to your table.

Royal Kashmiri Cuisine @ Punjab Grill, Marina Bay Sands
It's a huge plate and it's a lot of food! Very rich and creamy too. So we were really really stuffed by the end of the mains.

Royal Kashmiri Cuisine @ Punjab Grill, Marina Bay Sands
Gushtaba

This is lamb dumpling with fennel and green cardamom in a creamy sauce. I admit, it was not for me. I don't usually like lamb and the texture of the ball was chewy. That proved my ignorance! The chef came later to asked if we liked it. The meat was pounded by hand and it was hard work making this. Made me felt bad and I ate more of it to not waste the person's effort. (don't laugh at me!)

Royal Kashmiri Cuisine @ Punjab Grill, Marina Bay Sands
Gadh Palak. 

Fish cooked in fresh spinach puree, tempered with mustard seeds. This is so good. It looks mushy, but when you bite into it, if you are like me love spinach, you will instantly fall in love with it. The fish is done just nice too.

Royal Kashmiri Cuisine @ Punjab Grill, Marina Bay Sands
Rogvan Josh

This the the in house specialty of Rogvan Josh. The meat's from the shoulder of a baby lamb cooked the old fashion way, which is under very low heat. Cooked with a mix of fennel powder, red chilli powder and freshly pound spices. The guest chef said, it's done the most original way and if you taste anything different elsewhere, it's not the true version. Wah....

It indeed is very good! The naan and bread comes to great use now. Mop up all the sauces!

Royal Kashmiri Cuisine @ Punjab Grill, Marina Bay Sands
Dum Aluv

This is potato simmered with fennel seeds, dry ginger and Kashmiri chilli gravy.

Royal Kashmiri Cuisine @ Punjab Grill, Marina Bay Sands
Kukur Hindi Rogvanjosh

This is the chicken version of the famous Brahman Roganjosh. It's nice, but the lamb version seems to be nicer. This coming from me, who seldom eat lamb!


We were already quite full and there's still the desserts to come. The sets are quite good value if you consider the list of food you get to try. Here's the desserts we had:

Royal Kashmiri Cuisine @ Punjab Grill, Marina Bay Sands
Chukander E Afroz

This is beetroot halwa. If you like beetroot, try this. It's something very different and it's a dessert! It's surprisingly not that sweet. I always thought Indian desserts are super sweet!

We thought that it tasted familiar although I have not had it before. Something inside made it quite familiar. We asked the chef and he said, there's a bit of condensed milk in it. Aha!

Royal Kashmiri Cuisine @ Punjab Grill, Marina Bay Sands

Left: Apple Caramel Kulfi. Home made Indian Frosty infused with Caramel. It melts quickly so hurry up and eat it up! Yummy!

Middle: Shufta. IT's a roasted nuts and cottage cheese pudding.

Right: Beetroot Halwa.


The meal ended with this delicious and wonderful fragrant tea. It's the Kashmiri Kehwa Tea.

Royal Kashmiri Cuisine @ Punjab Grill, Marina Bay Sands
Our glasses came with almond bits and saffron threads in it.

Royal Kashmiri Cuisine @ Punjab Grill, Marina Bay Sands
Then the guest Chef's assistant came with a very traditional tea pot! It's very hot and the tea was poured into our glasses.

Royal Kashmiri Cuisine @ Punjab Grill, Marina Bay Sands
I took a look and said to myself, I want this at home! It's so beautiful!
It's quite a beauty isn't it?

Royal Kashmiri Cuisine @ Punjab Grill, Marina Bay Sands
You know the traditional steamboat pot we are used to? This pot is almost similar. The middle part is where they put in hot charcoals!

Royal Kashmiri Cuisine @ Punjab Grill, Marina Bay Sands
This tea is so soothing and it's so good for aiding our digestion. There's no sugar in it, yet it's has a slight sweetish taste.

Royal Kashmiri Cuisine @ Punjab Grill, Marina Bay Sands

The chef in white is Chef Javed who is the Exec Chef of Punjab Grill. Even after this Kashmiri Festival is over he's here to cook you delicious Punjabi cuisine.
The chef in black is the guest Chef, Chef Rehman Mujeebur. 

So if you think this Kashmiri Festival is quite interesting, come dine here by 24 April 2014.
There are set lunches and set dinners. Both comes in Vegetarian and Non-Vegetarian option.
You can see the full menu and pricing here: http://www.punjabgrill.com.sg/menus-for-festival/


Punjab Grill By Jiggs Kalra
The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands,
B1-01A, South Podium,
2 Bayfront Avenue.
Singapore 018972

Tel: +65 66887395

Hours:  Lunch 11:30 AM to 3:00 PM / Dinner  6:30 PM to 11:00 PM

If you want to make a booking at Punjab Grill, you can click on the Chope icon on the top right. You will  be able to view the online availability of a booking time for this restaurant. ;-)



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3 comments:

SG Food On Foot said...

I didn't even know there is a fine dining Indian restaurant at MBS. Food looks fantasy.

Anonymous said...

This one is no longer a "by Jiggs Kalra" restaurant. He sold his stake in the brand and successfully exited the venture almost 3 years back and now has another signature Indian concept called Masala Library by Jiggs Kalra in Mumbai, India. You should Google that as well

Gaurav said...

Jiggs kalra seems to be getting famous

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