Pukka is a new Indian restaurant that’s only been open for 6 months! I had seen so many tantalizing photos of dishes from Pukka the last few months. When I was invited to attend a dinner for their new spring menu, I knew that I had to attend!
The dinner was organized by Vicky, who super helpfully laid out all of the dishes before hand so that we didn’t have to snap pictures between bites. Brilliant!
Bitter greens & Paneer Salad with spiced pumpkin seeds and chili orange vinaigrette.
Tawa Monkfish: This was my first time eating Monkfish, and I liked it! Served with slivers of mango, tomato and red pepper sambal.
Tandoori Chicken Tikka: I LOVED this chicken! Huge tender peices of herb infused chicken with tamarind chuntny. I could’ve eaten this forever.
Fresh assortment of naan! The basket included regular naan, garlic naan and whole wheat roti.
Rice was served in a mason jar!
South Indian Vegetable Curry: A savory blend of coconut, tamarind and mustard seed curry. Mmm.
The Butter Chicken was served in the most adorable little pot! It was also a huge hit amongst the table and went fast!
The incredibly rich Seared Spiced Duck Breast had excellent presentation and was another smash hit at the table. Duck is admittedly not one of my favourite dishes, but it was good!
This Fiddle heads & paneer dish got major points for creativity. The Fiddle heads were so tender! They had been wok tossed with garam masala. Being used to seeing garam masala in only chai tea, I thought that it was pretty interesting.
Can we take a moment for these? The Okra fries were hands down amazing. I don’t know how they managed to make a veggie that I mostly overlook SO good. The okra was tossed in a crispy red chili crust. They were a bit spicy and super addictive. They also feel like a pretty healthy option.
Our meal was expertly paired for us by Peter Boyd. Peter explained that pairing European wine with Indian food is a relatively new venture that he’s still exploring. Peter has matched wine with Indian food, but says that choosing one or two wines for the table doesn’t always pan out with Indian food.It’s better to have multiple wine options for select dishes.
Pukka has been open for 6 months and already has over 30 wines! It’s expected that they will have up to 70 wines.
Our appetizers were paired with a dry style Austrian white wine. It had overtones of peach and a bit of peppercorn. It’s rich without being sweet. I thought it paired nicely!
The full bodied red wine was a surprise hit for me. I usually stick to sweet white wines and almost turned this down. I’m glad I didn’t! The wine has a slight herbal top note and tastes a bit like blackberry cordial. This wine paired so well with the butter chicken. It also didn’t have a strong tannin after taste. This was the first red wine that I actually enjoyed.
Of course, there’s always room for dessert!
My dessert pick would be the above Chocolate Mousse Cake with salted cocoa caramel and blood orange segments. Delectable.
Eaton Mess is a combination of Grand Marnier yogurt cream, drunk orange segments, pomegranate and orange blossom meringues. Could be a nod to the all-boys boarding school named Eton in India.
Carrot Cake was pretty traditional but with candied carrot strands and curry creme fraiche to spice it up.
A cup of chai tea was the perfect end to this excellent meal!
You need to visit Pukka! You’ll be so happy that you did. It’s the perfect location for a casual drink and snack (*cough*of Okra fries *cough*) or for a full blown meal. Either way, you can’t go wrong!
Pukka is open for dinner at 778 St. Clair Ave. West (west of Bathurst St)
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