Shere ‘e’ Punjab
Beach Road
Central Pattaya (near Mike’s Shopping Plaza)
Marks (out of ten)
Quality: 8
Quantity: 8
Value: 7
Atmosphere: 7
IF you want your restaurant to stand out in Pattaya, you’ve got to be different.
And making your restaurant look like it’s Christmas every day is certainly one way of standing out.
You won’t have trouble finding the place, as it’s decked, inside and out, with glittering fairy lights. It’s an intriguing sight, and once inside there are more lights draped over a couple of trees.
It’s not just decorations that make this place worth a visit (oh, they have 7 ft lava lamps too, but I digress).
Punjabi food has a freshness and boldness to it that’s hard to beat. There is a reasonable choice of dishes, which range from standard appetisers to kebabs to sagwala.
Our waitress was also the owner, and had a slightly matriarchal style to her that meant she was suggesting starters for us before we’d even been seated. Service is fast and efficient, and they’re happy to make recommendations if you’re caught between a korma and a hot plate.
We went for the chicken madras and chicken vindaloo (both 230 baht) and some pilau rice (140 baht). There’s a good choice of nam bread, and I chose the cheese variety.
In non-Indian countries, madras and vindaloo tend to have five chilli signs next to them on the menu, and a jar of water is as essential as nam bread.
Here, though, things are more authentic, and if you can handle even mildly spicy Thai food, then this won’t be a problem.
My madras was plentiful and the chicken especially tender. The sauce itself lacked the normal bite I’m used to, but on balance this allowed me to taste the herbs and seasoning.
The vindaloo was excellent, and had a slightly stronger, more aromatic style to it.
For non meat-eaters a dozen or so vegetarian options are available, but personally next time I think I’ll go for the kebabs.
On the beach in Jomtien.