Punjabi Palace
135 Melbourne St, South Brisbane Qld
This is a well-established restaurant in an inner suburban area that has been changing character, so that it now finds itself on the fringe of a tourist area. But there’s no reason why locals can’t enjoy it, and we began our meal with a plate of nicely cooked onion bhaji pakoras, before passing on to a satisfying vegetable dahl and an alu palak of spinach and potato. Perhaps it was exposure to Popeye the Sailor Man that led to my love of spinach, but I’m always happy to sit down to a dish of this vegetable, and usually appreciate the way it has been cooked, as I certainly did at the Palace. This dish is also available as paneer palak, and there is no shortage of paneer (cheese) dishes on the menu. An Indian salad comes as a tricoleur of cucumber, tomato and red onion that are laid out to form stripes, a beautifully fresh and moist accompaniment to the main dishes which has a strong enough taste to be able to hold its own against their spices, and the pan fried alu paratha, utterly non-greasy, is a winner. It being lunch time we didn’t linger, but walked into the street in very good cheer.