Palki
1060 Ogilvie Rd., 613-741-9191, palkicuisineofindia.com
Open: Daily: lunch buffet after 11:30 a.m. on weekdays and starting at noon on Saturdays and Sundays; à la carte dinner after 5 p.m.
Prices: Curries in the $15 range
Access: No steps to front door or washroom, adjacent parking
Not that there’s anything wrong with it, but when I go out for Indian food, I’ve come to expect a certain mix-and-match of proteins and curry styles. As in, a menu that essentially asks: Would you like chicken/beef/lamb/shrimp in your korma/dansak/madras/vindaloo?
The menu at Palki, an Ogilvie Road restaurant that opened officially in April, does not do that. While there are standbys such as butter chicken, lamb roganjosh and tandoori chicken, other items are lesser-known in Ottawa, if not in Brampton or Mumbai.
It’s a curated affair that picks dishes from across the expanse of India, from fish fritters associated with Amritsar in the north, to a prawn curry indebted to Kerala in the south. There’s chicken Chettinad, hailing from Tamil Nadu in the southeast, and a simmered fish dish advertised as true to the cuisine of Goa, on India’s southwest coast.
I wish I were well-travelled enough to assess these dishes as “authentic” or simply “influenced.” I can share that chef Abhishek Rawat, 28, said that the Amritsar fritters, made with basa fish, are not as spicy as they would be back home, and that he keeps non-Indian palates in mind with his spice preparations and seasoning.
Fish Amritsari: Fish fillets fritters with carom and spices, at Palki (Julie Oliver / Ottawa Citizen)
Still, my conclusion after three visits is that there’s no shortage of commendable flavours with the by-and-large well-prepared food at Palki, even if the heat has been dialed down. I have had more fiery, punchy Indian food elsewhere, as well as much milder, concession-making curries too.
Appetizers here have been good starts to meals. Potato-and-pea-filled samosas, Til Tikki (potato croquettes stuffed with lentils) and those chickpea-flour-fried fish fritters were crisply fried and well-proportioned in their mix of ingredients and flavours. The house-made mint chutney added a bracing herbal hit.
Curries both familiar and unfamiliar were approachable, richly and comfortingly textured and amply stocked with tender meat. On the milder side but still tasty were the chicken Chettinad and the Keralan prawn curry, although I expected more assertive spiciness from both. I preferred the more deeply flavoured chicken lababdar that immersed tender tandoori-broiled chicken pieces in a butter-rich, tomato-fenugreek gravy, the hearty lamb roganjosh, the lamb masala thick with caramelized onions in its sauce, or the beef kolhapuri, made with poppy and sesame seeds and dessicated coconut.
Chunks of tandoori-broiled chicken star in a rich creamy tomato sauce flavoured with fenugreek at Palki. (Julie Oliver / Ottawa Citizen)
Palki’s lamb masala comforts with the thickness and sweetness of a gravy that teems with caramelised onions. (Julie Oliver / Ottawa Citizen)
Palki’s beef Kolhapuri is rich with the flavour of roasted spices and poppy seeds (Julie Oliver / Ottawa Citizen)
With all of these bowls, there was sauce that needed to be mopped up with naan. Pepper naan, flecked with bits of sweet peppers and chillies, was an interesting departure.
Vegetarians would do well with chilli paneer, an Indo-Chinese dish that took those familiar fresh cheese cubes in a sour, cayenne-rich direction, a luscious bhagare baingan (eggplant stew) and either of the lentil dishes (dal tadka and dal makhni).
Called “chilly” paneer on Palki’s menu, this dish is anything but chilly. Cayenne pepper and fresh cottage cheese combine well in this sour and spicy Indo-Chinese fusion dish. (Julie Oliver / Ottawa Citizen)
From Palki’s tandoori choices, I’ve had mixed experiences. Peshawari beef boti kebabs, while appealingly flavoured, were too tough on two occasions. Tandoori moti was a visually show-stopping platter of marinated and baked whole trout.
Tandoori Mahi consisted of a baked, marinated whole trout at Palki. (Julie Oliver / Ottawa Citizen)
But it didn’t win me over as much as the almond-and-cardamom-flavoured chicken pieces (murgh badami tikka) or the large and succulent tandoori prawns did.
This platter at Palki shows off a range of its marinated meats, including Shrimp, lamb, beef and chicken. (Julie Oliver / Ottawa Citizen)
I was curious about Palki’s pineapple salad, but although it was an interesting tangy, acidic counterpoint to the rich curries, I’d skip it next time. But another novelty, a dessert of malpua, a North Indian pastry, topped with kesari rabri, a sauce of saffron-infused reduced milk, felt like a good way to end dinner.
Malpua dessert with Kesari Rabri (reduced milk- saffron syrup) at Palki
The restaurant serves a lunch buffet, but the steam-table fare I tried had much less cachet and fresh impact than the à la carte dinner dishes.
Palki, by the way, might well be Ottawa’s biggest Indian restaurant. It’s a huge space that seats at least 150, with the furniture, wall hangings and chandeliers that would suit a banquet or party.
The second, more easterly restaurant for owner Dewan Choudhury, who also has the 12-year-old Taj Mahal near Lansdowne Park, Palki was almost vacant when I’ve dined there. If it’s the unfamiliarity of some dishes that has kept people away, I’ll suggest that those fears are unfounded. Discoveries here are worth making, although perhaps a more informative and geographically specific menu would help diners too.
phum@ottawacitzien.com
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