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| - I was very excited to try Pukka. It's not everyday that a high-end Indian restaurant opens in our neighbourhood. My husband and I love Indian food, so it was hard to imagine we wouldn't love this place.
Our experience, however, was only so-so. Lovely ambiance, attentive (if a bit starched) service, great presentation. But the food was simply not good enough to justify the high prices.
We ordered the Kale salad, the stuffed paneer, the curry vegetables and the French beans, with a side of rice. Everything tasted very good. But nothing was out of this world great and some of it (notably the stuffed paneer) was bordering on bland. So why would we spend almost $20 per dish (and a strangely whopping $5 for rice) when we could get better flavours at half the price down the street?
The pricing was also odd, especially for a vegetarian. The side dishes are almost as large as the mains. So why is the curried veg almost $20 but the bean dish (which was actually more tasty) only $9? Why is rice, which costs pennies, almost as pricey as their side dishes? They might have some adjusting to do.
Perhaps this restaurant is really for meat eaters. There were some lovely looking meat dishes that might command their hefty price tag. But for the vegetarian diner, I'd suggest skipping this place and heading down to Banjara at Bloor and Christie for far more choice and better flavours.
Vegetarian Score = 8/10. Some choice here, although poor compared to most Indian restaurants. But - if you ordered only starters and sides, you could make a lovely meal for a decent price.
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