Reviews of Punjab (Restaurant)

Nicole Smith

My friend treated me to dinner here after I helped her pack her Uhaul for a cross country move. I felt under dressed in my yoga pants and t-shirt, but I'm sure glad we went! The stuffed naan was fantastic! I sampled all three meals ordered and was not disappointed in any of them. Looking forward to going back soon.

Ira Kuznick

Excellent food and service!

P M

Nice ambiance. Friendly staff and good service. Tandoori salmon and chicken were very tender and flavorful. Chicken tikka was also good. Shrimp curry was too tangy even though we ordered medium spicy. Shrimp biryani was okay, not an authentic biryani, more like a veg pulav with shrimps added to it. Daal was too bland, but naans were good. Overall pleasant experience.

Michael Gladwell

Great food! Great service! Excellent!

Winston Chen

Since it reopened, the food really improved even though the menu is basically the same. Takes the crown as best Indian food in the Boston area.

Tanmay Sinha

The ambience, food and other things were all good. The lamb dish felt a little undercooked. But other than that, best indian food I've had around Boston

Sherman Hanke

Food was fantastic. Server was poorly trained, both on the menu and on how to serve and clear. Never just remove a plate that someone is eating from. Food runner mumbled, made no effort to identify what he was delivering and had zero personality.

Ke Garira

Beat food & hospitality

Antonios Dakopoulos

Best Indian food around!!!

Vincent Sapochetti

This place is dishonest. they told me they hire me.. I called in to say when. They said callback in the AM hours. I did twice. They hired me as a bar back, and said they would then move me to waiter. Once I fit in. Today they said NO JOB... this place is a disgrace. Maybe the food is good, but the management is awful! I have worked in this business for way over 10 years! I will tell everyone not to come here

Frankie L

Great food and atmosphere

Peter Liepmann

Spectacular meal, helpful attentive service, and open December 25 every year.

Ketki Purandare

Beautiful ambience, delicious food at fair prices and good portions.. awesome for Indian food lovers..

kunal shah

Great ambience, great staff, great food. It is one of the best Indian restaurant in Boston. The food tastes more authentic then any other restaurant. They have good naan options, really good vegetarian options. The appetizers are delicious too. It is open only for dinner.

asher hisdai

Very bad services never going to eat in this restaurant again

Jim Salvas

The naan was freshly baked. The duck tikki masala has a rich and spicy sauce with larger chunks of pure duck breast than I've ever been served. Ive never been filled up by any duck dish until now. The basmati rice was perfectly cooked and lightly flavored. The decore was classy and the wait staff attendance from start to finish. While the total was 15% more than I usually pay for Indian food, it was well worth it. An excellent meal and dining experience.

kaushal Shah

Excellent!! Now days they'll ask you for a desi style food. Just tell the attendant to make your food in desi style if you really want that 'desi tadka'. Try tandoori paneer tika, malai kofta, tadka daal. they have some best Indian dishes in the town. Must try folks!

Scott Walters

I always thought Indian food was either good or pretty good. This is better. I haven't had a ton of Indian food, but I've had quite a bit, and this is the best I've ever had. The puffed rice stuff on the appetizer menu is really good. Try it.

NJ

Tried for the first time. The food was awesome.

Lidia Kenig-Scher

Excellent food and decor to match it!

Jess Thrasher

Delicious cocktails (try a tamarind margarita!) And solidly executed classics. I love their chana paneer.

Promise

Food, service, atmosphere all of it was awesome!

Sara Fenton

Food is always consistently awesome. Service can vary, but the food makes up for it. Busy on Friday and Saturday nights, so be sure to make a reservation.

Timothy Straub

Excellent food and service. Glad they reopened.

Wendy Metz

extraordinary food, actually makes me feel better to eat it.

karthik swarna

One of the better Indian restaurant in the Cambridge/Somerville area

Lenard Diggins

The duck tikka marsala was superb! The papadam was perfectly cooked, too!

Joshua Ezekiel

This place is simply gorgeous. The lighting is low but not cavelike. All of the staffers are super hospitable. And the food is amazing.

Ana Beatriz Bersano

The last time I had this kind of delicious Indian food was at an Indian person's home.

Carlotta Calzolari

Really good food, the staff is not the best

J Garrett

One of the best Indian restaurants in the region!

Rajith Wijesooriya

This place used be very famous for delicious indian food but i dont think they maintain the quality of their food anymore. I had a masala dosa and a biriyani a week ago, masala dosa was too oily and the biriyani was one of the worst i had ever tried in the USA. Well i thought may be they had one bad night, so i tried their food again, this time some special chicken dish and a salmon curry. But i was very disappointed after tasting the both. The chicken dish was missing some flavors and the salmon curry just tasted like they added cooked salmom to some gravy.. it didnt taste like an authentic dish at all. I am not gonna try this place for quite some time again. .

Alice Chamberlain

The food is amazing and the atmosphere is incredible! They sat us immediately, so much so that my friend was still holding the door for others when they had a table ready for us. The food was great! The service a little slow but honestly it was all worth the wait. This is the go to for all our Indian food needs. 9/10 would do again!

Jarrod Rogers

One of the better Indian restaurants I have been too. They have a nice atmosphere and food is good. Service I find is a little slow, but that seems to be the trend at these restaurants.

sairam pandit

I Liked food thank you

Rosemarie Commendatore

The atmosphere is great. The waiter was very friendly, and the owner came to our table to say hello & asked us if we liked our meal. The food was fresh and delicious!!

sushma adhikari

Punjab Arlington is not just good for Indian taste but also for great typical Nepali khana. I personally not just liked achari chicken a lot but also veg choila. Lots of things left to try on the menu, it's pretty big. Definitely worth a trip for the food!!

Amanda Dodd

Food was excellent, wait staff was extremely helpful, they explained the whole menu thoroughly and the atmosphere is beautiful and very appropriate.

म

Amazing food from Rajendra Sherchan with thakali taste in catering service. I recommend this restaurant for both Nepali and Indian cuisine.

Dave Anderson

Good Indian Restaurants are hard to find. Many now cook large pots of curry well in advance and spoon them out for customers. Not so at Punjab. You can watch the chefs prepare your meal though the large windows overlooking the tandoori ovens in the kitchen. Be careful of how hot you order as medium to hot is hot at other places. Overall, curries were excellent and they have a nice wine list with appropriate wines for Indian food.

Julia Liepmann

Very tasty food. Attentive staff. And open on Christmas! Loved it!

Donna Unger

Was very nice atmosphere but food was excellent!! We will definitely go back.

Vittorio Prete

Definitely the best Indian food in Arlington.

Ryan Levering

This is a noticeable step up from most local Indian restaurants I've been to in the Boston area. The chicken Tikka is more flavorful, the menu has some more seasonal variety, the spice is more balanced, the ambience is better, and the bar is decent. It's a little pricier than most places, but you are getting something for your dime. My only complaint is that there has been several experiences with slow service so if you're looking for something predictably quick, maybe find a more takeout oriented place.

Aravind Prasad

I have been there multiple times - by myself, with friends and with colleagues. The food is terrible. I don't think it is even close to real Punjabi cooking, let alone other styles from other parts of India. The service is mediocre at best. The ambience is decent but does not justify the ratings. I can think of only two possibilities. Either they pay people to write those reviews and give those ratings. Or people genuinely like that food which is definitely not Punjabi.

Bill Notte

Been going here for years. Excellent Indian food, best chicken korma around the area.

Akshay Deshpande

Great food.

Dan Sutphin

Love watching the kitchen at work

Arthur Safira

Great indian food here, and a great vibe with the decor.

Swaroop Nashikkar

Good food nice ambience and prompt service.

jeanne cutler

Lovely place and excellent food.

Arvind Ramakrishnan

Really the greatest restaurant that ever was or ever will be.

Dinesh Manandhar

Interior : Great , Food : Some Okay, few food like Biryani stay away. Service : Not very Good.

Joe Hsu

First time to have Indian food with friends, food delicious and fresh. Good place for family or group. Will come again.

Sethu Raman R

Had Vegetarian Dinner. Enjoyed the food.

Kinjal Mistry

Great ambience. Very Pricey.

Ed Holden

Excellent Indian food, some of the best in the Boston area. The tikka masala sauce is particularly good.

Debbie Botos

Beautiful space, good service and excellent food.

Steven Key

The food was really good. We didn't have to wait long for the food to come out once we ordered. The servers were pleasant. I got a drink called Jaipuir. It did nit taste like there was any alcohol in it but not did I feel it. Be careful when drinking that. One may be more than enough. The food portions were large. I could not finish my lamb saawalga. The atmosphere was nice. Our table was a too large for 4 people so it made for awkward seating. Nevertheless, this is a good place to go to.

Allen Rines

Great food, and plenty of it. The chicken biryani was delicious, and left enough for next day's lunch. Service was a bit slow, though.

e trager

Great place wont be disappointed

Laurie Cestnick

Been coming here for 15 years love it ..love the veggie korma

Anna Hessenbruch

Punjab is the best Indian food I have ever had. I have been going here for fifteen years. The food is delicious every single time. The ambiance is lovely. The service is great. It's not cheap, but it's worth it.

Ryan Hurley

They're finally back open! The food hasn't changed, it's still excellent. Prices went up a bit since two years ago when I was there last, but remains below what similar places charge. Our waitress was excellent, and despite handling something like 10 tables simultaneously on Christmas Eve, our food was delicious and the orders correct. Seriously, if you like Indian food and live near Arlington, stop reading this and go eat there. You won't be disappointed. Plus, they even have a good selection of local beers! What more could you want?

Master Movers

The food is outstanding with an elegant atmosphere!

Deepak Kumar

Inconsistent taste. Sometimes it’s awesome other times is just ok.

Dave Bowers

Excellent food, good service, reasonable prices. I'll go back, oh yeah!

Nitin Gupta

Good ambiance and descent lunch prices. Dinner is a bit on the pricier side. The stuffed nan's are great.

Yiyao Li Barnoon

Amazing food and nice staff. Also, one of my friends who did restaurant inspection in this area years ago told me that their kitchen is absolutely spotless.

Nidhi Modi

Food was ok but the service was terrible. Instead of being polite, the rude waiter was constantly towering over us, taking our plates away before we were done eating, almost spilling water on to our plates. Was unsatisfied with the tip he received for a party of 4, and demanded for more money for the tip. It's rude to demand additional tip on top of the 15% that we have them. The service definitely left a bitter taste. Never going there again.

Gregory Merchel

Food was delicious! The samosa chat was wonderful but the lamb Rogan josh is incredible!!!!! Loved the dinner. It is a bit pricey but worth it.

f as

Best Indian food in Massachusetts!

Priya Singh

Love the taste of food ...I had very good experience with Punjab restaurant..like to go again and again

iSantoS

Better say food was okay, not the greatest.

Shrikant Swaminathan

The paneer tikka masala was good

vasanth kumar

Tasty food...home away from home

Amandeep Guliani

Amazing food, good ambience, friendly staff

Mike Boujoulian

I've had a number of excellent meals here. Ambiance is high quality and comfortable and clean. Very nice and comfortable bar, which is where I usually eat. Service is always great at the bar, so I can't speak to the other negative reviews from the dining area. Prices are fair for very high quality food. The home style chicken curry is really authentic and delicious. They'll spice it up as well, which is nice. The double cut lamb chops are tremendous, slow cooked in their tandoori oven. Tender, spicy and lean. Really nice. This place also nails the little things like Naan and chutneys. My wife is nuts about the tikka masala Highly recommended authentic Indian food.

Scot Fitzsimmons

Nice atmosphere. Unfortunately they drown everything in so much cream that the actual main ingredients get lost and you just feel gross afterwards. When asked to leave out the cream and butter we were told that's not an option.

Chris Morse

Best Indian food in the Boston area. My friend from India swears by it. Try the lamb Rogan Josh and garlic naan.

Sonya Aronin

The food is as great as it always was.

May Mirembe

Nice and cosy. The noise is minimal you all get to hear each other. Staff are good. Nice place for social meetings

Chaitanya Misal

They are usually good with non-veg food but lack the flavor and cooking finesse with veg food. It has always been a hit or a miss kind of place, so not really a go-to Indian place for me.

Punjabi Essence

The best food. Authentic Indian. Haven't had such taste ever in America. Just great!

Gautham Sundararajan

Ambience - 5 stars - The restaurant is in an amazing locality and the ambience inside the restaurant is tasteful. Service - 5 stars - Good service. The food was presented in a nice manner. The Chapathi was neatly served wrapped in a paper cover. The malai kofta was placed over a candle so it remained hot and fresh throughout the dinner. Food - 4 stars - The food taste was good.

Mike Stewart

The salmon vindaloo is out of this world.

melanie kerr

Love this place has the best food and wonderful people so beautiful it was closed for too long so happy it's back!!

Shari Joy

The food is always good, atmosphere is nice, clean, staff is usually friendly, but be prepared to wait for your food. Twice now I've waited over an hour for my food to come out. It's delicious when it finally arrives, but yeah...

Nome de Plume

Did the ownership change? The service certainly has downgraded over the years. But the food, I love it. I agree with one reviewer, the daal makhani is quite different than what I am used to. But I like the chickpeas, love the breads, and feel nostalgic when I am there.

Rohit Shah

Food was good. Little slow service. Ambience was nice. Lot of variety.

Roman Lutz

Best ambience - quality combination for Indian food in the area

Nicholas Greenwood

Good food, good atmosphere and solid service. Had a to a little longer than we would have liked for the check to come.

Sabrina Paolini

Absolutely loved the pakoras and the yellow Dahl! Place looks beautiful too.

Melanie Howe

First time to an Indian restaurant. Good food.

Mariel Gilbert

Good food, good vibes, good service. Ambiance could use a little work - a little too bright. I like the idea of an open kitchen, but when it is glassed-in it can be a bit awkward.

Darla Vitale

I can only speak for the food, not the atmosphere because I have only ordered for delivery. But I have never been disappointed! The tikka masala sauce is amazing. I can’t stop ordering it! I chose it with lamb and the sauce spicy. Comes with Nan bread and a bunch of sauce sides. Would recommend!

Ramesh Sethumadhavan

The food is always good here. Our family favorite.

Jitesh Khasgiwala

I have been visiting Punjab quite regularly since past 5 years. The food is generally of very good quality, I have always enjoyed their vegetarian selection. The plus to the place is they have a full bar, though not much beer selection, but otherwise good cocktails.

Andras Cser

Food is ok, not great. Service was slow but courteous

Subhadra Mahanti

The best Indian restaurant in the Boston area. Delicious food and amazing customer service. Special thanks to Christine for the birthday surprise-made my day! Coming back again with the gang. A must-go !

Pukar KC

Biryani is best in town. Better than guru or mint

Ted Shultz

Love everything I've tried here. Everyone seams nice, and they have this awesome window so you can see the food made. The oven isn't like any that I've seen before.

Farida Abane

Loved it! Tasty and wonderful serving!

Ashutosh Kulkarni

Veg starters are good.. nice ambiance really loved it .

ramon mangaser

Chicken korma = good

Alyssa Scott

Delicious and great ambiance

Riccardo Marratzu

Great and authentic Indian food. Probably the best in the Boston area.

spadigala

Worst food I ate ever. Spoiled and old food served. Health hazard

Venki Anantharam

Courteous staff, authentic flavors, reminded us of Dhabas back Home !

Terk

Just got a big takeout order there on Christmas Eve and was very impressed. Everything was excellent Saag, Vindaloo, Lamb, Shrimp Special. Only thing filling in Lamb Samosa was a bit dry but I was very impressed with the rest of their food!!

Marco Beatrice

Great food, drinks, and service at the bar

nabska

We celebrated a friend's birthday here and the staff was very nice and accommodating. They allowed us to cut a cake there and even helped light the candle. The Lamb Chops were beautifully cooked (cut like butter) and very well spiced (without being spicy, if you don't like hot food). Samosa Chaat was exquisite and very filling. The portion size of this starter is like an entree. The lamb samosas were also heavenly, but the serving has 3 samosas. Be wary when choosing spice levels, as their HOT is VERY spicy.

Angus Abercrombie

prompt service for medium to large groups as well as families, quiet, well located, no free parking

Kishore Sundar

Arguably the best North Indian food you can find in Boston. The restaurant has good ambiance and all my visits here have been pleasant! The service is good, and the food is great!

Raymond Lui

Amazing food, a tons of space. Easily my favorite Indian restaurant with lots of good curry and good combo with different meats (chicken, beef, goat, lamb). One curry order with a meat is enough for one person (it should come with rice), I also order one order of naan. If you go in a group, definitely get a few variety of curry combos a try!

Karan Verma

The food is amazing, the ambience is beautiful, but the service has gotten slow over the last one year, most likely due to increased demand. You need to increase your staff strength to support the increased demand. Customers are noticing.

Phlstn

Great food. Love it here because it looks and feels like a 5 star restaurant with great food, but very affordable. Only thing is that their lamb could be more tender.

sakshi pahwa

Food is awesome and the service is excellent. Clean place and friendly staff. 5 star.

Srinivas Iyer

Liked the food here. Great place overall! Found it a bit expensive though.

Stefán Sigurjónsson

Excellent Indian food, good atmosphere. Relatively quick service.

Rahul Kabra

Pretty mediocre food. Good ambiance.

Yash Kalwani

I have known this restaurant since I was a small child. This is the first place I tried Samosa, Paneer Tikka Masala (still my favorite accompaniment with the tasty parathas!), Garlic naan, Paneer Pakoda, and many other indian classics and delicacies. The food has improved slightly after the period of time in which Punjab was closed. Overall, the quality of the food, the ambience, and the short wait time (usually both for food and seating) makes this restaurant deserve a full 5 stars!

Peg Byram

Food is always good. Mine was too spicey for me but I am a wimp. Love the chain curtains. Service was great.

Dale Hollingsworth

If you never eaten Indian food before this will be the restaurant to get you hooked, great food wonderful atmosphere.

Sharan Multani

Beautiful decor, really nice naan and overall pretty good Indian food! Nice spot for lunch.

Reid DeWolfe

Fantastic food, great atmosphere

Graeme Harnish

I ordered through Uber eats which was never delivered. Called the restaurant and they said I could pick it up in 40 minutes. Went to the restaurant and then the order wasn't placed at all. Then demanded my wife send a picture of the credit card. Such a horrible experience of a place we've been to multiple times. I don't really get upset but really set the bar below here.

Julian C. Cole

Excellent food, good service, a little pricey.

Varahabhatla Sushmitha

Punjab....welcomes you with a map showing the Punjab region. Good things: Located in a busy area that is Arlington center, so this place can be reached by public transport as well. Ample space for parking behind the building. Good ambience Absolutely soothing Bollywood music. BEST CHAAT I have had in USA after the deal galli in New Jersey. I had samosa chat and aloo papri chat and aloo papri chat was mind blowing. They have a bar. Cons( for me at least) I am a vegetarian and ordered Dal makhni, paneer biryani and chilli naan. Naan is soft but I felt it was undercooked and I couldn't feel any chilli flavour. Dal makhni also didn't have proper Punjabi flavours. Paneer biryani.. the only good part about this dish was paneer which was soft and melting in mouth, except for which it was more of a flavoured rice than a biryani. Being an Indian and you go to a restaurant which says that it serves authentic Punjabi food obviously we except food with proper Indian flavours. But what I have observed is people from many cultural back grounds we're here and probably that is the reason the food is blande for me.

Peter Hoburg

The lamb tika masala is amazing! Also everything else is really really great. It can get busy, but the service stays fine. I recommend!

Jenn Utt

Great food!

Mehraj Awal

Best Indian food in the Boston area. The Punjabi lamb chops are just outstanding and one of my favorite dishes in all of Boston. Portion sizes are large, so come with an appetite or take some home for lunch the next day.

Anonymous

We have been living in Arlington for quite some time now and visiting this place regularly for the last three years. This place used be decent quality-wise but not anymore. Both the lady owner and the waiters need some basic training on dining etiquettes. During our last visit on a Sunday evening, the waiters took our plates away before we were done eating and repeated the process consistently without showing a sign of apology. On top of the careless and rude service provided, the food was tasteless and made us sick. Both the service and food definitely left a bitter taste this time around. Never going back!

Chris Chiampa

The best Indian in Arlington; was closed for a while but happy to see it has reopened and is still under the same management. The food is excellent, and very worth the cost, which is in line with most other Indian restaurants of this sort I have been to. The staff is universally pleasant. Do note, though, this is not a place to go if you are in a hurry. This is not to say service is slow, but the pace of everything is definitely more leisurely, centered around the diners feeling like they've plenty of time. It's nice to not feel rushed. There are a variety of regional cuisine types on offer, and everything I've tried has been great. There are also revolving cocktail specials, tho having not had them myself I'm not able to comment. A fellow diner in my group had one once however, and was very impressed. All-in-all, a must-try in Arlington.

AnleshDangol

The manager was a nepali. He was very kind and informative. Food was great

Sanket Joshi

Excellent Punjabi food for vegetarian.

Sunny Williams

Nothing authentic (Punjabi) about it. Those stars are only for ambience and service. Food was a total let down with that high price. I complained about Daal makhani as it was nowhere close. All they could offer was a grin and to make it more spicy. Daal makhani, spicy???? Are you kidding me??

Steph S

I honestly don’t know how this place is getting 5 stars. Ordered a vegetarian lintel tadka dish and lintel soups, all of it was swimming in mostly oil, had to throw them away as most of it was oil, it’s like they dump oil in it to save them money. I had scooped out the oil as most separated to the top, most the food wasn’t even there!!! We have eaten at a countless number of Indian places and even showed a photo to some friends in India and even they said it’s not all suppose to look like that and they too ate at many diff Indian places in the US while here. My Husbands chicken buriyani also tasted greasy. Never again!

J. W.

The environment is really nice and the restaurant is large. We were seated at a small two top across from booths and it often felt like we were invisible. Our initial server (a young woman) was very slow to come over. We ordered vegetable pakora to start. When it came out, she didn't come back for a good while. She then said she was going to bring dipping sauces. Took 10 minutes for that, by which time we finished the app. They were tasty and good sized. A male server appeared to take over and he was slightly better. We ordered the chana masala and paneer tikka masala. The chana had very little flavor and tikka masala sauce was packed full of onions. I prefer a creamy tikka masala, so this is definitely not my favorite, but it had decent flavor. The naan was fluffy and delicious, perfect for dipping into sauce. We often had to grab a server's attention for more water and it took forever to pay the bill. I've always preferred the smaller Indian restaurant across the street, but it's struggled over the past couple of years. I'm taking this one off my list as there are other options for less money.

Missy Roode

The food is incredible, but the service is inconsistent, at best. Orders arrive very slowly and recently, every single item was wrong in some way. I hope they work a bit on the speed and accuracy of the staff, but they still get full points for delicious food and friendliness!

Ed Nolan

Awesome food, great service! Super clean, restaurant.

Marion Dry

Fabulous Indian food. The very best!!! The wait staff is exceptional, the decor relaxing and beautiful. My favorite restaurant!!!

Gabriele Manganaro

Great food. Lots of variety. Also the place is rather large and it's been recently renovated. It looks very good and it's definitely much more inviting and appealing than many other Indian restaurants in the area.

Belinda Pauchard

The food is awesome here! Keep it up.

Mikkie Harvey

Excellent! Authentic Indian food, great cocktails, always interesting people at the bar. So pleased they've reopened!

Chia Shen

Food is ok but on the salty side. VERY Slow service.

Stephen Johnson

We love this place. Perfectly seasoned food, good portion sizes, great service.

Rakesh Yadav

I have been to this place many times and always look forward to the visit. I have tried several Indian restaurants in the Boston area, this place certainly stands out. Their appetizers are filled with taste and I love their papri chaat. I am a fan of their navratan korma and naan. I have tried all of their naan options and all are good, especially the peshavari naan which has a sweet stuffing. After having the peshawari naan at other places I have to come appreciate this naan at this place even more. Even though they mainly specialize in North Indian cuisine, their dosa is commendable as well. Apart from that, I was impressed by the decor of the restaurant. If you are looking for a relaxed evening at a fine Indian restaurant, then this is the right place for you. The service can be improved though. They want a little more cheerful staff to match the food quality.