PUKKA: A MODERN INDIAN RESTAURANT IN TORONTO SERVING UP DUCK IN A WILD BLUEBERRY CURRY
The Cost -$36 per person
The Atmosphere – With an exposed brick wall that features a modern, bright-colored mural painted on it, you can tell right when you walk in that Pukka is not designed to be your traditional Indian restaurant. The contemporary interior makes for a comfortable setting for the meal but there is also outdoor seating if you’d like to dine al fresco. Reservations are possible and recommended.
Opened in 2013 and located on St. Clair Avenue West, Pukka is a modern Indian restaurant that uses locally sourced ingredients to create both classic and creative Indian dishes. The restaurant makes its own curries and chutneys and has a menu filled with unique twists and creativity. But Pukka doesn’t just separate itself from other Indian restaurants with its creative, modern cuisine, it also moves away from the traditional Indian eatery with its atmosphere and its wine list, which is nicely put together.
The Order – Pukka Chaat, Chicken 65, Garlic Naan, and Duck Breast.
The Great – While all the dishes ordered earned the same rating, the Chicken 65 was the best dish of the evening. Deep-fried chicken that is finished in a pan with sriracha and a tamarind sauce, this appetizer of South Indian fare is a true delight. Even though the chicken is fried, it is not crunchy on the outside; that is because it doesn’t have much breading. Instead, the chicken, which is quite tasty, has a soft texture to it - almost like it was stewed. The tamarind sauce does add some sweetness, but it is really the savory flavors that come through more. The sriracha takes the spice level of the dish to about a medium level for an Indian restaurant and so if you don’t like spicy foods you may want to choose another option. Overall, though, the Chicken 65 was a bold, flavorful, and tasty dish that came in a large portion and could be eaten as an appetizer or an entrée.
Chaat is an Indian street food that doesn’t have an exact recipe because it is not a specific dish like chicken vindaloo or sag paneer. It is actually a category of street food that uses ingredients like vegetables, chutney, samosa, sev, and masala to create a dish with a number of textures as well as sweet, salty, and savory flavors. It oftentimes looks like a mish-mosh of ingredients and Pukka’s version was no different. The Pukka Chaat was like a slaw of different vegetables and fruits including mango and pomegranate, with a good amount of chickpeas and yogurt all mixed together. It was very tasty and fresh and was a nice option to begin the meal with. The dish wasn’t very spicy so this would be a great, shareable appetizer if there is someone who does not eat spicy foods.
Rice or naan does not come with any of the dishes so we ordered Garlic Naan as a side. The slightly oily naan was on the thinner side but that wasn’t a bad thing; it was still fluffy and while it had a good amount of garlic, it wasn’t too much. At three US dollars, it was priced right and was a nice addition to the meal.
Upon my first skim through the menu, the dish that stuck out most to me was the Duck Breast and it wasn’t because duck is not a traditional meat on an Indian restaurant’s menu - it was because the duck came in a wild blueberry curry. As a lover of duck, blueberries, and Indian curries, I had to order it. The duck breast was seared and cooked excellently. It came in the blueberry curry and was garnished on top with carrot strings. The blueberry curry tasted like the filling inside of a blueberry pie with a hint of curry; it was tasty but was a bit too sweet to be paired with the duck given the large quantity of curry on the plate. While the combination was good, it could have been even better if the curry went a little more towards the spicy and savory side. However, all in all, this was a very creative way to serve duck breast in an Indian restaurant and it was a lovely example of how Pukka uses local ingredients and fuses them into Indian cooking.
The Verdict – From the beginning of the meal to the end, every dish at Pukka was tasty, fun, and flavorful and there was not a single thing ordered that I would hesitate to order again. The entire dining experience was a positive one and Pukka is definitely a place to go if you enjoy Indian food and find yourself in Toronto.