Eating out: New restaurant for Chichester offers authentic Punjab food and gets rave reviews
Owner, and head chef Kamal Singh, knows all there is to know about authentic Punjabi food, having learned to cook sitting in the kitchen with his mother in the Punjab province in Northern India.
“She was a doctor,” he says. “But she always cooked fresh meals for the family and I used to love sitting in the kitchen watching her cook.
KamalI always want to feed my guests in the restaurant like we were fed by our mother.
Kamal is, like the majority in the Punjab, a Sikh. He explains that many local Asian restaurants are not Indian – and Namaste Punjab offers something very different.
You won’t find the regular anglicised version of curries – tikka masalas and jalfrezis for example – but what you will find is tasty, tender, beautifully spiced, naturally coloured and flavoured foods, prepared with care and cooked with love.
KamalI have a passion for Indian food,” says kamal. “It is ‘clean food’ which means we don’t use food colourings or ghee. Our food is not oily
What’s on the menu?
Saag – or spinach – is the national dish of the Punjab. Saag paneer (a type of cheese) or saag aloo (spinach and potato) makes a tasty vegetarian main or a side dish.
You’ll find pakora and bahjis among the starters but also dumplings (Punjabi spicy momos), spicy crunchy peanut chat, sesame honey chilli chicken and Punjabi garlic chilli calamari for example.
If you love tandoor cooking – food baked in clay ovens – you’ll be spoiled for choice with an array of tikkas, chops, kebabs, fish and seafood to select from, and again this is healthy cooking.
But the main courses will really be something you may not have come across before – from the hot and fragrant Punjabi laal maas to Namaste Punjab's shahi lamb shank, which is marinated for half a day for the tenderest of meats.
There are acharis served with spicy sauces, a rich creamy sea bream dish, beautifully spiced chettinad, or fragrant creamy chicken for example. Or how about king prawns tossed with onions, tomatoes, pepper, coconut milk and finished with roasted coriander ground mace, served on fresh coconut?
If you are a vegetarian or vegan you will be spoiled for choice with half the menu offering non-meat options. Chickpea curries, lentil curries, mushroom dishes, and of course a black lentil dhal, which is typical of the region. Punjabi daal makhni is a dish originating in Punjab region and uses black pulses. A relatively modern variation of a traditional lentil dishes, it is made with urad daal, black beans and other pulses and includes pure butter.
History of success
After growing up in Punjab, Kamal left for Scotland, where he had many family connections. Here he met his Polish wife Hanna, and where he worked as a chef and had successful restaurants. But during Covid he had time to reflect and decided a change was needed.
“I was sick of the weather so I looked up what was the sunniest place in the UK – and it was here in Chichester.” Unable to find suitable premises for sale in the town he bought a place in nearby Bognor Regis – Café Punjab – which became an instant hit.
“All my uncles and family thought I was mad. We had two little children and my wife was pregnant with our third child,” said Kamal. “You get no rest in this industry and it is hard work, but I had never seen the success like we have had in Bognor.”
He puts this down to his passion, hard work, and the fact that the menu offers something different for the discerning foodie and curry fan alike.
Word of mouth meant his new venture, which opened in 2022, gained a good reputation very quickly. It was named best Indian Restaurant in West Sussex thanks to its Trip Advisor reviews and was given a Restaurant Guru Award for its vegetarian and non-meat dishes.
They were even asked by the England Cricket Board to cater for the visiting Indian Cricket Team who were training nearby.
What the reviews say
And it looks like Namaste Punjab is going to be just as popular with rave reviews already pouring in after just a few weeks of business.
One five star Trip Advisor review said: “Fabulous authentic Indian food. We’ve been to India and this is the closest to the real thing we’ve had Staff very friendly and attentive despite the restaurant being extremely busy. A very welcome addition to Chichester!!”
Another five star reviewer wrote: “Very welcoming, decor lovely, excellent service and the food was excellent, highly recommend will be definitely going back there.”
Whilst another raved: “Great food, very tasty and homemade feel. Great flavours and generous portions. So glad this has opened, and that it's good!”
Namaste Punjab is in St Pauls Road, Chichester and is open every day except Tuesday. You can read more, browse the menu and book a table via the website here.