Ian McNulty: Indian restaurant that dazzles at Hammond gas station goes upscale in Kenner

There’s a new Indian restaurant in Kenner with an ambitious menu pairing traditional regional dishes, a chef’s eye for presentation, a hint of fusion and, of course, a lunch buffet.

There’s also a backstory that traces a route around the American highway system and leads to dishes like salmon roasted in the tandoor oven and finished with pesto and the heady tang of garam masala.

This is Punjabi Dhaba — or, rather, the second rendition and upscale evolution of Punjabi Dhaba.

The new restaurant opened just after a Thanksgiving in a newly developed restaurant space with a regal Indian motif of gleaming marble and neon, all tucked into a Kenner strip mall.

Trucking, cooking

To some, the original Punjabi Dhaba is a delicious anomaly; for others, it’s a destination they think about whenever they're within range.

It’s a first-class Indian restaurant with a regional culinary focus located inside a gas station by a truck stop off Interstate 12 in Hammond.

It has developed a reputation on the quality of its food in an incongruous setting, with curries and pakoras served by shelves filled with energy drinks, Corn Nuts and other familiar road snacks.

When founding partner Surmukh “Goli” Singh bought this highway exit gas station in 2018, its kitchen was serving fried chicken and the usual grab-and-go standards. But Singh knew there’s a large and growing Sikh community in the American trucking industry, composed largely of immigrants, like himself, from the northern Indian region of Punjab.

Across the country, more roadside amenities for truckers are catering to them. The original Punjabi Dhaba in Hammond is part of that informal network of stops offering a taste of home.

“So many truckers going from Texas to Florida, they say there was nothing like what we were offering before. There was high demand,” said Singh.

But as its renown has grown so did the expectations, and requests that perhaps the food could find a different frame.

“People would come in, families, they were there to celebrate, and they would tell me, ‘Look, we love your food but this is a gas station,’” Singh said.

That issue has been addressed, and then some, at the second location of Punjabi Dhaba in Kenner.

Chef Negi’s lens

The name spells out the original intent of the Hammond restaurant. A dhaba is a type of roadside eatery, often attached to gas stations, found all across India.

The new Kenner restaurant is a dhaba in name only. The new restaurant is done in marble, traced in neon and filled with contemporary art, from the full bar to tables set with gold-colored serving ware and throne-like chairs.

At lunch time, this could be your stately perch for a few trips to the buffet. Punjabi Dhaba serves a prodigious one from gilded tureens that run the width of the restaurant.

Goat curry, paneer masala, Afghani murgh chicken marinated in cream and Amritsari fish with mellow spice and light, puffy batter were highlights from one run I made through the lineup.

The main act here, though, is the full menu, which is served exclusively at dinner and alongside the buffet at lunch.

This is the work of executive chef Qutab Singh Negi, known as Chef Negi. He was cooking in New York when Singh recruited him to come to Louisiana in 2021 and upgrade Punjabi Dhaba’s food.

His menu is a tome covering the standards — lamb vindaloo, butter chicken, chicken 65 (with its soft, spicy coating), biryani rice dishes, dense seekh kebabs redolent with ginger and garlic, many vegetarian curries, on and on it goes.

Between the standards there are many surprises, done with a more contemporary lens.

Give the pani puri a spin. These crisp lentil cups look like egg shells, filled with potatoes and chickpeas. Each is balanced over what looks like a shot glass of sauce — mint, tamarind or mango — all affixed to a carousel-like holder. You pour the sauce into the lentil cups and pop them into your mouth as the liquid softens the shell.

The dahi ke sholay are like breaded dumplings filled with thick, seasoned yogurt, a pairing of mellow flavors that come to life when dipped into the mint chutney.

How often do you see scallops on an Indian restaurant menu? Here the tawa scallops are named for the flat, wide pan they’re cooked on (sometimes called a tava). These sweet-tasting, seared morsels are arranged like a wreath strung with edible flowers and pesto.

Chef Negi likes to use pesto, thick and garlicky, just the same as you’d find in an Italian restaurant.

The interplay of this unexpected ingredient in an Indian kitchen is best expressed by that salmon dish mentioned above. Large cuts of the fish carry the smoky, roasted char of the tandoor to the plate, streaked with mango sauce for a striking visual effect.

It tastes Indian and also like a departure from the familiar script, and that’s the new Punjabi Dhaba as its best.

Punjabi Dhaba

2305 W. Esplanade Ave., (504) 441-2323

Open Wed.-Mon. (closed Tue.), lunch 11- 3 p.m., dinner 5-10 p.m.

Buffet ($14.99) is served at lunch along with the full menu; dinner has the full menu only (entrees $9.99-$24.99)