Petuk

Petuk, a name that has been on my list for so long that I almost forgot about it ! A recent post about this place revived my enthusiasm to visit this place for Bengali cuisine.

We were travelling back from Mahabalipuram after two days of relaxing stay in a resort and immediately decided that I’m going to head to this place. Normally I take the left at Thuraipakkam and have seldom travelled beyond that place on OMR, so I wasn’t very familiar with that part of the road. Taking directions from Zomato app, looking on my left and right sides for Waves Mall and unable to spot anything, I reached SRP Tools junction. Immediately I knew I went too far, made a U-turn and called the number on Zomato. A lady attended the phone call and gave directions and then we could manage to reach the place. HCL is the name you have to remember not to cross when you’re going towards Thuraipakkam. Petuk is on a lane just adjacent to that and dear Zomato, Waves is a small shop, not a mall 🙂
We entered and immediately had a feeling we were somewhere in Kolkata 🙂 All of them talking Bengali, and we were the only odd ones out. Gave my name to the guy at the counter and had to wait for about 10-15 minutes for the table. Seeing the guy write names in Bengali was interesting ! It was a packed house on a Sunday afternoon. Soon we got a table and managed to settle down in a corner. The place is nice, basic, but definitely welcoming. Its not an ultra-posh restaurant, It’s a very basic place, and when people throng to a place like that, its sure to be something special !
As the waiter came to take the order, I clearly told him I couldn’t make much out of the menu and asked him to suggest food according to our preferences. In spite of the crowd, he was patient in explaining the dishes. I couldn’t believe my eyes seeing the prices. They were so nominal that I was wondering if the quantity would be very little. So I proceeded to order one of each item in the menu from the starters section. They were Veg Chop, Egg Devil, Fish Fry and Fish fingers. Wife and kids eat seafood and I eat chicken, so it was a mix and match of both. I saw that almost all tables had the leaf-wrapped fish and remembered the name Paturi from an earlier post, ordered one of that. 3 Plates of Rice and 1 Chicken Kasha, 1 Aloo Posto and 1 Cholar Dal. Asked them what was available for desserts and there we two options Mishti Doi and Chatni. Ordered 2 Mishti Doi, and 2 chatni. I would say it wasn’t a very well lit place, not too dim to eat food, but wasnt enough for pics 🙂
As soon as the starters arrived, Kids immediately picked the fish fingers and finished them, had to order one more. Wife liked the fish fry. I started with Egg Devil, and loved the mustard sauce along with it. It had a nice crispy outer cover, looked like aloo masala around a half-egg inside it. Very tasty! The Veg Chop was more like a cutlet, slightly sweet because of the beetroot I think, and wonderful too! We were almost done with the starters and the main course arrived. Portions were quite a lot compared to what I had in mind, immediately I knew we we had ordered a bit too much. Started with the chicken gravy and rice, it had a slight sweet after-taste, but still hot. Chicken pieces were cooked well, and I liked it. Wife and son shared Paturi, it was very tasty, very different but too spicy for them. With the rice, it was manageable. Probably it is meant to be eaten like that. 🙂 Beyond a point, wife ate the fillet without the paste on the top. Aloo Posto was good and so was Cholar Dal. I tasted a bit of everything and was extremely satisfied. Chatni was like liquid mango jam types, with a slight tinge of chilly. Tasted good, kids had one each. In fact they are that with rice. :p Mishti Doi was a branded one – ‘Dan One’ I think and not the usual matka types. Nevertheless, it was good.
Overall, wonderful lunch, very different, very tasty! From the way people relished fish here, I wish I ate seafood too 🙂
Coming to the bill, it was 840 bucks including a mineral water bottle and absolutely VFM!
Throughout the time I was there, the restaurant was packed and people waiting for tables ! In case I come to know there are some more Chicken specialities, I would certainly visit again !