Punjabi Bites opens in Rockville Centre
The saag goat is richly spiced, with tender chunks of goat meat, at Punjabi Bites in Rockville Centre. Credit: Newsday/Andi Berlin
A new Rockville Centre restaurant makes a case that Long Island's Indian scene is getting even better, especially on the South Shore. The small spot is called Punjabi Bites and it's one of those strip mall storefronts on Sunrise Highway that's easy to just drive right by.
The space, which previously held the original Flour Shoppe Cafe, is now owned by business partners Param Singh and Gagam Singh. Param says he owned an Indian restaurant in Easton, Pennsylvania, but recently sold it and set his sights on Long Island, specifically Rockville Centre. After three or four months of kitchen renovations, he opened in March with a menu that features Southern Indian, Indo-Chinese and Northern Indian dishes from his native Punjab.
Based on a recent lunch, the food quality was right up there with the restaurants in Hicksville's Indian food neighborhood, about 16 miles to the northeast.
The Amritsari fish was tender and fragrantly spiced. Credit: Newsday/Andi Berlin
An appetizer of Amritsari fish ($20.99) featured heavily spiced nuggets of white fish battered in crunchy chickpea flour. Delicious. Whenever I'm in a North Indian restaurant, I go straight for the saag, or spinach curries. And Punjabi Bites offered both a lamb and goat variety for $16.99 each. Served in a silver kadai bowl, the thick saag smacked of fresh spices and savoriness from the juicy goat meat. Scooped up with the garlic naan, it was an unexpected revelation.
Punjabi Bites, 486 Sunrise Hwy., Rockville Centre, 516-965-4053. Open 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Thursday, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday, closed Tuesday.
Andi Berlin is from Arizona and does not know where she is going. But when she gets there, she’ll find something beautiful and delicious that the world needs to taste.
