New Punjab Club in Hong Kong has become the world’s first Pakistani restaurant to be awarded a Michelin star.
It is famous for its tender kebabs, lentil dumplings and sticky toffee pudding.
It was started by Pakistani Syed Asim Hussain and is part of the Hong Kong-based Black Sheep restaurants.
Photo: Black Sheep Restaurants co-founder, Syed Asim Hussain\ PR Newswire
“For New Punjab Club to be recognised after just 18 months and for a cuisine which is traditional Punjabi is an amazing achievement and honour for the team,” said Hussain. “However, to be acknowledged for something that is so personal to oneself, one that lifts just not the cuisine but also the community, could not make one more proud of this achievement.”
Hussain brought in Palash Mitra, who used to be a chef at the one Michelin star Gymkhana in London. Mitra has created a menu centred around two smoky tandoor ovens. The menu features Amritsari Machli, Masalewali Chanp, Lahori Seekh, Gudda Nihari, Murgh Pulao, and Gosht Salan.
The New Punjab Club houses the biggest restaurant collection of the conventional art of Pakistan in the region. The artwork of the restaurant is also personal to Hussain and serves to tell the story of the restaurant to the guests every night.
Hussain grew up working in the restaurant and even retrieved and restored the tandoor ovens which are now used at New Punjab Club.
Michelin stars are a rating system used by the red Michelin Guide to grade restaurants on their quality. This is not just the first time that Hussain has been awarded a Michelin star. His group was awarded a star for its neo-Parisian restaurant ‘Belon’ making Hussain, who is just 33 years old, the youngest restaurateur in the world to hold two.
