Daily Times

LAHORE: Nestled in K Block of Lahore’s DHA, Pataka Boti has a unique name that draws in quite a lot of visitors.

Easy to guess, Pataka Boti is a name of a restaurant that serves desi traditional food with affordable prices. It’s been less than a year, since the restaurant first opened its doors to the public, and reportedly is now raking in quite a handful of clients every day.

I spoke with one of the owners of the restaurant, Muhammad Mehdi, who co-owns the place with his siblings.

“We thought of launching a restaurant when I came back to Pakistan from abroad and realised it was the height of unfairness to be served with donkey’s meat from reputable eateries. We do not deserve that. I love Lahore and so together with my siblings, we thought of bringing to the public something extraordinary and authentic in terms of flavour, taste and presentation. That’s when the idea of Pataka Boti came about,” Muhammad Mehdi informed me.

“Sultan Rahi, who was the face of Punjabi cinema back in the day, is paid tribute through our restaurant’s premises if you watch closely. The entire premises have a complete desi vibe to them,” Muhammad says.

He is right. The double storied restaurant has pictures, film posters and one-liners of the late actor lining the walls. Even the furniture is complete of desi Punjabi style, adding to the traditional appeal of Pataka Boti.

Muhammad says his mother is behind all the recipes of the meals on the menu. He has been a big fan of his mother’s cooking right from the beginning and so without having his mother’s signature touch to the meals, the restaurant according to him, would be incomplete.

Muhammad explained why the restaurant was called Pataka Boti of all the names. “We just don’t call it Pataka Boti. We actually serve patakha boti here. We also serve the longest seekh kebab you can find.”

The restaurant is open from 12pm to 1am everyday. I tried a variety of dishes at Pataka Boti like their namesake Pataka Boti platter, chicken ginger handi half, the mint di maar drink and the restaurant’s namesake dessert Pataka Meetha. Here’s what I think of the place.

‘Sultan Rahi, who was the face of Punjabi cinema back in the day, is paid tribute through our restaurant’s premises if you watch closely. The entire premises have a complete desi vibe to them’

STRENGTHS — with growing concerns about injected chicken making its way into restaurants, cafes and dhabas, Muhammad makes it clear he weighs all the chicken being brought in the restaurant and if the weight exceeds the normal one, he sends it back. He says, he’s quite particular about the meat used at Pataka Boti.

The hygiene of the place takes you in. People might suspect the restaurant to be untidy as it attracts a lot of desis who might be casual in their approach towards dining in, but spick and span are its premises. I had the good fortune of taking a surprise round of their kitchen and liked how orderly and disciplined everything seemed to be. Every staff member wore gloves and had covered their hair.

The Pataka Boti platter was superb, in not just its taste but also in its presentation. It was huge and enough for three people, with a big seekh kebab, barbeque boti of all flavours, lots of chopped salad and chutneys. Some were spicy, some were tangy, and some were mild! All in all, the platter is any foodie’s dream and colourful in its presentation. The Mint Di Maar drink has black salt in it, which adds to its flavour and makes it unique and desi at the same time. The Chicken Ginger handi was rich in boneless chicken pieces as well as gravy. Nothing seemed to be compromised. Also, the chicken was well done! This is not forgetting the dessert we had, which would keep all coming back for more. Also, this dessert comes with a secret ingredient, and if anyone can guess it, they can have it for free!

The menu specialities are quite a few and so the choices are endless. There is something for everyone and not just for chicken lovers.

WEAKNESSES — since the restaurant is getting a lot of visitors and clients every day, it has the tendency to run out of stock on some items, and so one needs to rethink what they want to order.

The drinks menu needs to be worked on. A bit more variety perhaps.

The restaurant’s food quality is really good. However, I feel like the place has not been marketed well. More and more people need to know about this, especially the DHA residents, so they wouldn’t have to go all the way to Gulberg or someplace else to have their food.

Bon appetit!

Published in Daily Times, January 25^th 2018.