Dum Pukht Markham — Restaurant in Markham

Sitting down in the naturally blue light and wood decorated restaurant the first thing you are greeted with is a big QR code printed on a piece of paper. There are paper menus but you have to ask them for it and it is assumed that everybody has a phone that can scan the QR code and knows that the QR code is the menu.

The server was kind of nice and took our order quickly. Not much to complain about aside from the fact that we had to ask for water once.

For appetizer we ordered the chicken pekora. It was delicious and served with a green salad dressing along with a sweet and sour sauce. Well fried hot tender topped with ground carom seeds.

As for the entrees, I orderded the Dum Pukt Biryani as well as the mutton Dum Pukt. It was a served with a naan topping cover and baked hot. Once the shell was broken the aroma of the spices and lamb came through and made for a mouth watering experience.

The biryani was nice. Had crispy rice on top as well as a nice meaty rice body with ample lamb. It's quite a lot of sharp tomato flavor in this dish but it also means that the umami(meaty flavour) is very prominent. People who order to this dish have to be aware that they have unpitted fruits contained within the biryani and if you bite into it without looking, you might bite into one of the seeds.

As for the mutton, It was delicious with an onion gravy that was quite spicy and thick. The land was tender and it was well cooked.

Unfortunately the naan had a few issues. The first naan we ate was slightly on the doughy side. Meaning that it was chewy when bit into. The second order of naan that we ordered was not as chewy but all the naan that we ordered had quite a large portion of it that was burnt black by the tandoor. The price of an individual naan was also quite high at $6 for a garlic naan and $5 for butter naan. The naans themselves aren't quite big one could feasibly eat two of them, which means that the total for starch would end up being around $10 on top of the entree

Overall, I was a decent experience The price was quite higher than expected. Each person ended up paying around 50 dollars for an shared appetizer and main with an...

Awesome decor, service and food

Now lets get into some details. We have been to many Indian restaurants across GTA and this was our first time visiting Dum Pukht. We visited as a large party of family and friends, 12 in all. Had Dinner reservations and when we arrived, table was not ready. We waited and then waited, well over 45 minutes. What sets this place apart was how they handled the wait graciously. The waiters and owner were truly apologetic as another large group before us had not vacated the restaurants even after 2 hours. It was holiday time, so they were chilling out after finishing dinner. The waiters made us sit in few empty small tables, gave us water and some non-alcoholic beverages on the house due to the wait. Had they not done this, we would have been out as kids were hungry and it was well past dinner time. But they handled it well. The restaurant has beautiful interiors. Plus the awesome aroma held us back. We had ordered our food ahead of time while waiting, but it still took long time to arrive after we were seated. It was understandable as it was a large order with variety of the dishes and good taste requires time. We ordered several vegetarian and non-veg dishes. Most were truly delicious. The Dum Pukht Biryani is a must try. I am from part of India that excels in Biryani and I approve it :). The veg curry made from cashews and lotus seeds was tasty. Some of the non-veg dishes like Chicken Hariyali were a disappointment as it was too lemony. Even though they had an open kitchen area where you could see the chefs make naan, not sure why, it was very dry. Skip the regular naan and get the butter naan as the regular naan was not eatable. Something they can easily fix as even small Indian restaurants (A1 in Markham comes to mind) make very good naan. Pricing of dishes is justified given the attention to service food quality and decor. To top it off, you are given hot wet towels in the end to wipe your hands off. These nice touches and great food taste makes this is a place to visit again and again for great...

The first impression were the hideous sitting arrangements, dirty couches, cushions and chairs, hair all over the sitting place. The leftover food bites were lying on the sofas.

The sitting was so uncomfortable that it didn’t match with the tables they have for keeping the plates, whenever anyone enters the place you can feel the cold breeze coming all over you and your food.

The order taker was one middle-aged guy with beard, too much in rush, didn’t know what he was doing. Came thrice in range of 5 minutes just to ask about the order. We were not even served with menu cards, we asked for it. That was an okay start!!!!

Later on we ordered soups, 3 starters and main course. The food was delicious overall. Would recommend people to try “Paneer ke Gugule”. Sweet corn soup is a creamy blend of corn and veggies, liked the combination. Overall satisfied with food.

Lastly, we had a bill of $240 and we were 5 in total. The restaurant charges a 18% gratuity. IT isn’t mentioned when you enter, neither the server acknowledges the hidden gratuity and it contradicts their own statements in the menu card. I have attached a picture for the reference. When asked upon he makes us read the menu card and there it is somewhere hidden on point 4.

People make sure if you are 5 or more do not go to this restaurant at all. You would end up paying for gratuities, instead order it home.

Lastly, the server after paying starts cleaning the place, we were sitting and just having water and using restrooms before leaving as we had come from Kitchener to just experience the outrageous service, he uses the white cloth and throws all the food bites down and puts on my friend’s clothes too.

We didn’t wait for a second, laughed and with embarrassment left the place without saying anything.

Bad, worst, disgusting dinning experience!!!! But still food was good!!!!

Don’t visit this restaurant until they don’t mark up...