When power goes out during a food review

It’s every restaurateur’s worst nightmare, a power outage during a food review. Luckily the story didn’t end there for this coastal hotspot.

The rain plunges down as if someone has just pulled the plug from a giant bath above our heads, while the plants out of the front are flailing in the wind like demented go-go dancers. It’s as though Hollywood set-makers have devised an authentic monsoon backdrop for patrons arriving at Noosa’s newish southern coastal Indian restaurant, Pucca.

While we appreciate this unexpected attention to detail, inside the Noosa Junction eatery wait staff are less enamoured of the meteorological situation, hustling to move bare tables and cushioned rattan chairs, reset with new linen serviettes and reconfigure ready for the full house booked in for the evening.

‘The year’s most beautiful dessert’: Review of Restaurant Dan Arnold

The $7.50 must-try burger at new Eagle St Pier Thai joint

Pucca, the kitchen helmed by Indian-born, Australia-raised, UK Michelin restaurant-trained chef Neale White, has become something of a culinary hot spot in a town beset by loads of solid long-term eating options but not too much in the way of exciting newcomers. He sets about remedying this with dishes inspired by his family’s fondness for the food of India’s Malabar Coast, beefed up with quality regional produce, and married with a smart drinks list offering a wide range of gins, including local brews made just a juniper berry’s toss away at Fortune in Noosaville.

Cool and welcoming: Pucca Restaurant and Gin Bar at Noosa Junction. Picture: Mark Cranitch.

We arrive at 5pm amid the storm drama, ready to dine at nana o’clock to be back at our accommodation in time for the AFL grand final. No sooner have I had my first sip of a Noosa Distillery gin with grapefruit and tonic than the power goes off. Catastrophe! But a virtue of late-afternoon dining is that the staff can still see to hunt for the switchboard and the chef just calmly carries on in the gas-fired kitchen.

Before long we are powered up again and sampling crisp samosas ($16) stuffed with lightly spiced Mooloolaba prawn mix, with cucumber raita for dipping and six baked half-shell scallops ($22) lightly accessorised with a crumble of balachaung (a prawn pickle), fermented papaya, ginger and spring onion, that enhances rather than overwhelms the delicate shellfish.

Smooth operator: Pucca at Noosa Junction. Picture: Mark Cranitch

Other starters sailing by to other tables looked similarly appealing, Dad’s puchkas (puffy pani puri with chickpea masala), Fraser Isle spanner crab with salsa-like kachumber and buffalo tartare with chilli chutney, coconut relish, pickled onion and pappadum.

The cuisine of India’s southern coast makes good use of the region’s prolific coconut crop, as well as seafood, spices and chilli. Main course options here include banana eggplant masala, whey-brined tandoori chicken and Keralan Mooloolaba prawn curry.

Don’t miss it: Pucca’s Keralan fish curry with parathas. Picture: Mark Cranitch.

The Keralan fish curry ($36) is offered with either barramundi or our choice of sea perch. This is a standout dish, aromatic and with a depth of flavour that still lets the beautifully fresh fish remain the hero. Pork jowl vindaloo ($34), a vivid version of the Goan favourite that evolved with the arrival of the Portuguese in the 1500s, boasts pickled red onion and a slightly sweet spice base that bears little resemblance to the chest-beating, fiery vindaloos of many Anglo menus. The parathas ($7 for two), flaky layered flatbreads, are superb straight from the oven and like coconut rice ($7), are an essential accompaniment for the curries.

Sweet finale: Aunty Carol’s love cake with coconut sorbet at Pucca. Picture: Mark Cranitch.

As well as the fine array of gins and cocktails, the drinks list boasts a bevy of beers including Indian Kingfisher, three Heads of Noosa lagers and local Land and Sea’s Juice Box IPA, and a thoughtfully chosen global wine list that includes plenty of by-the-glass options.

We are reaching deadline for the start of the footy so ask if we can have dessert as takeaway. The staff kindly oblige and we later chow down on spiced pumpkin halwa ($15), strewn with nuts and seeds, with cashew praline and almond chai ice cream and, better still, Aunty Carol’s love cake ($15) with coconut sorbet and a crunchy sprinkle of pomegranate seeds. It’s a fitting finale to a night replete with drama and a delightful, curry-fuelled passage to India.

PUCCA RESTAURANT AND GIN BAR

THE VERDICT

Food 4 stars

Ambience 3.5

Service 3.5

OVERALL 4 stars

OVERALL 4 stars

Must try

Keralan fish curry

19 Sunshine Beach Road, Noosa Junction

pucca.com.au

5613 3202

Open Wed-Sun from 5.3

0pm, Sat 12-2.30pm. Takeaway Wed-Sun
5-9pm,