Mother's Day Celebration at Apna Punjab

By Gauri Chandna

Mother’s Day is a joyous day all across the world when mothers are celebrated. Originated in Greece and Rome as a religious festival in honor of Goddesses Rhea and Cybele, over a period of time, this has taken a shape of a more secular holiday when families across the world celebrate motherhood. A day when everyone takes a few moments to remember times they have spent with their mothers. Of course social media is filled with pictures of childhood times with loving moms. And current children spend extra time at school to prepare touchingly worded cards for their moms. Moms are showered with gifts, flowers, cards and tons of love. According to a research done, the phone traffic including texting these days increases by upto 37% on this one day while children far away from their moms make sure they chat with their moms on this special day. For those close by, a usual tradition is making meals for mom, breakfast in bed being the popular one. All moms proudly share that their kids prepared meals for them to treat them extra special on Mother’s Day. Restaurants are flooded with families celebrating the day as a special family day out. With the newest trend of sharing pictures online, everywhere you look, you notice mom’s being photographed by their husbands and proudly sharing on their ‘walls’ that the women of the house were treated well and rewarded for being that extra special person in their homes. Moms get to decide what they want to do, where they want to go and how they want to be treated. It is a day when moms across the world are pampered. And this pampering was elaborated this year at Apna Punjab restaurant in Rehoboth.

The restaurant bubbled with energy and excitement when happy families walked in to celebrate their special day at the restaurant. An atmosphere of traditional food, Bollywood music and happy families was on throughout the evening and well into Sunday night. Somen Saha a local vocalist entertained audiences with a variety of Bollywood songs ranging from Kishore Kumar oldies to newer Ashiqui 2 numbers. Families clapped and hummed along and joined in twists and dances while the authentic Punjabi food was being served and was filling up the entire room with flavors of Punjab. A touching number ‘Maa’ was soul stirring and definitely wetted a few eyes in the room. Soumen Saha himself enjoyed the experience of singing for a great audience. As it puts it himself,” It was an intimate evening with a very receptive audience. I was able to sing romantic as well as up-beat numbers and the audience participation was uplifting. The American crowd was quite enthusiastic of the performance and had a great time swinging to both American and Hindi songs. All in all it was a very pleasant evening and I enjoyed it thoroughly.”

As for the food, to those who chose to go there, agreed there couldn’t have been a better choice. Manisha Chowdhary who run a day care visits the restaurant regularly and shared her thoughts with us, “Apna Punjab always has amazing food. We go there often and the owner is very welcoming. The staff is great, very friendly and attentive. We were there for Mother's Day. They had Somen Saha sing that evening. Somen is amazing and it was really nice to see him there with his family. What a lovely collection of songs he has. I definitely recommend this place to everyone who is looking for some lovely traditional Indian food. I look forward to more celebration nights at Apna Punjab”.

According to the owner of the restaurant, Mr Jatinder Vij, “All of our dishes are made fresh to order. Many of our recipes are handed down from generations of families, some are created from our Executive Chef, Mr. Subash Singh's personal repertoire- but each of our menu items is made with personal attention and never rushed or shorted! Our talented kitchen staff will adjust the spice level of every dish to suit your tolerance- so dare to go bold or order it mild, the choice is yours!” And true to the words, each and every dish prepared that night as well, was customized for the level of spice and personal taste of the guest. It was served with so much warmth and love. Those who enjoyed their Mother’s day dinner at Apna Punjab went happy and satisfied with their choice of the venue, food and music. According to Mr Jatinder, there were about 130 people who enjoyed the Mother’s Day dinner at Apna Punjab. When asked if there was a popular dish that night, he confidently smiled and said, “ Crispy Shrimp and Badami Chicken.” Our favorites: Double meat naan, sarson ka saag and crispy shrimp.

Sameer Bhambhani, the lead guitarist at Din Check, is a regular customer at Apna Punjab and he spoke to The Foundations Tv about the overall experience of eating at the restaurant. "If you are really looking for authentic Indian cuisine, Apna Punjab is surely the place. Their food is fresh and their menu is extensive. Their mutton curry is surely one of my favorites. Service is prompt and courteous ....definitely recommend the place to anyone looking for a great Indian restaurant in the area"

Apna Punjab is a unique restaurant that has awesome food and very warm and welcoming environment and hospitality of the owner. That truly differentiates it from others. Located in Rehoboth, it makes the drive so worth it. The Foundations TV recommends it!