Food
Punjab eats hard. The trick is knowing when to sit on a plastic stool and when to book a table — and where the ghee is actually ghee.
Cheap eats: dhabas and street stalls
Under $3 gets you a full meal almost anywhere in Punjab if you know where to look. In Amritsar, Kesar da Dhaba near Chowk Passian has been running since 1916 and a dal-paratha thali runs about $4. Kulcha Land on Ranjit Avenue does the Amritsari kulcha with chole and butter for roughly $2.50. In Ludhiana, the roadside dhabas along GT Road toward Jalandhar serve truckers all night — sarson da saag with makki di roti in winter costs under $2 and comes with unlimited jaggery.
Skip anything called a "family restaurant" on the main tourist strips — they charge triple for the same food a dhaba does better. Chole bhature at Sita Ram in Amritsar or Pal Dhaba in Chandigarh Sector 28 will run you $1.50 to $3 and beat any hotel breakfast. Eat where the auto drivers eat; they know.
Mid-range: sit-down Punjabi
For a proper sit-down meal with AC and clean bathrooms, expect $8 to $15 a head. Bharawan da Dhaba near the Golden Temple in Amritsar looks like a dhaba but is basically a restaurant now — still excellent paneer bhurji and lassi, but touristy. Brothers Dhaba on Town Hall Road is the better bet. In Chandigarh, Ghazal in Sector 17 and Pal Dhaba do reliable Punjabi at fair prices. Barbeque Nation branches are everywhere and worth it once for the tandoori spread at about $12 lunch buffet.
For non-veg, Beera Chicken House in Amritsar (Majitha Road) is the local benchmark for tandoori and butter chicken — around $10 for two. Pind Balluchi and Moti Mahal Delux are fine chains if you want predictable quality.
Splurge and old-city sweets
Real splurge dining in Punjab lives inside five-star hotels — Punjab Grill at Taj Chandigarh or the Oberoi Sukhvilas near Chandigarh. Expect $40 to $70 a head with drinks. The food is polished Punjabi with proper wine pairings, but honestly the dhaba versions taste better; you’re paying for the room. Worth it once if you want to see the cuisine dressed up.
For sweets, Gurdas Ram Jalebi Wala in Amritsar sells jalebis fried in desi ghee for about $3 a plate — go before 11am or they run out. Lovely Sweets and Bikanervala are chains you’ll see everywhere; skip the fancy packaged stuff and buy pinnis, patisa, and gur-based ladoos from small halwais in the old city.