Kerala-born Justin Paul has worked his way from culinary school to prepping mouthwatering Indian delights for celebrities like Indian actor Amitabh Bachchan and football legend David Beckham. He also earned a Michelin star for the Venetian Macao’s Golden Peacock, making it the only Indian restaurant to have that distinction in Asia – and one of only a handful to have it in the world.
After the Golden Peacock closed during the Covid-19 pandemic, the 47-year-old Paul opened his own restaurant in 2023. Called M&M Hut, and located at 59 Rua de Bruxelas in NAPE, the modest establishment aimed to help Macao locals understand and appreciate various Indian dishes at “reasonable prices with good quality and quantity.” Before long, however, Paul could see that the market was ready for something more sophisticated. After an upscale revamp, Justin Paul’s restaurant became Justindia, a 20-seat restaurant featuring many of his signature dishes from the Golden Peacock.
For Paul, it was a journey that began in the kitchen of his politician father (and gifted amateur chef) Paulose Thakkolkaran. The youngest of four siblings, Paul tells Macao News he “started by helping my father peel onions and garlic,” then “Slowly we moved up to making different dishes and sauces.”
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His first big test in the kitchen was in 1991, during a relative’s birthday. His father planned to get professional catering for the expected 40 to 50 guests, until his mother intervened and said “We can do it ourselves.” Paul and his siblings worked with their parents all day, preparing multiple dishes – including his father’s famous mango fish curry. “It was his special,” Paul says.
At 18, he joined the Asan Memorial Senior Secondary School in Chennai, where he studied hotel management. As part of the three-year diploma course, he trained at the Leela Mumbai Hotel for six months and continued for a few more months after graduating in 1997. He transferred to the hotel’s branch in Goa a year later and worked there for six years. Then came an opportunity to move to Hong Kong in 2003.
How Chef Justin Paul came to cook for David Beckham
With the help of a friend, Paul took a position at Jashan, a popular Indian restaurant on Hollywood Road in downtown Hong Kong. He worked at the restaurant for a year, followed by stints at the Hyatt Regency and Indian fine dining restaurant Veda until 2007.
Paul then joined Venetian Macao – which was opening at the time – and took charge of the Indian kitchen and the menu of every Indian event hosted at the property. The first big one was the International Indian Film Academy Awards in 2009.
“It was one of the most memorable and challenging experiences in my career,” Paul says. “There was a week before the event where I barely slept.” Paul was in charge of creating the breakfast, lunch and dinner menu for the event and was thrilled to see the participation of many big Indian corporations like Titan and Tata. The highlight? Getting the opportunity to serve Indian actor Amitabh Bachchan.
“I made all of his favourite dishes that his team told me: bhindi ki bhujia (an okra dish), dal tadka and paneer butter masala. When I met him during the awards, he said it was one of the best meals he’s had,” recalls Paul with a smile.
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Being a football fan, Paul was starstruck when given the opportunity to cook for David Beckham – football legend and Indian food lover – and has done so on multiple occasions. “Mr Beckham never asked for a specific dish. He always said, ‘Justin, you can cook me anything,’” Paul says. He also tells Macao News that he noted down every dish cooked for the sporting icon, to avoid repetition.
Paul eventually came to manage 15 Indian chefs. In addition to handling Indian events across Sands China, Paul was appointed head chef of the now-closed Indian restaurant Golden Peacock at the Venetian Macao in 2013. It was there that his artistry really shone, winning him the coveted accolade from Michelin.
Paul said he was in tears when he received the news. Michelin reviewers are anonymous, but Paul remembers a group of low-key yet knowledgeable customers visiting the establishment three times and always asking for the chef. He showed them the kitchen, his staff and various spices, unaware of the group’s identity.
“I never thought I could get it,” he says. “My only focus was to make Golden Peacock one of the best Indian restaurants in Macao, Hong Kong and China,” Paul says. And he did.
A new venture
Paul says that he would not have left the Venetian “if not for the Covid-19 pandemic, but “because of uncertainty, I decided it was a good time to explore new options for the future.”
In 2023, Paul launched his own company, JP Hospitality, that imported spices and other ingredients from India as well as recruiting staff for Indian restaurants. Then he opened M&M Hut and had some success with it (the Nilgiri chicken korma sold “at least 50 to 70 portions per day,” says Paul). But ultimately, he decided to try and replicate the kind of Indian fine-dining dishes with which he wowed diners at the Golden Peacock. Justindia was born, complete with a Mughal-style façade, plush interior and a bartender who formerly worked at the five-star Four Seasons Mumbai.
The restaurant showcases five paintings made by Paul’s school friend, Suku Bhasker, who came to Macao to create the artworks. The paintings showcase different regions in India: Goa, Lucknow, Kolkata, Kerala and Rajasthan. They also represent the region’s dishes served at the restaurant.
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Justindia is known for its spectacular degustation menus of 7 and 11 dishes respectively, but also offers an a la carte menu and a range of Indian-style tapas. Tip: In pride of place on the menu is kandari murgh tikka – chicken covered in a baby beetroot sauce and pomegranate, and one of the star dishes at Golden Peacock.
Paul’s father’s mango fish curry isn’t on the menu (at least not yet) but additions are in the works, including puttu. It’s a Keralan rice roll normally served with chickpeas. Paul plans to give it a creative twist by adding wagyu beef.
The philosophy is simple: quality ingredients and superlative cooking. “My goal is the same as it was when I first started at Golden Peacock,” Paul tells Macao News. “To make Justindia into one of the best Indian Restaurants in Macao, Hong Kong and mainland China.”
