Place: Mamagoto
Location: Opp. Audi Showroom, Road No. 12, Banjara Hills
Cuisine: Chinese
Meal: Dinner (with amma and wifey)
After a long hiatus, I’m back with the review of a tasting session at the newly opened Pan Asian restaurant chain in town – Mamagoto. Located on the ground floor of the same building as Zafraan Exotica, Mamagoto is a vibrant joint which boasts about its bright interiors and loud noise levels. The place was packed on Friday evening when we dropped in, and maybe because of the crowd, it all seemed too crammed. We had to wait for a few minutes before a table was arranged for us, and the on-floor Manager was kind enough to take our order while we were waiting. She helped us choose, and made sure that food was served soon after we settled down at a small table in the center of the restaurant in the ground floor.
For starters, we ordered Water Chestnut Spring Rolls and Old School Gyoza Dumplings. For drinks, I asked for a Chennai Chiller smoothie, wifey ordered a Virgin Sangria, and amma had their innovative Litchi Pop Rock.
The Chennai Chiller was a refreshing mix of pineapple, coconut, banana and honey, blended with yogurt. I think it was the best drink of the lot. The Litchi Pop Rock turned our to be a flavoured ice-gola, and was equally good. The Orange flavoured Virgin Sangria was alright.
The Spring rolls were served along with a tangy chilli black bean jam. The rolls were crispy, and excellent. The water chestnut taste was mild, and gave it a special taste. The jam served along was amazingly yummy (wifey never let go of it till the end of our meal!)
We were expecting the Old School Gyoza aka lightly pan-fried vegetable dumplings with spicy momo sauce to be very spicy, but they were more or less mild. Nevertheless, they tasted very good with the stuffing being delicious.
We asked our waiter for suggestions on the main course, and he recommended we try the Spicy Bangkok Rice Bowl. I wanted to try the Pad Thai, but instead opted for the Chiang Mai Train Station Noodles.
Food was served in about ten minutes, but there seemed to be something fishy for I saw egg on the rice bowl. When enquired if the food served was vegetarian (as I ordered for veggie versions of everything), I was informed it was chicken. Confusion! They apologised, and took the food back.
A little while later, our food was on the table, and we ensured it was vegetarian. The Spicy Bangkok Rice Bowl turned out to be regular fried rice with garlic flavour to it. Unlike the name, there was nothing spicy about it. However, it tasted pretty good. Nothing great, just good.
The Chiang Mai Train Station Noodles looked yum, and also tasted yum. This reminded me of the amazingly awesome Kaukswe Noodles you get at Relish in Mumbai. The Coconut milk sauce with burnt onion and garlic was finger licking good. Yummilicious!
To end the meal, I asked for a Chocolate Cheese Cake and, though I’m not a big fan of caramel, picked their home-made Caramel Sponge Cake as the waiter recommended it.
Again, there was confusion, and the waiter got back to us with their home-made Chocolate Cake instead of the Sponge Cake. I asked him not to replace it as this looked tempting. The accidental Chocolate cake turned out to be delectable; good that I avoided caramel.
The Chocolate Cheese Cake was a combination of dark and white chocolate, and tasted alright. I would have preferred it to be more light, but no qualms.
Overall, a pretty good meal. All the items served made a mark, with the Chiang Mai Train Station Noodles making a big impression on my palate. The service team seemed a little offbeat, and it looked like the many waiters on floor were the cause of confusion all around. They need to hold fort before something goes haywire. On price front, the place is definitely heavy on the pocket, and the quantity of food served isn’t a plus point. Nevertheless, the ambiance and the food make it a worthy visit once in a while visit. Give it a go, and do tell me what you liked best!
And ya, don’t let the word spicy on their menu fool you 🙂
Food: 9/10
Service: 7.5/10
Ambiance: 8.5/10
Meal for 3: N/A
Verdict: 8/10
