In the war of cuisines on Indiranagar 12th Main, Asian is very close to complete domination! I chanced upon Mamagoto when I visited that part of the world and decided to drop in for dinner the same day. We reserved a table and that turned out to be a good idea, judging by the waiting crowd. It’s on the ground floor of the same building as The Humming Tree. (map) I think they have valet parking.
Apparently, the conspicuous yellow door, (which seemed a little resistant to push) is a sort of signature across its outlets in Delhi and Mumbai. The decor inside is bohemian hangout meets underground pub. I quite liked the graphic art that adorned the brick walls, especially a tiny one that I think was a take on The Last Supper. The chairs we sat on reminded me of the ones in government offices – Breuer chairs, though there are some plush sofa options as well. I could smell lemon grass, though I also caught a whiff of sea food, probably because I am extra sensitive to that!
They had an offer of unlimited cocktails for Rs.899, but the number of cocktails which were part of that was limited, so we skipped. A few items (exactly the ones I wanted!) on the menu were unavailable and we decided to go for a pitcher of Green Apple & Cinnamon sangria. The green apple flavour and the white wine were evident and occasionally, a touch of the vodka that was promised on the menu as well, but the cinnamon had clearly taken a night off. After much deliberation, we decided to nibble on the Crispy lamb with spring onion and bell peppers. Not that I minded, but they missed mentioning the dry red chillies. The dish was spicy and the lamb slightly more crispy than I’d have liked, but overall, not bad.
We had decided to go with two dishes from the Mamagoto Signature section for the main course, but we were warned that one dish served two, so after a lot of hand wringing, we decided to go with the Chiang Mai Train Station noodles (beef version) with Stir Fried Chicken w/ Thai flavours and spices as the sidekick. The coconut milk in the former was actually that (and not powder, though still packet stuff) and the beef was well cooked. The broth was a tad sweeter than we’d have liked, but thankfully, the tangy and salty flavours of the stir fried chicken balanced it out a bit. We were reasonably stuffed, with just some space for dessert. In that section too, a couple of items were unavailable, and we finally went with the Crunchy Nutella Mousse. Hazelnut nutella, biscuit crumbs and praline ensured sweetness, crunchiness and extreme heaviness!
We weren’t massively impressed with the food but we tried only a few dishes that probably weren’t a representative sample. All of the above cost us close to Rs.3100, probably Rs.500 more than I expected even considering the location. The service was reasonably prompt, but the number of people who kept asking for feedback on each dish and the overall experience was quite over the top!
Mamagoto, 949, 12th Main, Ground Floor, Indiranagar Ph: 40937237