Mamagoto is an Asian café that is set to rock India

They are not quite the new kids on the block—in fact Kabir Suri and Rahul Khanna have been ruling the NCR food scene for some time now. However, with their latest Bandra outlet of Mamagoto up and running (and garnering rave reviews) and the Bengaluru cafe almost ready to start its kitchen fire—it’s the perfect time to shine the light on the delightfully easy-on-the-pockets and delicious play of food that is Mamagoto. Though I am not quite the Francophile, but I do firmly believe that money and food should not be discussed together—certainly not in an article dedicated to culinary arts. However, it is impossible to ignore the business acumen of the two who were “destined to start this venture together”. The first Mamagoto began in Khan Market. Suri and Khanna achieved an annual growth of 20 per cent for their business (which started with an investment of Rs1.8 crore) within a year. It has grown in number and strength since then. Though the growth story seems like a fairytale, the two did put in a lot of effort before things started.

“We began after spending a year trying to finalise a name, location, menu and staff. The restaurant gets its name from a Japanese word which means to play with food and true to the name we started to experiment with not just food but also with the decor,” Suri explains. And Khanna takes us through the ethos of the restaurant—affordable, quality-focused and fun. “The wall art, almost the Mamagoto signature, was more contained before. One of our investors came in and commented that the place looked more like a gallery. So, we created a more messy wall. The art is our signature. From our recipes to our aesthetics, we have created colourful Asian homages. We wished to create a space which was diametrically opposite to dark, sombre, bamboo shoot and dark-lanterned décor (seen in most Asian diners),” Khanna explains.

Though the Khan Market restaurant was the first one, the restaurant is not quite the mother ship. If one is looking to steal recipes (or chefs) one will have to covertly travel to a more industrial part of the town—at least one of the several industrial areas of the NCR. There, within a three-storeyed food factory and “show off laboratory” the magic happens. The “show off lab” is not something we coined recently, but a hygiene and quality laboratory that Khanna and team like to show to visitors if they ask politely enough. The day I visited the lab, a bottle of maple syrup was resting on a sill waiting to be ‘tested’ for quality. While in Khanna’s office, all manners of delicious condiments soaking in liquer were resting in glass jars, quite the witches’ brew. It was quite a sight really! One of the most impressive bit about the duo’s attitude towards food is their absolute disdain for MSG. We all know that omnipresent ingredient that one cannot avoid while dining Asianstyle? It is not allowed in Mamagoto mother ship or into any one of the kitchens. Yes, believe the earnest Panda on the menu.

Now for the real deal—the food. After hearing colleagues rant about Mamagoto for an year, I finally arrived at the Khan Market restaurant as member of a raucous and ravenous group of seven. It is important to point out that the raucous group fell silent soon after they began to eat and playing the game of passing the plate. Between the seven of us, we managed to eat pretty much everything on the menu that day. From a state of “hangry -ness” (when one is hungry, thereby angry, one is “hangry”. It is a word in the urban dictionary, check it out), we were soon cooing like babies. The oriental clear soup (chicken) was a broth of such wholesome goodness that it improved my temper. As did the soggy Thai basil fried rice. But it was the crispy fish fillet with black pepper sauce and the steamed fish in oyster sauce that hit the spot (I swear I dreamt of both later). It was one of the first times that I tasted basa and I remember the textured flakiness of the meat perfectly complimenting the sweetness of the sauce.

Relaxed, quirky and casual atmosphere with authentic yet affordable food (and drinks—but those I found to be less impressive), Mamagoto believes in making Asian food fun. Mamagoto dishes are not always ‘pure bred’ south-Asian, they are more akin to homages to Chinese, Thai and Japanese cuisines. For people seeking their favourites there is the traditional crispy lamb with spring onion and bell peppers, Thai chicken and water chestnut salad, java grilled fish in red hot sambal salsa (bursting with flavours) and the street vendor’s Panang curry bowl—all slightly tweaked versions of the familiar food.

If we had to really nitpick, we would simply point a finger at the desserts section. Yes, the Banoffee pie is good on most days. But mostly the desserts section seems limited. Some more options would not hurt.

I remember leaving Mamagoto for the first time swearing to return even if it was to sample their Khau Suey. Well, I did return a few times to the Khan Market outlet, as well as to the other outlets across the city. Heck, I became quite a fan. Overall Mamagoto food has successfully maintained its consistency. It is an issue that Khanna and Suri worry about. With the plan to have 30 outlets across India—and some more overseas in the near future—consistency of quality and taste are indeed the two worrisome factors that would determine the success of the venture. However, if they and their 650-odd team remain as fastidiousabout quality as they are now, I would not mind travelling to Mumbai, Bengaluru or Goa to eat either.