In a nutshell:

A real fun place to spend some great time with family / friends with some food that is either average or good or very good or even outstanding – not encountered any dish that we disliked.

Address & other details: Mamagoto

Meal for 2: Rs. 700 onwards

Cuisine Type: Vegetarian & Nonvegetarian

Short Description – In case u r in a hurry:

Mamagoto has been around in Delhi for some time now & has recently opened up in Gurgaon in Sector 29, the Restaurant destination of Gurgaon. It has something in it that quickly attracts attention & reaches out straight to the kid within us.

As I walked towards the Restaurant, I realized that there is a small see-thru window to the restaurant which is made like a television screen. As I entered the restaurant, my jaws dropped at the sheer look, feel, design, graphics & the outstanding paintings all around. In short, my eyes thanked me for taking them to Mamagoto – it was a visual delight. The designer who conceptualized this must be a Genius.

The menu card also exudes the outstanding art sense – starting from the cover to every page. I was surprised to see another book (looking like the menu card) with memorabilia on sale – mugs, tee shirts etc & also the paintings on the wall!!!!! So u cud actually go out to dine & return home with a beautiful painting.

The staff is very attentive, warm, helpful & knowledgeable (about the food served) but at times bordering ‘interfering’. I guess they were just trying to b nice but at times overdoing ‘attentiveness’ pisses off the guests.

In case u r foxed by my ‘In a nutshell’, let me explain that – In a span of one evening we tasted everything from average to outstanding. So I cud not but write such a summary that cud sound confusing & of course irritating. Apologize but no choice.

Detailed Description – In case u have the time to njoy reading:

We started our evening with ‘Shrimps with dry red chilly & burnt garlic’. It was a deep fried dish that we had as a starter. Crispy outer, non chewy inside, flavourful & good. Marginally short on salt, the dish had a twist to it due to the burnt garlic. I enjoyed my prawns with the chillies & my dining partners njoyed them without the chillies. But all of us liked it. I wud rate this 3.5/5.

After a while we ordered for Spicy fried calamari – It was calamari rings deep fried in Panzu pepper batter, served with finely chopped green chillies & a dash of lemon. This was not bad but not good either. The dish failed to make any impact / make its presence felt. The calamari cud well have been anything else in a batter. The outer layer was crispy & nice. The taste was quite flat. I wud give this 2.5 / 5.

As we started gravitating towards main-course, we came across the ‘Coal fired Robata Grill section’. We ordered Prawns wrapped in bacon – prawns marinated with sesame & Japanese spices wrapped in bacon for a ‘smoky aroma’. This had a slight sweet tinge & excellent tasting prawns. The bacon added a cool twist to the prawns. The sesame added good flavour & so did the sauce that was served alongside. Loved this. I wud rate this 4/5.

The last & final dish for the evening was a ‘sixer’. We ordered for Teriyaki meal in a bowl – fried sticky rice with eggs, wok tossed thinly cut lamb, with winter ginger, spring onions, onion & garlic. It was outstanding.

I have seldom come across wok fried lamb that is so soft, juicy & tender. The sticky rice was superb as well with a ‘stock-cooked’ flavour to it. The greens were done just right – not overdone, not underdone. The sauce was too good & overall it was a killer dish. I wud rate this 4.5/5.

We washed this all down with Wasabi Mary – Loved it. It was obviously a bloody Mary base with a hint of Wasabi. In the beginning the hint was feeble and u cud feel it as an aftertaste. Slowly as we started having more of the drink, the wasabi started making its presence felt & that made the drink very interesting. The rim was frosted with what appeared to be celery salt. I wud give this 4/5.

To wrap up – Great place to catch up with friends, have a good chat & also get food whose taste can be anything from ‘average to outstanding’ but unlikely ‘bad’. I will surely visit to try other dishes.