Mamagoto, Nungambakkam, Chennai Asian Restaurant

Restaurant Name: Mamagoto, Nungambakkam, Chennai
Phone: +917358775441, +914445050070, +914445050069
Address: Shop No. 9, Oyester Building, Khader Nawaz Khan Rd, Nungambakkam, Chennai, Tamil Nadu 600034 India
Time: 12:00 Noon – 11:30 PM
Meals for two: Rs. 1,800
Cuisines: Asian, Chinese, Sushi, Thai
Facilities: Home Delivery, Takeaway Available, Indoor Seating, Table reservation required, Wifi

Mamagoto, Nungambakkam, Chennai: Decor

There’s a lot of colour on every inch of Mamagoto walls. Then, there’s a brightly lit bar that offers spirited hope with fresh fruit and glasses, but is not meant for alcohol. What you can get here, is mocktails and the ever-refreshing tender coconut water.

Seating wise, you could choose to sit for the long haul on one of the colorful, custom upholstered sofas with patterns of athletes and cherry blossoms. Or you could sit on brown leather upholstered wooden chairs.

Mamagoto, Nungambakkam, Chennai: Food

FYI, Mamagoto means playing with food. And the food play begins with rice crisps arriving at the table with two dipping sauces — Som Tam and Chilli. The good part — these remain at your table for as long as you want them to… maybe take a crunch as you wait for your next dish to arrive.

Tom Yum Soup. I have the one with shrimp. It’s a thin broth brownish soup with strands of coriander adding colour. While the shrimp are succulent and fresh, they’re cut in half. Something I find hard to comprehend. Otherwise, the soup has mushrooms and the expected flavour from lemon grass, galangal, kaffir lime. The soup paste is made at their central kitchen, as are almost all the pastes needed in Pan Asian food.

Although I am tempted to try the Som Tam Salad, I decided on Crispy Snow Peas and Green Beans one. It has the magic word, ‘crispy’ and promises of nutrition with crunch. In reality, it has both. Lots of burnt onion and garlic flakes meet fresh roasted peanuts in jaggery sauce. The snow peas and beans are moist.

Lightly pan fried, Old School Gyozas arrive in a banana leaf lined bamboo basket and have the added twist of a golden crunch to the otherwise steamed dimsums. Of course, I tried my vegetarian option with four different dips — chilli vinegar, coriander, spring onion and cherry wine. Each one brings a different taste to the same dimsum.

Another one, called Pok Choy Wrapped Chicken, has an abundance of garlic and a dot of black bean jam on top. This one didn’t really need any dip to bring out its true personality.

Quite the meal in a bowl, Fiery Thai Shrimp Fried Rice with Asian Green Chili Chicken Ribbons is fulfilling with a fried egg sitting on top. Prawn crackers on the side add intrigue. You must remember to add the sweet and spicy sauce that comes along as otherwise the rice would be quite dry.

Desserts are all outsourced, so I skipped. But for those who’d like a sweet ending, there’s a dessert section on the menu. Ice cream and four other desserts to choose from.

Pluses and minuses:

Mamagoto has a ‘young’ vibe. Ample portion sizes. The food lulls you into a comfort zone. The polite serving staff can do with some more ingredient knowledge.