Project Otenga, Navrangpura, Ahmedabad Cafe Restaurant

Indian Travel Places April 7, 2018 Food Review 2,638 Views

Phone: +91 9723549105
Address: Inside Ahmedabad University Office Campus, Commerce Six Road, Navrangpura, Ahmedabad, Gujarat India
Time: 11 AM to 11 PM
Meals for two: Rs. 500
Cuisines: Cafe
Facilities: No Alcohol Available

Project Otenga’s cafe serves mainly staples from the north eastern states of India like Assam and Manipur, but other cuisines and cafe type dishes as well.

Project Otenga, Navrangpura, Ahmedabad: DECOR

Set in the campus of Ahmedabad University, this is an attractive cafe with open and semi-open courtyards, a kitchen garden, plants and an a/c dining area. The interior is casual and youthful yet smart, with a tree growing in the centre and plants. Shelves of books smartly double as partitions within the cafe. Bamboo and metal artifacts go with the northeast Indian food they serve. The concept here is self-service with a neat counter from where you can pick up what you order.

Project Otenga, Navrangpura, Ahmedabad: FOOD

This cafe gets its name from Ou Tenga, the elephant apple which is one of the fruits used to make Assamese sour dishes called tenga. I was fortunate to be there when the special of the day was Fish Tenga, a slightly soupy dish with tomatoes, herbs and sour fruit. The meal of the day is usually an Assamese one with a tenga style dish or a dal flavored with wild elephant apple, rice (sometimes tempered with mustard seeds or spices) and side dishes called pitikas – a preparation of mashed cooked vegetables. I enjoyed pitikas of potato, eggplant and even maach pitika made from fish. Sometimes you can get dishes with interesting combinations like chicken and banana flower. Fresh or fermented bamboo shoots are often cooked with meats or vegetables, or even made into a salad called Humbly Yours. In summer they make dishes like rice Poita Bhaat. From time to time, they have Manipuri stews, vegetarian or with fermented fish. They are always happy to make something for you if you give them the time. Apart from northeastern, they also do other cuisine at times like a Kerala meal.

If you are not looking for a meal, they have some good sandwiches with unusual fillings like Eggplant-and-Mustard, and the Shitake Mushroom Sandwich is really nice. Mouthful Whisper is a pasta salad with traditional mustard paste. Even the soups use different ingredients like amla or roselle leaf-and-potato. The Black Rice Pudding is one of their signature desserts inspired by Chakhao or sanggom kheer from Manipur, and they even make one with chocolate fudge. They have some unusual teas with roselle flower or black rice. Some of the cool drinks disappointed.