Mamagoto, Shivaji Nagar, Pune Asian Restaurant

Restaurant Name: Mamagoto, Shivaji Nagar, Pune [Revisited on 10/06/2022]
Phone: +919607917208, +919607917210
Address: 2nd Floor, The Pavillion, Senapati Bapat Road, Pune, Maharashtra 411006 India
Time: 12 Noon to 11:00 PM
Meals for two: Rs. 1,400
Cuisines: Asian, Chinese, Sushi, Thai, Beverages
Facilities: Home Delivery, Takeaway Available, Full Bar Available, Mall Parking, Live Entertainment, Live Music, Table booking recommended, Indoor Seating

Mamagoto is a popular pan-Asian restaurant chain with a presence in more than 10 cities in the country. In Pune, Mamagoto is located inside the Pavillion Mall and has recently got a fresh decor and menu face lift.

Mamagoto, Shivaji Nagar, Pune: Decor

The decor at Mamagoto is one of the quirkiest in the city. The most striking feature of the decor is the wall and ceiling dotted with funky Japanese, manga-inspired paintings. One wall is dedicated to a beautiful painting of an Asian lady lounging and smoking. The quirkiness continues with a whole wall filled with rows of Japanese maneki-neko cat figurines in gold which are good luck charms. The seating throughout the restaurant is comfortable. The outdoor section has beautifully upholstered sofas paired with kitschy cushions. The indoor section has green leather sofas and wooden chairs. Some sections have a brick finish which adds to the rustic yet trendy charm. The vibrant urban art decor helps create a relaxed and casual ambience.

Food:

The menu lists a range of street food dishes from south-east Asian countries China, Japan, Korea, Indonesia, Malaysia and Myanmar. The menu is well curated and at the helm of affairs in Pune is chef Madan Lal. Along with these signature street food specials, they also have an elaborate sushi menu. The bar currently serves non-alcoholic beverages and hopefully a fully functional bar menu is in the offing. We started with the tangy and refreshing passion fruit and orange cooler along with Mama’s melon punch (served in a carved muskmelon) and summer mango twist from their limited summer mocktails menu. My personal favourite som tam salad was the obvious choice to start the meal. It was tangy and delightfully spicy and generously sprinkled with crushed peanuts. The newly added chicken teriyaki skewers were grilled to perfection and came with a spicy peanut sauce. The sushi menu beckoned next and we got the Ebi tempura uramaki and the spicy salmon uramaki. It was a welcome change to have sushi which wasn’t drizzled with oodles of mayo. Both the rolls were perfectly crafted and all ingredients were fresh. The spicy salmon particularly was extremely enjoyable with just a dot of Japanese mayo and togarashi drizzle. With 8 pieces per portion, a mixed sushi platter would have been a great addition to the menu. Thankfully there is an assorted dim sum basket which consists of 10 pieces and 5 varieties of dim sums. The non-vegetarian basket had shrimp and bamboo shoot with tobiko, chicken gyoza, pok choi wrapped chicken, spicy chicken and duck and delicious. We particularly enjoyed the duck and shitake dim sums and the chicken gyozas. The range of signature bowls, woks to share and noodles was impressive. But with an excellent array of dim sums, sushi and appetizers we picked just the street vendor’s Penang curry bowl for the mains. The Penang curry was intense and very flavorful and paired well with a portion of sticky rice. While dessert choices at Pan Asian restaurants are limited, at Mamagoto they have a few great options to pick from. We picked the delicious banoffee pie and a slightly disappointing khao niaow ma muang (mango sticky rice dessert).

Plus & Minus:

Thanks to its quirky, contemporary and vibrant decor, Mamagoto is one of the most Instagrammable restaurant in the city. Since the time it opened doors to Punekars, the food has been consistently good. The newly launched menu is exciting and I will be going back soon to try their range of signature bowls and sharing woks. A sushi platter, along the lines of their dim sums basket, would be a great addition. A fully functional bar with alcoholic beverages would elevate the experience further.