We started with the Vegetarian
Platter of appetizers. Standard paneer pakora, veggie pakora, and a samosa
with mediocre batter. If you’re getting tired of hearing me describe vegetarian
appetizer platters, don’t worry, so am I. I’ve decided to stop ordering those
because there’s really so little variation, so next time I go, there WILL be
something different to report.
When it came time for entrees, the French-Indian fusion menu has
eye-popping prices, and though the selections looked innovative with great
potential, it seemed like a much better gamble to pay half those prices for the
standard Indian menu. I wonder what that fusion menu would have tasted like…
The Goat Curry was better
at Mela. The meat was good but not as tender as I’d like, and the curry was
fine. That’s really all I remember from Mantra. I’ve eaten at so many Indian
restaurants that it’s hard to really make a lasting impression. This particular
restaurant has an expansive dining room, with small tables arranged far apart
to block nosy neighbors. The high ceilings and the wood floors are obvious
remnants of way back when Mantra was a nightclub, and the cover-up leaves a
sterile atmosphere, which conjures images of an upscale hospital
cafeteria…except this hospital used to be nightclub and has gorgeous marble
walls. Our server informed us that they’ll be remodeling soon...and not a
minute too soon!
The Shahi Paneer was one of
the better ones I’ve had. The sauce was creamy but sharply tomato, and the
paneer had clearly soaked it in. It was probably the highlight of the meal second
to the naan (see raving in subsequent paragraph) but still just not something I
can really get excited about.
We wanted to order from the naan bar menu, but the selections seemed
gimmicky, and the exorbitant $6 for a piece of naan was quite a deterrent. So
we settled on the classic Garlic Naan
and it turned out to be the best, most perfect naan I’ve ever had. I’ve waited
my whole life for a naan such as this…
We got the Bread Pudding to
go, which was quite good. Densely sweet, it was a bit too rich and had a
texture too hard to bread pudding, but definitely not bad. Just not memorable…
Having recently eaten at Tantric as well (review pending), I can
honestly say I don’t really care which restaurant I go to. Both are solid, and
the food is clearly well-made but neither really rises above the rest. If I
were really craving Indian, I’d probably go to Mela because it’s close to home
or Ghazal because it’s actually great, but if I happened to be downtown, I’d
flip a coin and be happy with whichever side it landed on.
Apologies for the lackluster review – I’m usually better
about this, but I just haven’t been impressed by Indian restaurants lately, and
they’ve been about as memorable as this review…Challenge: make me gasp like
Ghazal and melt like Mela!
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