The Buffet that is “Anti-Buffet”
By Shreya Chowdhury
Mamagoto, the pan-Asian restaurant chain has decided to break from the monotony of pre-cooked, non-customized buffets and has brought an innovation to the table, in the form of the “Anti-Buffet”, at their Gurgaon outlet, available from Friday to Sunday. In today’s world of packed and processed food, one has forgotten what it feels like to have freshly cooked food, prepared there and then in front of their eyes. As the name suggests, they are against the idea of a traditional buffet. Their buffet gives the customers the luxury of choosing what they want and how they want it, with their assortment of fresh vegetables and different kinds of meat.
The ambience of the place adds to the entire dining experience. Though the restaurant is small, it is lively. Their décor is as funky as their other outlets. The staff is very attentive and the service is good.
We begin the food journey with the oriental soup, which comes with chicken as well. It’s a good item to begin with, especially for those who love their greens. It is a wonderful concoction of broccoli, mushroom, pokchoi, with perfect seasoning. For starters, they have momos. The chicken momos are amazing! The chicken is well- cooked and smells heavenly. The veg momos are decent. The accompanying sauce is spicy and compliments the momos very well.
The Anti-Buffet has a live Robata grill. The chicken satay is slightly on the sweeter side, but goes well with the peanut sauce. The veg satay has broccoli, bell peppers and tofu. The combination works well together and has a very typically oriental taste. The java fish comes wrapped in a leaf, giving it an authentic look. It is well cooked and goes well with a dash of lemon.
For the main course, one is spoilt for choice. They have a variety of meat and vegetables and a number of sauces. One can let their imagination run wild and try different sorts of combinations, a luxury which only Mamagoto provides in a buffet. We tried the fish in chilli hoisin sauce. It is a wonderful spicy combination, which goes really well with their fried rice. For Thai lovers, the chicken in red curry sauce is a must-try! Creamy, with a subtle taste of coconut, it is delicious. The shrimp in schezwan sauce is a personal favorite. The spicy sauce and the shrimp together create a magical, flavourful mouthful. It tastes great with chilli garlic noodles as well as the fried rice.
The best part of the meal was the dessert. Their dessert menu is to die for! The coconut ice cream just melts in your mouth. It is creamy and coconut-y and not too sweet. It has the perfect balance of all the flavours, which makes it a great way to end the meal. Their Banoffee pie is another beauty. The layers of cream, banana and pie together form a lethal combination which just explodes flavour in the mouth. The caramel sponge cake is a plain cake which turns into a magical dish when you drizzle some of the caramel and coffee sauce, along with ice cream. Their homemade chocolate cake is heavenly. The moment it enters the mouth, you can feel the chocolate melt. The icing on the cake is divine! Mamagoto certainly knows how to end the show on a high note. All the desserts are stunners!
