Oh! Serendipity

An unexpected misfortune took Rahul Verma to Mamagoto in Khan Market. Turns out, it wasn't such a misfortune, after all

Every year, on the day or the eve of Rakhi, we have a nice meal in a restaurant of our choice. We are usually a group of four — sister, brother, adopted brother and sister-in-law (whom we happily refer to as the gate-crasher). The gate-crasher tries to take over the proceedings by telling us where we should go and what we should eat. This time I thought I'd put my foot down. Before she could come up with a suggestion, I announced that we'd go to The Chinese in Connaught Place, a restaurant that I had last gone to several years ago when it had first opened.

But, as luck would have it, we reached Connaught Place and found that there was no way we could enter the lane where The Chinese is located, for both ends had been dug up. I don't know why the road had been excavated, but I am not really surprised, for all digging activities in Delhi happen during the rains. But we were left in a quandary, not knowing which way to go. The gate-crasher, as always, came up with a suggestion. How about Mamagoto, the restaurant in Khan Market that her friends had been raving about?

Where located

So off we went to Khan Market, and found Mamagoto after a few hurried text messages. This is in the middle lane of Khan Market, where a great many restaurants are now located. If you enter the middle lane from the side of Bahri Sons, the bookshop, turn right. Mamagoto is at the centre of the lane, on your left

The place was crowded, and we were told that we'd have to wait for 20 minutes or so. We made good use of the time by poring through the menu, and deciding what we'd like to order.

We finally zeroed in on prawns with ground pepper basil and preserved garlic (Rs.410), sliced chicken with broccoli and garlic-infused white sauce (Rs.265), crispy lamb with spring onions and bell pepper (Rs.275), Cantonese pan-fried noodles with chicken (Rs.225) and steamed rice (Rs.95).

Mamagoto didn't disappoint us. The prawns were delicious — soft and spicy, with the preserved garlic adding a touch of sweetness to the taste. The lamb — which is a dish that I always order whenever I have Chinese — was crunchy and scrumptious. The pan-fried noodle was a meal in itself, and full of goodies.

But the dish that took my heart away was, surprisingly, the chicken, which was lightly cooked and had a very nice flavour of garlic in the sauce.

I liked everything about Mamagoto. The food, of course, was delicious, but I found the prices very reasonable, too. The staff is courteous and caring, so much so that they gave us dessert — a nice coffee cheesecake with mocha — on the house because they had run out of the other dessert we'd asked for, a cheesecake with caramelised custard.

All in all, it was a lovely meal, and a nice Rakhi evening for all of us. I must say I am glad we missed out on The Chinese. The gate-crasher was happy too.

Last heard, she was making plans for next year's meal.