UNDER THE MANGO TREE, RICHMOND TOWN - A REVIEW

BY PRIYA JAIN

Office time lunch is always a nerve-wracking experience. There is always that fear of overshooting your allotted lunch time as well as the idea of being on call. But when my colleague said ‘let’s go under the mango tree’ I simply found it hard to say no!

So off we went, bright sunny day, a headache almost threatening to come on. But once we entered the restaurant, I was quite happy with the cool (natural and not AC) breeze coming through and natural lighting, without being blinding, under the mango tree.

The menu was given and knowing our penchant for trying stuff never tried by us before and of course, Harry Potter and pumpkins obsession, we went with the roasted pumpkin soup priced at Rs 110 to start with.

The soup was quite bland in the beginning, but with more and more going into your mouth, the creaminess and the mild saltiness start to grow on you. Much as I was tempted to lick my soup container clean, I resisted. But I still do not understand the pumpkin obsession in Harry Potter, are pumpkins tastier abroad?

We went with Spinach cheese squares served with garlic tumb priced at Rs 190. In one word, the dish was ORGASMIC. Three of my favourite ingredients put together in the most delectable manner. The only disappointment was that there were only 4 pieces. My friend had to part with an extra half thanks to my greed and a phone call! Yippie! I am certainly going to try recreating the magic of this one at home!

Main course was again pumpkin based. Pumpkin ravioli in mango sage butter priced at Rs 280. A delightful dish that left me wanting more. The cream was so rich, I scooped it all out and ate it with the bread that the dish came with. When there was still some left, I used my spoon. The Ravioli had stuffing of mashed sweet pumpkin. The dish was lovely and flavored at every level. I LOVED IT

I did not like the fact that we were forced to take mineral water at Rs 30, most restaurants give you the choice of choosing regular water. Why put out more plastic in the environment when it’s already suffering? And what is wrong with drinking perfectly respectable tap water?

For dessert, we chose a blueberry cheesecake, priced at Rs 176. As good as a usual blueberry cheesecake.

The backbreaking bit as always were the taxes. 159 rupees. Could have had another starter and left a generous tip for the steward. An article coming soon on the service taxes.

Overall, the meal was a delight and did not take more than an hour to get through with.