Monday, October 8, 2012

"Mantra"

I have been meditating for over 35 years. As you may know everyone has their own personal word on which to concentrate while meditating, in this country this word is referred to as their Mantra. You might imagine when I heard that there was a new Indian Restaurant named "Mantra on the Hill" at 934 Hatch St ( the recent home of "Daveed's") in Mt Adams, phone 621-1100, my surprise and delite.
The restaurant has been open a couple of months and is a reincarnation, in my opinion one step higher, of the original "Cumin" with the same talented Chef in charge of the food and menu. Assisting him in the front of the house is a wonderful Cincinnati fixture, Richard Brown, functioning as M'tre de, wine advisor and General Manager.
Little has change in ambiance, from the original Daveed's, in both the inside and the outside patio but the service the night we were there couldn't have been better; knowledgeable, agreeable and guiding.

Four of us went this week and I will try to describe our excellent dinner. ( You know my spelling is terrible in English so expect no improvement in Hindi).
At our servers recommendation we started by the 4 of us dividing an order of Papri Chaat, a salad of chickpeas, potatoes, onions and tomato's with a light, compelling, piquant dressing. Next came Braised Lamb Shank, two large to a single order, with oven crisp potato bits( perfect) and both a light lamb gravy as well as purred spicy tomato sauce. The other entree was ten medium sized shrimp that had been prepared in the Tandoor oven but remained, flavorful, firm and juicy. The two dishes complimented each other. Our vegetable was Tarka Dall a mixture of lentils and spices, again with various herbs. This dish was also pureed and came in a cone shaped copper container.  For dessert we had a Lemon Thyme tart, a perfect ending.
Three of us drank wine, 2 a white Indian( Sauvignon Blanc) one a red and I, of course, had my usual Bombay, what better in a Indian restaurant unless an IPA. Along with coffee the total bill, including tax was $109. A very fair price for a princely meal.

Referring back to the previous posting, "Pub Food", Saturday night we carried out from the "Oakley Pub and Grill" their excellent grouper sandwiches. I asked that they pack the fish separately, so that it could be easily heated, and they did a wonderful job of complying. All; bread, slaw, tarter sauce, et-al came thru transporting and dinner beautifully. Terrific work by the kitchen staff.

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