Mango mania has caught up with the people of Bangalore and restaurants have also kept up to the craze, by introducing new variations of dishes by infusing Mango.  Farzi Café, one of the favourite café among Bangaloreans found an opportunity to win the hearts of people, by bringing the MANGOMANIA.  What have they done as part of the festival? Is it just few quick eats and starters, or it is much more?  Well, they have infused the Mango into anything, including the main-course, deserts and even cocktails.  And to make it even clear, they have separate menus for both all.  Let me share my experience during my recent tasting.

Food Options

Variety as they say is the spice of life and for a food-lover like me, I was waiting to try out from multiple options available.

Salads

Green Mango and Papaya Salad, Peanut and Mint Chutney Crispy Lotus Stem (v)

The name is quite long, but it describes the dish in totality.  Taste of the dish was quite good with the mint-chutney & lotus stem.  Presentation was fabulous.  The only thing I would have wanted from the dish was a little bit of tanginess. 

There is another fish based starter for non-veg lovers – Roasted Fish Tacos Shredded Green Mango Salsa, which I heard was good.

Tapas/Starters

Raw Mango and Mushroom Kulcha (v)

Quite an innovative idea of adding mushroom and raw mango inside Kulcha.  The stuffing was quite good and complete ingredients did gel well to bring out the special taste.

Ghee Podi Baby Idlis and Cashew Nut Masala (v)

Farzi has unique way of modifying an existing local dish to make it look larger than life.  This starter is a perfect example of that and taste wise undoubtedly, it is yummy.

There are 3 options of non-veg lovers – Tandoori River Sole, Spiced Chicken Meatballs and Ginger & Aam Papad Prawns.  One of my friend who accompanied, said the taste was quite good.

Mains

Paneer Pepper Fry, Tomato and Mango Curry, Malabar Parotha (v)

This for sure was one of the best dishes I had as part of the tasting.  Tomato & Mango curry was quite awesome and it went along with the peppery paneer & also parotha.  Each of the items, also tasty great by themselves and could have been consumed as is.

Kachhi Ambi Ki Dal, Ghee Pulao (v)

The dal was perfectly cooked and infusion of mango seems have taken the taste to next level.  I would specially recommend this dish, for the dal. 

Pan Tossed Aubergine & Asparagus, Cherry Tomato & Mango Masala (v)

This dish was among my lesser favourite coz of few things.  Firstly, the presentation looked quite simple and they could have done a little more.  Secondly, I was not able to get the flavours of Aubergine as much as I would have wanted.  The masala that was given was a little too tangy due to the presence of Cherry Tomato.

Non-veg lovers need have special offering of Andhra Fish Curry which I heard was quite good.

Meetha

Vanilla Pod Cheese Cake, Kesar Aam Ras

Full marks for the presentation of the dish – long lines of Kesar Aam Ras criss-crossing to make a net pattern, the way sliced mango was spread on a line and the cheese cake, it looked special.  The taste was a little off Cheese cake wasn’t as sweet but when it was consumed with Aam ras, the flavour enhanced. 

Cocktails

There are 5 new cocktails introduced as part of the Mangomania including – Mango Magic, Mangoliciious, Mangosutra, Mangomocha and Mangorita.  Let me share my experience on few of the drinks on the order of liking.

Mangomocha was undoubtedly my favourite as it had mix of mango pulp, coffee and rum.  The drink was special as I could feel a bit of the rum and the wonderful mango flavour in it.

Mango Magic is the first drink I tried and I must say that the Vodka and Mango in farzi style was quite good.  I would recommend this one and the previous drink to anyone visiting Farzi during Mangomania.

Mangorita is another variant of our well known Maragrita which was served with a chuski.  The drink was pretty fine but I wondered why the ice-chuski was present.  I would have rather preferred putting the drink inside crushed ice before making the chuski.

Mangosutra was presented quite well but then I thought it was a little too sweet for liking.  Mangolicious made by mixing Tequilla, mango puree & Kala Khatta was just okay, it did not give me a wow feeling after tasting.

Overall Experience

It was a great experience enjoying some mouth-watering dishes at Farzi Café as part of the Mangomania.  I specially loved the starters and main-course very much.  There are few cocktails that had some interesting taste due to unique mix of Mango with Vodka, Rum and Tequilla.  I would recommend anyone living/visiting Bangalore to try out the Mangomania happenings at Farzi.  I am sure the fest will be on until the Mango seasons lasts.

I rate my current experience of Mangomania at Farzi at around 4.5/5.