Mantra by Mr India — Restaurant in Oslo

First impression: What an ambiance ! Mind bending decor! Very well done ! Even the business card was so very well tied to the decor that it was so seamless! Comfortable seating and great atmosphere for bringing in office colleagues or family or romantic dates. score:10/10.

Food: I had very little expectations given how Indian food changes to blend to commercial needs and bland palettes, everywhere in the world except, India. I was pleasantly surprised. I ordered paneer makhani(hot) with butter naan, it came with rice included. Taste was good and well balanced for the western world. I could say it’s almost Indian but if you make it real Indian then it may not appeal to everyone. So it think it’s good taste. I would encourage the chef to experiment with local regular customers to see they like something new or may be enhance the spices of popular dishes. Score:8/10

Deserts: This was a disappointment! No selection of so many desert choices like Gulab Jaamun, Ras Malai, Jallebi, sweet rice pudding, carrot halwa, regular halwa etc. I had to settle for an Ice cream ! Which was very well presented! Please improve if you can here. Gilab jamun will be a great place to start with ice cream and that fancy design you do!

Score:7/10

Value and Price: The prices are very steep! Food is very expensive compared to other places anywhere in the world ! My dish “paneer makhni” was $25!!!!! That’s insane. I don’t find the value, well! unless you are here for a date ;) Score: 1/10

Service: Very good service and courteous treatment of all customers. Only advice please smile often and don’t give into the crowd sentiment, since the mood is dim lighting and a smile does lighten up the mood.

Score: 9/10

Overall: It’s a great place to be for good food and atmosphere. I have removed a star due to lack of balance between price and value along with lack of Indian desert choices. I was close to 3 stars due to price but the presentation...

Let me start with some positive notes.

The ATMOSPHERE was good, the interior appealing and functional. The overall cleanliness seemed to be kept.

For me, FOOD takes precedence over the impression of a restaurant. In this case, we found the food to be so-so. This place, seemingly a typical restaurant at a busy area, where the customers suffers the expensive rent that the business owner is responsible for. The prices are jacked-up, the food portions minimal and the taste of the food aren't set to be the main focus.

The SERVICE, or rather the lack of it was our main issue. It took forever to prepare the food, and once dinner came, 15 mins later - they were already requesting repeatedly to rid of the plates. How annoying! They soon after offered the menu for dessert, which we felt to decline as we literally just took our last bite of the main course. That being the case, the waitress suddenly uttered to remind us that we then had to clear the table in 5 mins. That left us almost speechless, at this point as I thought it to be shockingly inappropriate -after having to wait for almost an hour for the food, 15-20 mins to dig in and then be rushed out of our seats. We decided to split, because we just wanted to get far away from this place.

An entire different experience to the Indian restaurant, Listen to Baljit in Solli Plass. We've been there many times and never were we rushed off at any point, the food is always devine and the service very pleasing.

This place on the other hand, will not be...

I would have given a solid 5 stars based on my experience eating in, because it was wonderful. The ambience and service was lovely and the food was really delicious. It was the best Indian food I'd had in Oslo, ever. But I was so disappointed to discover that the quality of take away was awful: as though it was from a totally different restaurant. I ordered #44 (pheasant/fasan), but they gave me chicken. I can tell the difference between chicken and pheasant, so I felt scammed. I discovered this only upon arriving at home, of course, and it was too late to go back and complain. I wonder if Mr. India has 2 completely different ways of preparing/treating the eat-in and the take-away orders...cuz this was a shock. I mean, the price is the same so it should be the same quality! The lamb tandoori was also a completely different dish when ordered as take-away. It's the exact same dish but 2 very different levels of quality & flavour. The meat was full of tendons and impossible to chew in the take-away order, while when eating in it was well prepared and tender.

So I would ONLY recommend eating here, and definitely not to get take-away! This is a great place to come with kids, or with a group. I hope they start to treat the take-away orders more seriously. I really like that they focus on organic and more high...