Mantra Indian Cuisine — Restaurant in Louisiana

Finally, an authentic Indian restaurant in the New Orleans area. Mantra opened last month and I stopped by over the weekend for lunch. Location was right off I-10 so couldn’t be more convenient. Seating for 50 people but due to COVID-19 restrictions, only 20 odd people were allowed at one time so almost an hour wait. Decor was ok but the great service almost made us feel like fine dining. We ordered samosa chat (6.95) and chili chicken (11.95) for appetizers. Samosa chat was good but chili chicken was mediocre. We also ordered mango lassi (3.95) and it was good. We ordered chicken tikka masala (13.95) from chicken entrees and paneer masala (12.95) from vegetarian entrees and they were both equally good. The food came with white rice. We also ordered the bread sampler basket (6.95) which came with a mix of 3 Naans, highly recommended. I requested some raw onions but for some strange reason, it took forever to arrive so that’s the only thing I’ll take against their service. We also ordered gulab jamun (2.95) and Ras malai (3.95) for desserts and they were good. Overall, 4 out of 5 and next time, I’ll do takeout and try their other dishes. Btw, the most authentic Indian restaurant in Louisiana before ‘Mantra’ was in Hammond, Punjabi Dhaba so I was pleasantly surprised to see the same chef and another employee on the front desk from there. The food tasted exactly like ‘Punjabi Dhaba’ so I wouldn’t be surprised if one of the chefs from there has opened this establishment. I would advice Indian food lovers to avoid the worse Indian restaurant on Magazine street, Saffron Nola, supposedly a fusion restaurant. These people know nothing about Indian food or local Louisiana food for that matter. Anyone who dines here knows nothing about Indian food. Anyway, after living in New York all my life and eating authentic/ good Indian food, it was nice to eat it again in New Orleans at Mantra or if you’re in Hammond, at Punjabi Dhaba but pls do avoid, the fake wannabe high priced dump like ‘Saffron Nola’ at all cost.

December 31, 2020 It was my 3rd trip to Mantra and let’s just say that I’ve found the most authentic Indian restaurant in Louisiana period. Everything from chole bature to chicken tikka masala to paneer masala to lamb vindaloo to shrimp curry to chicken mantra was good. Dessert does need some work as kheer and ras malai was pretty mediocre. Service was excellent as always. Ignorance is bless if you’re still eating at the dump ‘saffron nola’ on magazine street!

June 2021 So I ordered the takeout and a Hispanic woman took the order over phone at the restaurant. I specifically asked for Indian style spicy chicken tikka masala (which means pretty spicy) and I repeated it twice to make sure that my food comes out spicy but she couldn’t even pass that simple message to the chef in the kitchen or was just being careless. Anyway, My food came out mild and it totally ruined my mood since I commuted for 30 miles to pick it up so I didn’t patronize the restaurant for the next 6 months. If you work at Mantra Indian restaurant and are reading this review, retrain that woman because she will turn away the customers by her carelessness and it only takes 1 bad experience. Moral of the story, do not order with a Hispanic waitress at an Indian restaurant because they wouldn’t understand if you tell ‘em to make your food spicy. Order only with an Indian person at an Indian restaurant period!

December 2021 Mantra is without a doubt the best Indian restaurant in Louisiana period. I just came vs k from Vegas and tried 3 different popular Indian spots and well, they were mediocre at best and not even close to mantra. I’ve tried quite a few their vegetarian and non vegetarian dishes and everything is amazing. You cannot go wrong with their chicken tikka masala, paneer masala, you get the drift, anything with ‘tikka masala’. They will prepare the food according to your spicy level...

I have been back to Mantra many times since I wrote my original review. I think my first experience was a fluke. The service has been on point every single time after that experience. The food is just fantastic. I had the non-vegetarian sampler on one of mt visits, which was a great way to sample a variety of different dishes. It turns out I am madly in love with their curry chicken. So good! I'm glad I gave this place a second chance, and I'm glad they got their issues worked out.

I don't know how fair 2 stars is, but for now, it's my rating. Mostly because the service was unbearably slow, and the food came out bit by bit. We ordered the onion bhaji as an appetizer. After an exceptionally long wait, whereas I had time to down 2 goblets of water, the onions came out (think fried onion petals, indian style). I got about two bites into one piece, when the chicken biryani and the chicken tikka masala arrived. Hmmmm.

The onion bhaji itself was really good, but the chutneys were sort of non descript and served in disposable plastic cups. I ate more onions while my lunch date started in on the biryani, which I had a bite of it, and it was DELICIOUS. The dish it came on was absolutely beautiful, as well. I mentioned that I was surprised the chicken tikka masala didn't come with rice, as it was a lot of tomato gravy in the very intricate bowl. A few bites later, a gorgeous bowl of rice was delivered, and we also let the person know we had ordered naan. He said he was aware. It was strange that the rice was not delivered with the tikka masala and then stranger still that the naan showed up significantly later. The tikka masala, while flavorful, was very sweet and had no heat to it, which was disappointing. (When we were handed the receipt, I noticed it had been put in as "mild", but I was not asked about spice level preference.) The cheese stuffed naan was REALLY, REALLY good. Really good. We finished our meal, and waited for boxes. And waited. And waited. And waited. And then waited for our check. And waited. And waited. And waited. And waited.

I would be hesitant to eat here again, just because the service was....so so so slow. I would love to try a few more dishes, and I'd definitely like to try the chicken tikka masala with some heat to it. Hopefully, they can work these issues out and someone will convince me to try again. (It was quite obvious that other diners were agitated at the level of...

I'm really torn on this, I thought I had found a great Indian restaurant in New Orleans after finding mediocrity in Southern Louisana. The food is good; way better than other restaurants in Lake Charles or Lafyette that I have tried. The problem isn`t the chef but the servers, I showed up at 7:11 PM and was told that they are closing at 8PM. Placed was mobbed, so I can understand that. Nobody in their right mind can expect to get service when the place is closing in under an hour when all the tables are full. They tell you on facebook to get a reservation for dinner, but I have two issues. One has to be the lack of communication. Their Facebook and website both say 10PM on Fridays. It was only after looking at their GOOGLE page did they say closing at 8:30pm on NOV 12TH. Now you may say, you should have gotten a reservation. I agree, but I also say, if they were to close at 10pm and had no wait line, I'm sure they could fit one person. If they updated their website, I wouldn't have come.

Second has to be the friendliness of the servers. I cant recommend this place to those who want to try Indian cuisine for the first time. The servers want you to eat and get out. Really a shame. It feels like they are happy with the regular customers they have and are not interested in new ones. Perhaps they cant handle the amount of customers they have. I feel bad for the chef since his food is being crippled by the service.

To summarize, Good food, crippled by poor servers. If you want it, order take out so you can skip the tip.

Shout out to the Hostess giving me the NFL referee gesture for an incomplete pass while telling me...