Mibonasa, Navi Mumbai (Sanpada)

There were times when availability of global cuisine in India was scarce and with globalisation hitting the metropolitan cities there was a sudden rush of restaurants claiming to serve authentic global cuisines. It went on to restaurants importing ingredients from around the world to make the food more home country like. Frankly speaking, a massive majority of Indian folks do not have a palette for authentic cuisines (partially including us). Speaking from experience, on none of our trips to the dragon country have we managed to like a joint (vegetarian serving joints are utterly rare) that serve local Chinese cuisine where as majority of the Indian masses claim to like Chinese food even better than Indian. It just goes out to prove that as soon as an Indian twist is added to any cuisine it become more palatable for majority of us.

Mibonasa serving Asian food is adding the necessary Indian twist to make it more appetising for the Indian palette and is doing quite a good job with it. A long pending invite took us to them for a weekday lunch since we were in the vicinity and here is the tale.

From the designers perspective!

This place is situated on the Palm beach road and is conveniently spottable from the main street but approachable only from inside a complex. As you enter the space you will find a reception area and a sofa seating for you to wait until someone escorts you to your table, one level above. They have made a small display of different types of green teas opposite the seating area and one could order them while they wait to be escorted to the table or even buy them to carry along.

As you go to the level above, you will come across a wide buffet placed on the periphery. The decor is majorly made of wood with wooden tables and fabric upholstered chairs. The walls have large sized arts and paintings that make the place lively while giving it an Asian touch. They use white china clay cutlery and is well maintained. They have round tables for six with a central platform that can revolve for facilitation and sofa seats with chairs around the periphery of the place.

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Drink it baby!

Apple and Peanut Butter Frappe is an eye candy. The drink looks colourful with colourful granules plated around the rim of glass and is garnished with fresh apple slices and fresh cream. It prominently tastes of peanut butter and is hence a heavy drink. The taste is just about average.

Pineapple Coriander Cooler served in a martini glass and garnished with a slice of fresh pineapple gives you a Hawain feel. The mint leaves blend perfectly with pineapple juice to give it a very refreshing flavour. The rim is coated with chat masala very similar to the paani puri masala, which brings that extra delight to the drink. We loved this one.

For the love of food!

Jasmin Flavoured Chinese Tea was a good start to the Pan Asian delicacies served at Mibonasa. The tea was light in flavour and absolutely reviving.

Tender Coconut Veg Soup was a pinkish coloured soup with chopped colourful veggies like broccoli, tofu, carrots, mushrooms etc. The soup was thin in consistency but was flavourful. We loved this coconut blend.

Japanese Salad is a colourful salad with fresh rocket leaves, iceberg, mushrooms, red bell pepper, Japanese cucumbers, black pepper and wasabi mayonnaise dressing. The salad is fresh and appetizing.

Dumplings were served with dumpling sauces of three types namely Spicy Tomato, Scallion Sauce (made of spring onions) and Chilli Garlic Sauce.

Spinach, Bok Choy With Cheese And Seasame Dumplings had a thin and almost transparent green cover with the stuffing that the name reads. We found this one to be a little bland and low on flavours but the sauces made the trick.

Mushroom Dumplings had minced mushroom filling and a white thin cover. The shape is like a little potli garnished with minced orange carrot. The filling has very mild flavours.

We had some lip smacking sushi at Mibonasa. Sushis were served with an Indian twist so for the people who are newly introduced to this Japanese delicacy can try this one to develop a liking for it.

Spicy Corn Roll had deep fried corn, Asparagus, carrot and avocado topped with spicy sauces. These sushi rolls tasted amazing with the spicy and crunchy corn accompanied with Wasabi and Guri (Japanese ginger)

Crispy Sushi With Batter Fried Spinach was another delicious preparation, which looked and tasted amazing.

Fatty Lotus Root are discs of Thai lotus root which have veggies sandwiched between two of them and deep fried. It is tossed in a spicy sauce similar to that used in chilly paneer or Manchurian. It was a good twist to a regular Chinese starters. It was a little sweet though but the overall flavour is satiating.

Kung Pao Potato wedges are deep fried potatoes tossed in kung pao sauce. They also add fried cashew nuts to this dish, which give a very good flavour and crunch. The wedges are fried crisply and have a tender core with a spicy sauce.

Banana Leaf Wrapped Rice is sticky rice, veggies and mushrooms with sauce cooked in banana leaf. It is a full meal in itself. It has a very authentic flavour and only those who enjoy authentic Thai cuisine will have an inclination for this dish.

Coriander Pot Nooddles are lightly flavoured noodles with a prominent coriander taste. These noodles are tossed in exotic veggies like broccoli, babycorn, Chinese carrots, mushrooms and many more.

Shrilankan Sambal was the star of the meal. Aromatic gravy with mouth watering Srilankan spice flavours and exotic veggies in coconut based red gravy garnished with fried onions. This gravy is served with complimentary sticky rice as it goes well in this combination and that is how it is authentically served.

SWEET TOOTH!

Thai Mango Fantasy is loaded with fresh fruits like Kiwi, Apple and Banana with Mango mousse topped with coconut milk and caramel. We found the mousse too sour but the fresh fruits added delight to this dish.

HOW MAY I HELP YOU!

We went to this place for a weekday lunch so the place was relatively empty and the staff was attentive. The servers are quick and diligent. The service is good enough to make your experience worthy.

HAWK EYE VIEW!

The restaurant has tried to bring varied cuisines across Asia to their outlet and have added an Indian twirl to them. With some hits and misses they have managed to satisfy our taste buds and some of their delicacies have quite impressed us.

STAR PICKS!

Pineapple coriander cooler, Spicy corn sushi roll and Shrilankan Sambal

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