Mantra is a relatively new restaurant in downtown Palo Alto right across the street from Beppo's. I stumbled across it on kind of a whim--my friend and I had something to celebrate, and decided to do so by checking out this Indian place. I love eating out in Palo Alto--there's a surplus of really high quality restaurants here. Usually, it's pretty hard to get me to stray from my favorites (Evia, Beppo's, Three Seasons, Amber), but Mantra came highly reccommended, and the online menu looked inspired and full of twists.
Mantra is touted by reviewers and on a number of competitive, "best-of" lists, and its design certainly reflects this status. The restaurant has a lounge feel, with plush chairs, warm lighting, and a long swanky bar that paves the way to the bathroom. It's white tablecloth, and the tables at the banquettes are comfortably aligned---you're not sitting on top of your neighbors, but you're still close enough to eavesdrop, if you strain. You're also close enough to get a good look at what everyone else is eating. Trust me, you'll take advantage of this.
My friend and I made reservations for an early dinner, and when we arrived at 5PM the place was nearly empty except for waitstaff milling about, killing time by polishing forks before the dinner rush. We ordered two appetizers. The first was a watermelon and tomato salad with hunks of feta cheese marinated in chili oil and fresh basil leaves. The second was the loveboat scallops, a trio of plump sea scallops marinated in pink peppercorns, fennel, and spring peas, each topped with a cherry of lobster nagu (or caviar, essentially). Let me just preface the following review--every dish we tasted was a home run, with the exception of the chili-garlic naan (only mediocre, especially lined up against all the other dishes).
The salad seemed like a wild card before it arrived, but once tasted watermelon, tomato, and feta became the most natural trio in the world. The watermelon isn't that sweet, and pairing it with tomato really brought out tomato's fruitiness. It was like a funkier variation of a caprese salad, a summer version or something. Definitely try it. The scallops were perfection--unfortunately there were only three, and they went fast. They were covered in a pinkish sauce, presumably from the marinade, that was like a spicy scallop curry with peas. The plate was clean when the waiter got it back.
Seabass is one of the few fish I'm hardly ever dazzled by. Previously I've always found it kind of bland, and I often get it confused with cod, as it shares the same blank canvas taste. But our knowledgeable waiter's face lit up as he described the seabass special, and I was sold--when waiters gets a dreamy look on their face while describing a dish, I usually know what to order. After dinner at Mantra, I think I understand that the key to seabass is simply how it's cooked. That's it. My piece of bass had about a milimeter of golden crisp on the top and bottom made out of cooking oil, the fish skin itself, and little flecks of garlic. Inside, the fish was buttery and fell into flakes under a slight prod with my fork. The flakes were creamy and rich. The seabass laid over a cauliflower saffron and pea mash--I'm not quite sure how to describe it. The plate was laced with a tangy plum sauce (not sweet) that brought it all together. There were two sizable endives below the mash. They added a bitter and smoky element to the dish (pretty sure they were grilled).
My friend ordered the cumin and and pomegranate braised short ribs with saffron-thyme butter beans and garlic bok choy. The short ribs were cooked as perfectly as the seabass, and were at that melty state where you hardly need to chew. The sauce was flavorful---my only criticism of the night was that the warm, belly-filling dish seemed more suited for cold weather than the end of July.
For dessert we ordered the chocolate pyramid, which was basically a chocolate mousse carved into a cute little triangle with a few berries for garnish. It was good, but a little anti-climatic after such an explosive meal. Also, we were stuffed out of our minds. The texture of the chocolate was slightly dry.
One of the most widespread criticisms of Mantra is that the service is poor. We did not have an issue with this at all. Our water glasses were always full (but not annoyingly so) and when we told the host we were under time constraints he made every effort to ensure our meal moved quickly. The server knew the menu inside and out, and eagerly guided us through the dining experience, pointing out what the chef was known for and what was most popular on the menu.
I can't wait to go back.
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