The restaurant itself is huge as they typically offer buffet style meals. On this Tuesday night, however, it was pretty empty. They had a vegetarian section of their menu, which is always encouraging, and were willing to make many items vegan. The pappadums served with cilantro sauce were quite tasty.
Many of the appetizers were already vegan like the samosas and pakoras, so we started with those. The samosas were your typical fried pockets filled with potatoes and peas. They were okay. The pakoras were mixed vegetable fritters that were very oily. Both were quite filling.
For our entrees, we ordered Tofu Masala and Bhindi Masala. The Tofu Masala is typically not vegan, but they made it with coconut milk for me instead of cream. It turned out to be a creamy tomato sauce with a lot of tofu, bell peppers, and onions. It was a bit too creamy for me.
The Bhindi Masala, on the other hand, was a delicious dish of fried okra cooked in tomatoes, onions, ginger, and garlic with mild spices. We decided they were better mixed together as I wanted more veggies and my friend wanted more sauce. Voila!
They said they couldn't make the rice vegan, but they did cook the Roti vegan. Other vegan options included the Aloo Gobhi, Chana Masala, Aloo Matar.
We left pleased with our meals. The service was attentive, the restaurant was nice, and the prices at only $10 per entree were just right. I'd definitely recommend this place if you are in or near Temecula.
Mantra
27645 Jefferson Avenue
Temecula, CA 92590
(951) 506-1800
Foods here in the plates is looking so attractive. But as you said, these foods seemed to be so oily and spicy. It is not a bad investment on having meals with such cheap price. Vegetarian delicacies have a number of variety but less than the non-veg foods. Veg foods have more nutritional value but should be prepared with much care and love to get an incredible taste. Hotels and restaurants there should keep some Indian chefs to prepare them according to the need thus making the foods tasty.
ReplyDeleteAgreed!
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