The Momo is a South Asian variety of Dumplings that is said to have originated in Tibet. Served steamed or fried with a variety of meat and vegetable fillings its popularity has soared across the country. From roadside vendors to fine dine restaurants, the Momo has made quite a culinary journey.
Reevu Wangdi and Pravakar Yonzone the co-owners of Momo I Am started their first outlet in Lake Gardens fairly close to my parents’ house and we were regular customers. Its popularity grew steadily and today there are branches across the city at Rajarhat Chinar Park, Salt Lake CD Block and at Gol Park beside the one at Lake Gardens. We were invited for a tasting at the Salt Lake Branch where we had an absolute gem of a meal.
We were quite blown away by the interiors comprising of rustic wooden furniture but rather modern edgy murals and graphics on the walls of the Momo I Am outlet. We barely had time to take it all in before service began. They have introduced salads and dim sums and our meal comprised of an assortment of baos, dumplings and momos. Since these rank high on my list of favorite foods a meal comprising of them will always make me very happy add to that the company of friends and fellow bloggers and it made for a delightful dinner.
We were offered a selection of Mocktails – Phuket All, Kamikaze and Brucelee. They were nice but personally the names tickled my fancy more than the taste and then came steaming baskets of Dim Sums and we all happily dived in. Chicken Hargou Dumpling, Pork Chive Water-chestnut Dumpling, XO Crystal Chicken Dumpling and Truffle Oil Veg Crystal Dumpling. The XO Chicken and Veg Crystal Dumplings were the popular picks though I personally enjoyed all four varieties. We were also served a Grilled Teriyaki Chicken Salad with the assortment of dumplings which we thoroughly enjoyed. Both these are new sections that have been added and will make for a lovely light bite on visits there.
A Chicken Mushroom Cheese Panko Momo was served next and I enjoyed the texture created by the panko crumbs. We were also served up two outstanding vegetarian dishes – Asian Stuffed Mushroom which was mushrooms filled with cheese and grilled, delicious stuff. The Crispy Lotus Stem followed and it was a dish I kept munching on throughout my meal. Don’t ignore these if you’re non-vegetarian like me because I normally would not have ordered them but certainly will henceforth.
The Pork Bao followed next and was the dish of the day by far – a pillow soft steamed bao filled with double cooked crisp pork belly paired with pickled cucumber, plum mayo and lettuce made for a superb dish. A chicken version of the Bao was also served and it was very good but for those who eat pork I would certainly suggest you order the Pork one. Also on offer are Fish, Scampi, Soft Shell Crab and Vegetarian Variants and I will certainly taste them on future visits.
The two other dishes we had were for those who like their food a little spicy. A wonderful Chicken T-Momo Combo which was a lovely bowl of chicken shyapta served with two steamed buns and a bowl of hot chicken broth. A complete meal in itself I would be happy to have this as my dinner on any given day. Lovely robust flavors in the shyapta (stir-fried meat with ginger and chili) and they also have a pork version on offer. And the final one was Hangover Spicy Momo – a regular steamed momo served with spiced mash potatoes and topped with spicy sauce and chili oil. I did not try it that day personally as I had a sore throat and wanted to avoid spice after the shyapta but my co-diners seemed to enjoy it and polished it off.
We ended this culinary treat with a surprisingly delicious home-style Cheese Cake served up with Vanilla Ice-cream. The cheese-cake was really nice and ended our lovely dinner on the perfect note. If you like Thukpa they do a great one though we did not sample it on the present visit. With the monsoons around Momo I Am is perfect for a warm evening with family and friends and of course lots of good food.
There are a couple of steps at the entrance so patrons with restricted mobility will require assistance.
Address: 195C, Jodhpur Gardens, Jodhpur Park, Kolkata – 700045. Phone: 086979 53784; Open: 12 noon – 11 pm
Rukshana Kapadia is the Founder of https://theculinarycommentator.com/ [1] and for the unabridged version of the above visit her website.