Expats have slowly descended on Navi Mumbai, calling it home for the past few years now. With the influx of foreign nationals, specialty restaurants serving local delicacies have also cropped up in the area. Newest kid-on-the-block Mibonasa makes a stylish entry into the South East Asian dining space. A small flight of stairs leads to a spacious, yet dimly-lit Mibonasa, complete with filament bulbs hanging from the ceiling and seating for all sizes of groups. A huge wall pasted with newspapers in Chinese fonts, with Asian street scenes casually sketched in black oil paint cannot be missed for its hustle and bustle. The classy décor extends to the exhaustive menu supported by a wooden back. We started our meal with the Tender Coconut Soup (Rs 260), which was rich, creamy and full of diced carrot, tofu, broccoli, chicken and a faint fragrance of lemongrass. The Spicy Crabmeat Soup (Rs 320) was lighter, with lots of coriander, egg and fresh shredded crabmeat. The Japanese Salad (Rs 260), loaded with avocado, lettuce, chillies can be heavy and the wasabi dressing shoots up through the nose. Avoid it unless it’s the only thing you want to eat. The excited chef had us try the Chicken Zato, a dish with a crispy nest-like outer cover, stuffed with spiced chicken. We quite liked the sweet flavour, but not the eggy aftertaste. The Prawn Cakes had an overpowering taste of lemongrass, and we were happy to let it pass after just a bite. Both these were not on the menu.
We tried the non-veg dimsum platter which came with two each of the Prawn Hargao, Chicken Tibetan and Smoked Ducked dimsums. The prominent fishy taste of prawns didn’t quite make the cut for us, while the Chicken Tibetan was lightly spiced and the comforting taste made us happy. The duck dimsum was juicy, but nothing spectacular to write home about. The myriad sauces do enhance the taste of whatever comes from the kitchen. What we did love was the Steamed Roasted Pork Rice Rolls (Rs 370). Juliennes of green apple, spices, olives, and tender, juicy pork stuffed in transparent rice rolls were a burst of flavours with every bite and we couldn’t stop gushing about it.
By this time we were so stuffed, we had to take a walk along the happening Palm Beach Road to make some space for the main course (yes we wanted to try that too). We chose the spicy Seoul chicken and some steamed rice to go with it. The rice balances the hot curry full of tender strips of chicken, cooked in red sauce and lots of chillies. Delicacies from Thailand, Myanmar, Bhutan, usual suspects street food like the Singaporean Laksa, Burmese Khao Seuy, Indonesian Nasi Goreng and Mee Goreng all find a place of pride on the menu. Though we really wish they go easy on the use of lemongrass in every dish. An experience at Mibonasa is like taking a gastronomic tour of South East Asia while not even leaving city limits. Give it a try!
Rating: **1/2; Cost: Rs 2,000 for two Address: No.3, Sector 19, Palm Beach Road, Sanpada, Navi Mumbai
