Mama Restaurant - Pani Puri and Authentic Northern Indian Cuisine in Bangkok
Mama Restaurant has a variety of Northern Indian dishes along with some fusion influences as well
Sitting by a canal and tucked away amongst the vintage buildings of Bangkok’s Charoen Krung (Bangkok’s old city district), you can find a popular little restaurant dishing out authentic pani puris, paneer lasagnas, and a myriad of other Indian foods, that place is known as Mama Restaurant Bangkok.
I’ll be honest, I don’t know much about Indian food. I mean, I know things like naan and butter chicken, but I can count the number of times that I’ve sat down to eat at an Indian restaurant on one hand.
That number is 1, and yes Mama Restaurant is that 1.
All the other times I’ve had Indian food was from delivery or as part of an international buffet, but typically those options do not have an extensive menu to try. They were all basic well known Indian dishes like Chicken Tikka Masala (which didn’t even originate in India!).
So the story was that I wanted to find some of the most authentic tastes of India, and being in Bangkok, a center for a mish-mash of cultures and foods, I know it wouldn’t be that hard to find a suitable restaurant.
Turns out… That it’s pretty difficult to find a favorable Indian restaurant in Bangkok. A lot of places have sub-par reviews or were hidden in places that are hard to get to.
Then one day my partner shared me a TikTok video of a foodie who went to Mama Restaurant Bangkok and really recommended it, and so that concluded my search, Mama’s it is!
What is Mama Restaurant?
The Ong Ang Canal is calm and quiet during the day but comes alive in the later hours of the day
Mama’s Restaurant is situated next to the Ong Ang Canal in a little district of Bangkok known as Little India, or Phahurat.
Manned by 3 chefs, for 20 years Mama has been serving up authentic Northern Indian cuisine with a Punjab influence.
The canal in which the restaurant sits also has a pretty interesting history, first dug up in 1785, the canal was to be used for trade. Over time the area grew with new canals and bridges being built, with 2019 marking the year in which the area became a well decorated night market and an art district.
Eventually, due to all the cultural influences accumulating within the area, the Ong Ang Canal is now a hub for aromatic Indian spices, snacks, and food.
The restaurant itself is quite compact, the area isn’t small but the tables are closely pack together, it gives of a cozy and homey atmosphere.
What I love is when you first enter the place, you’ll notice a huge counter showcasing a variety of Indian desserts. Just a little reminder that your meal isn’t over yet until you had some desserts.
A Wide Range of Indian Dishes to Explore!
Mama Restaurant’s menu is BIG. As someone who doesn’t know a whole lot about Indian cuisine, this is very overwhelming.
I would divide the menu into 4 categories: Appetizers, Main, Desserts and Drinks, and Breads.
For appetizers there are staples like Samosas (fried pastry with savory filling) and Pakoras (spiced fritters), to more exotic things like Pav Bhajis (soft bread roll with vegetable curry) and of course, Pani Puris (crispy balls with filling and spiced water). Even the appetizer section can already be an entire menu by itself!
The mains consist of your typical curries such as Palak Paneer (spinach and cheese curry) and Butter Chicken (chicken tomato butter sauce curry), as well as grilled meats like Kebabs (grilled meat) and Tikkas (spiced grilled meat). What’s amazing is the variety of options for protein, from chicken to mutton, and fish, to egg. There are so many dishes to try, it would take at least two dozen trips to Mama’s to try all the food.
The desserts include classic Indian sweets such as Burfis (milk sweet), Jalebi (deep fried snack with syrup), and Ras Malai (cottage cheese ball with sweetened milk). I’m not familiar at all with Indian desserts and unfortunately I did not try any on this visit to Mama’s. Oh well, just another excuse to come back.
Lastly, even the bread selection was too much for me, aside from the typical plain Naan, Chapati, or Roti, there are also breads with different stuffing and flavors like:
Cheese Naan - Naan with paneer cheese filling
Gobi Paratha - Paratha stuffed with spiced cauliflower
Aloo Naan - Naan stuffed with spiced potato
Garlic Naan - Naan seasoned with garlic
Pricing
Indian food can be a bit tricky to find in Bangkok and I would categorize it in the same space as Middle-Eastern food in terms of commonality. Due to this I expected the food to be very pricy compared to the more common cuisines you can find in Thailand.
But that’s not the case.
The Food at Mama Restaurant is very very fair for what it is, and the portions are very filling as well!
You can find main dishes coming in at around 200 to 300 THB (or 5.5 - 8.3 USD).
Breads are even cheaper with the staple Rotis coming in at 15 THB (or 0.5 USD).
The price is very fair.
Let’s Get to Eating!
I went with my partner and we ate quite a few dishes, these are some of the highlights that stood out. We eat a lot yes, thats very true. We were just very excited to eat Indian food and couldn’t help ourselves.
There was just so many delicious looking food!
Garlic Naan and Aloo (Potato) Paratha
Look at the buttery-ness of that garlic naan!
For the breads, I decided to go with 2 choices. Garlic Naan and Aloo Paratha.
I’ll start off with the Garlic Naan as that is the most familiar with me.
As you can see form the picture above, the garlic naan was very buttery and greasy with strong aromatic garlic flavors. Although I wills ay that the Naan was a bit tough and chewy.
The Aloo Paratha was something new to me. The Paratha was very flat and chewy, although it wasn’t an unpleasant chew like the Naan, the Aloo filling gave it a nice creamy and spicy flavor as well.
Out of the two I think I would have to go with the Aloo Paratha as my favorite.
Pani Puri
Little explosive crispy balls of flavor.
Ohhhh man! Recently Pani Puris have been trending all over foodie social medias in Thailand and for good reason.
This was my first time trying a Pani Puri and it was magical. I would describe it as a flavor bomb, fitting description as well as the shape of it literally looks like a bomb.
Pani Puris are deep fried thin flatbreads that are hollow on the inside. It is then filled with a spiced potato and chickpea mixture.
The whole thing is then filled with a spiced water mixture and topped with some sauces like tamarind chutney. Then all you have to do is put it in your mouth and enjoy.
The whole thing is served cold so in addition to the initial crispy, chip-like texture when you first bite into it, you’ll get a wave of refreshingly cold, sour, and minty flavors from the spiced water and the tamarind chutney.
When you go to Mama Restaurant, I highly recommend you order their Pani Puris!
Mutton Biryani
The colors on this biryani is vibrant and beautiful.
I’ve had Biryani before and I got to say that this version is pretty average. Biryani is known for it’s aromatics, and even-though I can smell and taste the fragrance of the spices and saffron, it wasn’t that prevalent. Almost like eating plain rice.
Not to say that it was bad, it was just underwhelming.
Combining it with the curries that we’ve ordered however, it was delicious. The rice helps to soak up every last drop of the creamy rich curries and if you mix it thoroughly to incorporate the curry into every nook and cranny of the rice.
Simply divine.
Paneer Lasaniya (Lasagna)
The weirdest dish I’ve tried but don’t judge a book by it’s cover!
Now this is something I have never heard of before, from my research (meaning a Google search lol), Lasaniya seems to be a fusion dish, which makes sense as Lasaniya means Lasagna.
However this looks nothing like a traditional Lasagna…
But what I do know is that this dish is phenomenal. The curry base seems to be tomato based with butter, similar to the Butter Chicken curry I think.
The main highlight here is of course the Paneer, its literally a log of cheese with scrambled egg filling in the middle.
The Paneer has a mild milky-cheesy taste and it’s a bit firm, combined with the rich flavors of the curry sauce, it was absolutely delicious.
Truly a standout dish for me, due to its creativity and taste.
Butter Chicken
Drizzle on some yogurt and you got yourself a decadent curry.
Butter Chicken is one of the most recognizable Indian dishes people know, the version at Mama’s is a damn good one.
Spicy, creamy, rich, and oh so good.
Dip it with your breads or pour it onto your rice, this curry goes well with everything.
I don’t really know what to say other than it’s really good, and you should order it.
Egg Masala
You can put any kind of protein in this masala curry and I’ll eat it.
Egg Masala is something that I wanted to try. Instead of typical meats like mutton or chicken (or even paneer cheese), I wanted to try something a little bit different. And plus, I love eggs.
The masala was spicy, while the Butter Chicken only had a hint of spice, in this Egg Masala Curry, the spice makes itself known.
Same deal with the other curries, with bread and rice this is brilliant.
Be sure to soak up every last bit of this curry with your carbs!
Conclusion
Pros
Inexpensive and fair pricing.
The restaurant has a cozy and home-y atmosphere with friendly staff.
Large menu with lots dishes, desserts, and breads.
Majority of food is tasty and authentic with some fun dishes to try.
Plenty of seating options, inside the restaurant or outside by the canal.
Cons
Some breads can be a bit tough and not served fresh.
Overall I would highly recommend you check out Mama Restaurant. It’s known as one of the best Authentic Indian restaurants in Bangkok and for good reason. Pricing is inexpensive and highly affordable meaning you can order a lot of tasty dishes to try (and believe me you would want to as the food taste great). The atmosphere is also nice and welcoming as is the staff. And there are plenty of seating options as well.
There isn’t really a lot to complain about other than my Biryani being quite bland and the Naan being tough. But as everything else was great I feel like this was a one-off issue.
Mama Restaurant | 9/10
Phone: +66 087 371 8069
Location: 436 Chakkraphet Rd, Wang Burapha Phirom, Phra Nakhon, Bangkok 10200
Pricing: 200 - 300 THB (or 5.5 - 8.3 USD) for main dishes
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