Foodyfoodpecker’s review in combination with a craving for Thai food prompted me to try Mugen one Saturday afternoon and I was certainly not disappointed. Royal blue and deep red cushioned traditional high back chairs are paired with sleek silver settees giving the place a warm yet contemporary air. The lighting is soft and mellow but bright enough to read the menu. A bar with an excellent bartender stands in one corner and an open kitchen occupies the other end allowing a lovely and colourful view of noodles and stir-fries being tossed together and cooked up. The wall has beautiful carvings from the Far East and the pleasant music in the background sounded Thai to my untrained ear. Plenty of large circular tables remind you that this is a good place to catch up with a big group of near and dear ones. Seating is spacious and comfortable.
For starters we tried the Thai cuisine and ordered the fried corn with pepper and garlic and the crispy fried vegetables in a plum sauce. Drinks consisted of White Sangria and unlike most places that mix up some stale juice with cheap wine, this was a wonderful surprise. A neat twist on the conventional red wine sangria, this had good white wine and was cool, refreshing and made to the T with tiny bits of fresh fruit in it. The appetizers were both delicious and what crossed my mind was that these people truly know how to cook their vegetables. No soggy, overcooked, over-spiced nonsense here. Each dish was cooked just right, flavoured perfectly and tasted different from the other. The crispy vegetables in the plum sauce were succulently exotic. We ordered soups as well – the chicken clear soup with glass noodles was perfect so was the vegetarian version of the same. The Tom Kha Pat, the Thai soup with coconut milk, lemon grass and vegetables was steamy, spicy and tasty. For the main course, we ordered the steamed rice and the Thai vegetable red curry and the Indonesian influenced Nasi Goreng. Nasi Goreng is fried rice and this one came with chicken and prawns, garnished with fried wontons and a fried egg. Scrumptious comfort food at its best! The Thai vegetable curry was wonderful probably the best I have had in a long time. The child ate the vegetable Thai noodles and finished it in no time pronouncing that as well as the starters as delicious and “not at all spicy, mama”. We did not try the desserts as we were too full.
Mugen serves Thai, Indonesian and Chinese food. The service is excellent without being pretentious – they take the trouble to do a good job. Meal for two with drinks is about Rs.1200. Go there and catch up with your family and friends over a delicious meal – I highly recommend
it!
Meenakshi
