A series of small outlets serving authentic tibetian and Chinese cuisines turned into a food giant. Thats “Momo I Am” for you. It was a pleasant surprise when i saw “Momo I am” opening up a huge restaurant/pub at Sector 5, Kolkata, a few months back. The icing on the cake was the liquor license. Who doesnt love a beer with kothays?

Decor:
The place is huge with sufficient ambient lights. There is a section with a projector for parties or bookings. The staffs are cheerful and quite helpful. Though at rush hours you would have to give them a nudge every now and then…but let that pass.

What we ordered:
Slow cooked Pork Bao, Pork Bao, Chicken Kothay, Pork Steamed Momo, Coriander Mushroom Chicken Soup, Prawn Chips, Mixed Cantonese Mixed Gravy Noodles, Mixed Momo I Am XO Noodles.

Beverage:
LIIT, Budweiser, Simba Wit, Lhasa Mule, Soho La.

Slow Cooked Pork Bao (pork chunks marinated in homemade spices cooked long, finished with burnt garlic) was delicious. The Bao was airy and brilliantly soft. It had a distant sweet taste of its own. The Pork chunks were fresh, soft and well cooked. The amount of soy in the pork chunks were perfect not to make it sour and yet lend a classical taste. I may have tasted a smooth smell of fennel seeds which added to the aromatic flavour of the pork chunks. Overall, i loved it.

Pork Bao (soft steam bao stuffed with double cooked crispy pork belly, pickled cucumber, chilly mayo garnished with fresh coriander and fresh red chillies) is a variant of the same dish, where the chunks of pork fat are crispy fried. The important difference between these two are the porks. Sometimes, the pork was a tad bit over-fried, making it crunchy. And one more reason, i would rate this below Slow cooked pork bao is the amount of condiments used on this. Somehow the chilly mayo threw me off. At rare times, i could not feel the pork’s taste at all. Nevertheless this is also a nice dish and worth a try.

Chicken Kothay (shallow fried momo) is the classical kothays that you have all over the city in small joints. What is the difference? The momos are so perfectly fried optimally that there is a crispiness and yet the flavour of a steamed momo remains. The oil from the meat tends to cook the stuffings. What i love about this dish is the momos don’t peel off when you pick them up. Chicken Kothays (or Pork Kothays) is simply a must have.

Pork Steamed Momo was another very common yet very amazing dish. The meat was well cooked and fresh. The integrity of a steamed Momo is a matter of debate, but i love momos in “Momo I am” are so solid yet so soft. A thumbs up for the pork steamed Momo

Coriander Mushroom Chicken Soup was very refreshing. Properly done soups are always a delight. The button mushrooms were fresh and well cooked. The Coriander/Cilantro added an amazing refreshing lemony aroma with the sourness of the lemon. I found nothing wrong with the soup. A simple soup done nice.

Prawn Chips were the usual friend Prawn Wafers. These are always an amazing finger snack with light beer. However, i have had less oily versions of Prawn Chips at other places.

Pan Fried Chilli Oyster Fish (fish tossed with a blend of homemade sauces and Oyster) was a nice dish. However, i couldn’t wrap my head around the name. Maybe its “Homemade Oyster Sauce”. Nitpicking aside, the dish was nice and the fish was fresh and crispy. I liked the dish, but the sweet sour pungent trio smell of Oyster sauce was missing.

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Mixed Cantonese Gravy Noodles (noodles tossed with eggs, tender meat pieces, fresh and seasonal vegetables and delicious gravy) was not what i expected. Its nice to deviate from the usual recipes at times, but i felt, the classical taste of Cantonese style gravy was missing. To elaborate, the gravy was dilute and the taste of sesame seed oil-soya-sugar was kind of obscure. I maybe wrong. or maybe it was just a bad day.

Mixed Momo I am XO Noodles (noodles tossed with vegetables & meat, finished off with Aromatic XO flavours) was another let down. Maybe our fault, we went ahead and tried something out of the box, but this dish was nothing extra ordinary. Infact, I didnt get why its called XO Noodles. It had got nothing to do with XO sauce or even the known aromatic taste of XO. Yes, like all dishes in Momo I am, the meat was fresh and well cooked. The Prawns were succulent and vegetables fresh. But in totality, the noodles failed to impress me.

P.S. Just to clarify, XO sauce is a specific thick sauce, which is spicy but not hot, with a distinct umami flavour. XO spices are i dont know what and it didnt tasted like anything extraordinarily amazing.

Honestly, I always loved “Momo i Am” for their brilliant baos and Chilli Porks. But after writing this review, i feel i wouldnt want to have noodles in “Momo I Am” again. However, their momos, kothays and baos along with starters are worth every single Visit. I would give “Momo I am” a 4 out of 5 .