Mantra on the Hill

First timers with friends born and raised in Northern India. Four adults and one grade schooler in the troop.
Delicious dishes, with contemporary flairs and tastes. The eggplant chips were delightful. Murgh Daniwal was delicious as was the lamb biryani. The lentils were described as «home cooked» — meaning yummy.
All in all the tastes were terrific and I look forward to my next visit.

I was a little wary going in after reading some of the reviews but I was pleasantly surprised by our experience. We took the Inlaws here for their Anniversary. They like Indian food so we thought it might be fun to try something a little different. It was exactly what I was hoping. A interesting twist on traditional Indian flavors. We started with the Imil Baingan Eggplant chips in a tamarind sauce. Holy crap were these amazing. I am obsessed with tamarind sauce so they really blew my mind. The Mushroom Masala was less exciting. Very curry intense but also a little bland. The entrees were all solid. The Sali Boti was amazing. An interesting combination of lamb and apricots in a tomato sauce. The Palack Paneer and the Lamb Korma were also very good. They were all served in copper buckets which were very unique. The Kemma Naan was delicious the jalapeños gave it a great and unexpected flavor. The Onion Kulcha and Garlic Basil Naan were also tasty. We will be back. The portions were large. We ordered 3 entrees and still had leftovers with 4 people. Also the prices were pretty reasonable.

I had never eaten here before and placed a carry out order for my standard indian fix, a main dish with chicken and curry, with a side of naan, preferably garlic. I walked in and immediately liked the interior; it wasnt until I got home that I became disappointed. Initially I was a little worried about the price tag. $ 20 for a main dish and some naan. It wouldnt bother me if the portions were on the larger side and the food good, but thats not what I found. In the naan I found only one whole piece, half of which was still doughy. The flavor was good but it fell way below my expectations for what is usually the best kind of bread in the world in my book. I moved on toward the main dish. Chicken chettinad, which I hadnt had before. the flavor was ok but the texture was a bit rough and grainy for my taste. Somewhat like overly aged pesto. Was also disappointed to find not that much chicken, a common complaint with me and I usually order extra meat on everything. Also found the rice container to be only half full. :(On the good side at least everything was pretty well packed for me to take home. IN SUMMARY, neither the quantity, nor flavor to live up to the rather high price tag. If you need indian in cincy stick to the buffet place downtown that hasn’t disappointed me yet.

The food was good but this was honestly the worst service we’ve ever received with a restaurant in Cincinnati. It took more than 45 minutes to get our food on a Saturday night where they weren’t busy. When our food was served there was no apology or even mention of it taking longer than usual. Also you don’t get to choose a spicy level which maybe is normal but different than any other Indian restaurant I’ve ever been to.

Mantra’s fare is adequate — exactly what one would expect from a Midwestern attempt to imitate trendy East Coast bistros. Service was slow, room climate chilly. All dishes suffered from an overuse of curry powder, chili powder, and coriander. The basmati rice was under-​cooked and very chewy. Poor rice preparation is a bad omen for any restaurant, especially an Asian one.
Suggest chefs make the investment to tour Jaipur, Kerala, Mumbai, and Bangalore to learn techniques and ingredients used in true South Asian cuisine.

I had a groupon so Ivisited here again, this time making a reservation. I wasn’t too familiar with Indian food, and the waitress was really helpful. We had the Marsala Chops and the Murgh Dhaniwal. Both were extremely good. The wait for the food wasn’t as long as I had expected, looking at previous reviews. We plan on coming back again because I want to try the Laal Maas too.

Extremely mediocre. Perhaps if you’ve not had authentic prior… but that’s the only excuse. Don’t bother, I’m telling you.

Mantra on the Hill is very different than almost all Indian Restaurants in Cincinnati.
They have the typical Punjabi dishes (chicken curry, chicken tikka masala, etc) but also have their own unique dishes as well. They add some unique spices for their marinades and the curries are different tasting than your typical Indian restaurant.
The ambiance is quiet nice and the price point is about right. This is definitely one of the best Indian restaurants in Cincinnati.

What a great find! We bought a groupon and looked forward to trying it out. While on the more expensive side, the food was great. We loved everything … and the waiter recommended a great bottle of wine. We have been back twice since.
Highly recommend.

4.5÷5
I really hope this place stays busy. So far it is the best Indian I’ve ever had, but also my first experience of more pricier Indian restaurant. It was about $ 70 for two people, excluding tip. I bought a groupon earlier the covered $ 40. If we didn’t have the coupon, it was still definitely worth it.
It was around 9 when we got there. When we entered the atmosphere seemed very laidback, interior had crisp simple lines. Until we were asked, I wasn’t aware that there was a patio. Which makes sense, it is right next to Blind Lemon. The patio was nice and had a similar atmosphere to the Blind Lemon.
We ordered two starters. The mushrooms and the scallops. Both were excellent, and the sauce that came with the mushrooms kinda blew me away. I think because I wasn’t expecting it. We also ordered a side of garlic basil naan. The was probably the biggest disappoint for me. It wasn’t bad at all, but I was expecting better.
For the entrees we ordered the Laal Maas and the Sali Boti. Both were good, but the Laal Maas was exceptional. I highly recommend ordering lamb (though the duck sounds great, but my friend doesn’t like duck and we split everything).
So reason for 4.5 is because of the naan (yes, I really love my naan) and also our waiter never showed us or mentioned a dessert menu. Though I think he was either new, or had many tables that were inside that were keeping him busy. He was friendly, polite, and was able to describe the dishes.

Last night was my first visit to Mantra and I’d heard wonderful things about it. So I was really looking forward to the experience. The three stars is an average, because there’s somewhat of a difference between the food and the service. The food was fantastic! We started with some naan and the eggplant chips (loved!).
Our reservations were at 7:30 and we ordered drinks and apps a short time after. Those came out quickly. It did take some time for a few in our group of seven to order entrees, as they were unfamiliar with Indian food. But our server was funny, helped explain some of the dishes and was quite patient. That said, once we did order, it took an incredibly long time for our orders to arrive. I think about 9:30. It may have had to do with the kitchen, I’m not sure. But by then, I’d started to lose some of my appetite. I left half of my order of the coconut scallops and a third of the sweet corn and chicken soup.
I definitely will give Mantra another try and hope that it was just an off night.

My first impression was of a toned-​down décor compared to the building’s predecessor, Daveed at 934, which is somewhat ironic considering the riot of color that is usually associated with India. The menu had a wide range of options, most that I had never heard of, with the exception of the ‘quintessentials’ section (a nod to those of us to whom Chicken Tikka Masala and the like ARE Indian food).
I wanted to branch out a bit from my standards so I asked our waitress for a review of the menu – it was a rambling journey, but I did learn that the ‘from the tandoor’ section was more dry rub type meats vs. the ‘non-​veg entrees’ which were more of the saucy with rice options. My friend and I shared 2 starters: Vegetable Potli and Imli Baingan. The Potli is the love child of samosas and the «golden bags» appetizer from Lemongrass – an improvement on standard samosas in their size and relative lightness. The Imli were eggplant chips – small and over-​sauced (vs. the larger dipping style preparation I was expecting) – not our favorite.
The drink list was limited and shockingly – no Indian beers! (While it wasn’t on the menu, our server said they usually had Kingfisher, but not that night). I went with a Kolsh (German) on draught and it was a clean, refreshing complement to the spice of my entrée.
For my main, I got Lahori Kofta which was chicken meatballs in spicy tomato-​based sauce. The meatballs were tender and the spice was at a good level (they don’t have you indicate spice level when ordering, but I would put it at a 4 – 5 out of 10). The portions were on the generous side of reasonable and we both liked the cute copper buckets that the entrees came in along with separate bowls of rice. My friend wasn’t wild about her order: Murgh Dhaniwal (chicken in a white cashew sauce) and thought it was completely lacking in spice.
We were too full for dessert, something I don’t usually consider in an Indian restaurant anyway, but I snuck a peek at the menu anyway and was surprised how many things looked good – a definite departure from the usual Indian dessert fare so consider saving room.
The initially haughty maitre’d stopped by to check on us a few times and warmed up considerably. Our waitress was competent, but not as knowledgeable or informative as I would have wished for. There was an overall air of self-​importance about the place that seems to have been brought over from the original Cumin along with some of the dishes, but it’s a nice alternate to the Ambar empire if you’re looking for a more upscale and unique Indian dining experience.

Great food great prices great atmosphere, the lamb chops were great and at 20 dollars it was an absolute steal. the coconut scallops and tandoori chicken were also delicious
The service was a little slow at the start, there may have been some confusion as to whos table it was or whatever, but once they worked that out, the service was good. this place reminds me of how cumin started out, they should do very well .
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I just spent the evening at Mantra on the Hill for the Riesling pairing event. It was a fabulous event — 5 courses over 2 ½ hours :) The pairings were very good, but my favorite, of course was the food!
First course was Poori with date-​tamarind, mint, jalapeño and mango. Delicious!
Second course was an AMAZING chicken kebab with a spicy kick.
Third course was Moilee — Snapper in a very delicate coconut coriander curry (more like a broth).
The fourth course was Pork Vindaloo with potato bhaji. I appreciated the tenderness of the meat and the level of heat of the dish (hot!). The consistency of the vindaloo sauce was, well, a little chunky. I think the idea was to avoid the unfortunate combination of tiny pieces of meat drowning in vindaloo gravy, that is easy to find in US/​UK Indian restaurants.
THe last course was a semolina pumpkin Halwa with cardamom whipped cream. This was my least favorite course (among the whole group). In fairness, the flavor profile still sounds delightful; so I hope the dish will be reincarnated.
The service was impeccable, though, again, we were there for a special event. We were greeted and treated well by multiple staff members and even the chef came out and inquired about our satisfaction.
The place itself is lovely, with three separate rooms for a more cozy dining experience.
I will definitely return to Mantra on the Hill and bring friends to maximize my culinary options and take advantage of the overall quality of the dining experience.

Mantra on the Hill is good but not great. Cooking a lot of Indian food myself and just eating out a lot in general and knowing how a great restaurant should function, I hope my suggestions are taken to heart because I truly want to love this restaurant and recommend it to others.
First, the service is mediocre at best. The waiter seemed entirely apathetic and put out to be serving us. It took him forever to get to our table to begin with, and he never checked on us after that. I literally had to grab his attention when he would go by to order another drink or get both dessert and our check at the end. (In fact, the ONLY thing he was prompt about was bringing us our check). It sent the message he wanted us to leave.
RAITA– It needs more black salt. Also it was too runny to properly dip and scoop.
NAAN– Despite its perfect pillowly softness and crispness on the outside, the garlic basil flavor was much too bland. It needs more flavor.
SCALLOPS– The lentil taste with fried curry leaves was SUPERB! But the scallops were barely warm! The dish was so close to perfect.
MULLIGATAWNY SOUP– The flavor was unsually sweet. This gave it a nice touch and uniqueness, it had excellent flavor. BUT it was thickened with rice?! That’s just cheap.
CHAAT– Arguably one of my favorite Indian dishes (apps). This had the perfect balance of sweet and spicy. But chaat should be like a punch to the face with flavor! There was no tang and it certainly needed more salt! I was most disappointed with this dish because I wanted it so badly to be great. Spice it up and give it more flavor!
DRINKS– AWESOME. No complaints only applause. Try the Apple Cilantro Martini. Excellent.

Disclaimers:
1) I was a few drinks in before eating this meal, and Indian food is tastiest when consumed while 2BD.*
*2 Beers Deep
2) I was with a group of 6, a few of Indian descent and a few from Caucasia. My tongue was Made in India, so my review may be more critical than the average home-​grown local. I imagine a home-​grown local would be just as critical if assigned to write about Chili or a Corn Hole set.
Let’s first address a common mistake made in every restaurant every day: to ask your waiter for their «favorite thing on the menu.» This is the equivalent of asking the stranger behind you in line at Meijer about what movie to see in theaters. Both could leave you with a $ 10 regret.
I’ve learnt, from years of eating, what ingredients in a menu description tend to delight my tastebuds. I’ve also learnt to have my head listen to my heart, which is supervised by my mouth, which wants my lips to smile.
With that said, our self-​decided orders were better than any of our waiter’s recommendations. Here is what our table ordered:
1) Murgh Dhaniwal — better than the…
…2) Aam Aur Murgh, which was «strongly» recommended by our waiter.
3) Lamb Biryani — not a Biryani kind of guy, so I’ll politely decline to comment
4) Saag Paneer — pretty tasty, but quantity was small.
5) Laal Maas — looked like a neanderthal meat dish available at the Renaissance Festival
6) Bagara Baingan — pretty delicious, but in the same small container as the Saag Paneer
For bread, we ordered the Garlic Basil Naan, Malabar Paratha, and plain Naan. The plain Naan was actually crispy, which meant they left it on the stove too long, which hinted at incompetency. Overcooking naan is like burning Sunny-​Side Up, essentially making the «Sun» look like a «Moon.» #Thingsthatshouldneverhappen
On a bright note, the Malabar Paratha was phenomenal and may be the best Paratha in the city.
In summary, I’ll probably never take a date here unless she tells me that Parathas are her Oysters. Or if I’m 2 Beers Deep.

We went to Mantra with friends yesterday for dinner, and the food and service were both outstanding. I just left a review on Urban spoon and am copying it here.
They have an eclectic collection of mixed drinks. I ordered the «goan nectar», which is a combination of vodka and pineapple juice, my wife ordered a watermelon cooler (vodka, lime juice, and watermelon), and another of our friends asked for a made-​to-​order martini (our server Zak was very accommodating). All three drinks were refreshing, with just the right amount of alcohol, although I liked my wife’s watermelon cooler the best.
We ordered all our food family style. For starters, we had the potli (which was like a crispy vegetable samosa, in an excellent presentation), the imli began (egglant chips), and coconut scallops. The potli was good, but the imli began and the scallops were to die for.
For the main course, we ordered the Laal Mas (lamb shank), the crispy bhindi, the vindaloo, and the lamb chops. The lamb shank was delicious, with the lamb practically falling off the bone, I liked the flavor of the lamb vindaloo, although, it could have been a bit more fiery, and the meat was not as tender. The crispy bhindi and the lamb chops were divine, probably the best I’ve ever eaten, including trips back to India.
Although, I was eyeing their chocolate crème-​brule, unfortunately, by the time we got done with the food there was no room for dessert.
This is probably the best contemporary Indian restaurant that I’ve been to anywhere in the country, and compares favorably to similar offerings in New York and Chicago. I will be returning to Mantra soon and highly recommend it.

This review is quite unique. I have done this review on the basis of my nephew, Shyam and two of his friends dining here on 8÷22÷2012. So here goes his opinion of the food, service and ambiance. I had called the owner Kaezad Setna to authorize Mantra to bill me for the entire dinner. I wanted to treat an unemployed student who was living with a couple of employed classmates. All of them are management grads from Purdue.
Having done that, I told Shyam to see chef Yajan «Yaj» Upadhyaya who was expecting them. They were then welcomed by Rachel who seated them. She took their orders for beer and hors d’œuvre consisting of
Tandoori Chicken (Bone-​in chicken, pomegranate ginger yogurt marinade, raita) — 14
Panch Puran Paneer (Grilled paneer, Indian five spice marinade, onions, pepers) — 11
The main entrées were
Kabuli Channa (Garbanzo beans, amchur, garam masala, tomato ragout) — 11
Tarka Daal (Split yellow lentils, sautéed onions, tomato, mustard seed, cumin seed, curry leaf, lime juice) — 11
Aam aur Murgh (Fresh mangoes, fennel seed powder, cardamom, curry leaves, chicken, lite almond gravy) — 14
As per Shyam, all the dishes are prepared from scratch. But still it takes about 15 minutes to get any of the items. That points to a well prepped kitchen, a good expediter and someone like Rachel. I did call this evening to thank everyone there. Being a Sunday night, they were busy and I left a message with Nick. Hopefully, I get a few minutes when Yaj calls back. Now, to find an excuse to go to Cincinnati, OH :-)

Disclaimer: This review actually comes from a paid customer (along with a group of 5 others), not from someone working for the restaurant like the other reviews here.
Let’s be completely honest. The curry here is sub-​par versus many of the other Indian restaurants in the city. For this place to charge +$ 14 for mediocre curry should be considered robbery. Also, I can’t leave out that our food didn’t come out for a good 45 minutes (the restaurant was less than half full that evening).
The redeeming factor of this restaurant (hence the 2 stars) was the Onion Kulcha.
Net, if you like bland curry and don’t mind throwing money away, come to Mantra.

I can only give Mantra on the Hill the highest of compliments. And that’s saying a lot because I really like to whine about Mt. Adams.
The experience at this restaurant was truly top-​notch (and not in that Unilocal-​overused sense of the term). The service was nearly flawless, right down to the wine service. Oh yeah, bottles are priced at retail with only a $ 10 corkage.
The food was phenomenal and well-​priced. We ate everything. And we had ordered a lot. I’m going to have to pace myself next time.
Another indicator of a fantastic restaurant is that I kept thinking about what out-​of-​town guests I want to bring here. It’s hard to believe there’s a place like this in Cincinnati.
I can only hope that the food, wine and service continue to operate at this high level. It’s a new restaurant and they may just have their A game going right now. Keep it up, mantra!
Now for the recos. All of these dishes I tried and loved: papri chaat salad (not exactly like a typical papri chaat, but completely delicious), Imli Baingan (eggplant chips with holy-​goodness-​that-​date-​sauce-​is-​amazing sauce), Basil & Garlic naan, Roti, Paunch Puran paneer, Tarka Daal (a little soupy, but great flavor), Kabuli Channa.
And the winning dish of the night… far and away the most tasty, the most memorable: Crispy Charchari. It’s the okra dish and you need to do yourself a favor and try it.