Mantra

Very bad ambience in basement. The food had gotten all cold (buffet) and was extremely bland.
One of the worst indian food i have had in years.
Wouldn’t go back

We went for a dinner. Food was not tasty and $$$$… Complete rip off.
Not a good place to go in jersey city for Indian food. Above of all this, poor customer service. Would never visit again and would not recommend to any one to visit here.

Compared to the rest of the Indian food offerings in Jersey City, the take out here is terrible.

This place is a fantastic value for lunch. The place is clean, the buffet is fresh and delicious, service is prompt and friendly, the dinning room is clean and comfortable. In addition to traditional Indian cuisine, they had a tray of excellent crème brulé for dessert, included with the buffet for $ 12. Can’t recommend highly enough. I will be coming here at least one or two times a week for lunch.

Price for 3 people with tax $$$. 1 major dissapointment was the lighting in the restaurant. Some of the pendant lighting had bulbs that were burnt out and a barely lit candle we had to ask for another one for our table. I prefer to see what I am eating, the presentation and who is serving. We could barely see each other on the table. Outstanding food, very authentic. We ordered asparagus kofte, paneer kalonji, mix vegetables, chicken hyderabadi angarey, lasooni gobi, and family bread basket. Service could be friendlier. We ordered banana flambé for desert but after a few minutes a server came back asking if we understood that there is liquor on the desert, yes we said where would the flambé come from? After a few more minutes of wait we were asked to change the order because it was too late for flambé or something like that, we then decided to order saffron crème Brule, it was indeed worth the wait. Very delicious and fresh. Will definitely visit again but maybe for lunch, only due to poor lighting and service, I so wanted to give this place a 5.

Solid 3.5−4 for this place.
I’ve interacted with Mantra twice in the last few years, both for delivery and eat-​in.
For the eat-​in option, I was actually here for a «party» where the family rented out the entire place. I was quite surprised at the space, and the fact that there was even a room downstairs where they were able to setup additional tables etc. The bar is also very well stocked and the cocktails are pretty good (and go well with this food). From this experience, I remember my favorite of the evening being the cucumber cocktail (not sure what was in it) and the lamb chops — delicious!
For the delivery, my only downfall was that it took quite some time on a Friday night. The prices were decent (slightly high, but OK) but worth it because the two dishes were absolutely delicious. Portions were just right as we shared an app and an entrée, with some additional naan/​rice on the side.
A number of my friends have also come for Happy Hour, as they have good deals for drinks/​food as I hear. I’ll try at some point to do this as well.

I’ve only come here for lunch for both dine-​in and take out. Dining in provides you with the option to engorge yourself in its all you can buffet or if you’re not interested in that, for $ 9 they give you a take out box where you can load up with the buffet foods. They’ll even pack you some naan separately.
If dining in, I recommend you arrive slightly before noon before any potential lunch rush. I’ve seen this place get fairly full and there is a line that wraps around the dining room tables to just get a plate of food from the buffet. You don’t want to be in that line. You also don’t want to arrive too early (the place opens at 11:30am) because sometimes on a slower day they may not have everything placed out yet. That’s understandable since when I came here once to pick up a takeout lunch, the place was empty. No restaurant wants food sitting out in the open for too long especially when there are no patrons. I waited probably 10 – 15 minutes for them to finish setting up which wasn’t a big deal.
The food is north Indian which means the options are creamier. I have a low spice tolerance so I’m glad there were a lot of non-​spicy options and my guest is vegetarian and he noted there were plenty of vegetarian options to choose from. The dine in service slowed as the place filled up and flagging down a waiter to get additional naan for the table became harder than when we first sat down as one of the first few customers of the day. But if your goal here is to try out a decent variety of Indian foods or eat for two meals, then this is your spot. Just watch out for the impending food coma that will hit you a few hours after.

Very average food, but looks like I am not the first one say that. We went to the restaurant around 8 pm, it was 70% empty this is how the conversation went
Me — Table for 2
Hostess — (arrogantly) do you have a reservation ?
Me — no
Hostess — I will see what we can do.
Me — thanks is it going to take time?
Hostess — Let’s see, might take sometime
Me — ok, only if you have a table now, else it ok.
Hostess — follow me.
We were there till 9.45 by the time we left it was about 80% empty we did not see anyone else coming in, so I am still not sure what was the point of the conversation above.
Review by items we ordered —
Lasuni gobi — average; very tangy, mildly spicy and bit crispy
Kalonji paneer– above average; tangy, creamy had capsicum and paneer flab ours.
Dal makhni — below average; very tangy, no spice at all, it was almost a solid paste, first time I had a very tangy dal makhni
Bread basket — below average; every thing here was on the crispy side, again something unusual.
I live about 2 blocks away from this place and only reason we went there was to see how it was inspire of all the Unilocal reviews. No wonder none of my friends in the area had recommended this place, there are way better Indian restaurants in the area and this is bit too pricy for the qualified food and the service they offer.
I will visit this place again in next 2 – 3 months let’s hope they improve. And I get to write a better review.

Its the worst Indian food that you can find in Jersey city. This is not a place for authentiv Indian dood

Pretty decent food– but rich. We had a samosa chaat and chicken angaarey for starters and then keema mutter and maa ki daal with a bread basket. Everything tasted nice but like I said, was rich, and so made everyone feel really full. We still went for dessert though! Kulfi trio has some great mango kulfi, and cassata was an interesting dessert (nothing like the cassata of yore, if you think it’ll be multiple ice cream flavors layered in cake and sprinkled with nuts!)
Service was pleasant but a little slow. I would have given this place three and a half stars, but since that’s not possible, giving it 4 — benefit of doubt!

Great service and unique tasty food. The lollipop lamb are amazing. Martini was customized to my personal taste.

We’ve dined at Mantra several times and have never been disappointed. It has a sophisticated décor and the wait staff is very attentive. We dine at Indian restaurants regularly and found the food at Mantra to be flavorful and well-​prepared. All of the dishes we have tried have been tasty, We love their chat. If you’re interested in a restaurant that serves huge piles of cheap food, Mantra is not one of those. The portions, however, are balanced and reasonable, in my opinion. We never leave hungry.
Given the décor and great ambience, Mantra is not your run-​of-​the-​mill Indian joint. This is why I’m giving it 4 stars. It’s upscale with a nice ambience and comfortable but trendy/​transitional décor. The prices reflect this. Nice choice for date night or to take a business associate/​client who like Indian cuisine.

I was looking forward to trying this place out. My family and I went for my dad’s birthday and we’re really disappointed. This is probably the worst Indian food that I have ever had at a restaurant. Everything was so bland and my entire family didn’t enjoy it. My dad put on a good face but I knew he didn’t enjoy it. I’m giving 2 stars only because the interior is nicer than most Indian restaurants and the servers were helpful,

Average food, poor service, nothing specials compare to Indian restaurants in Newark ave, jersey city, restaurant interior and decoration is nice but not the food, their is no taste and it’s very blond. We placed order at 9:25 pm, they force us to place the order very quickly, got food after 20 minutes, again they are saying I have to finish my dinner by 10pm., instead of forcing like this better say no, so will go somewhere, waste of moneyyyyyyyyy,
I never turn back here,

Great ambience, drinks, and absolutely amazing and unique appetizers and entrees! I’m sorta addicted to this place!

Five of us went here on a Tuesday night. We were looking for good Indian food around JC and a friend recommended this place.
The less said about the food, the better. Quantity of the dishes is really poor for the amount of money they are charging. The poor quantity would be excusable if the taste was exceptional. And t is not. The taste of the dishes was way below expectations.
The service was average. When asked for recommendations on what to try the response was confused and tired.
Unless there is no alternative of ANY other cuisine, I would skip this place.

Everything was delicious
We went during lunch time and they had a buffet. Also, the day we went, there was a party in the main room and we were lead to this «secret» dining room downstairs, which was smaller but pretty good. There, we had a smaller version of the original buffet, which had less non-​vegetarian options but was just as good. The staff was courteous and kind and the décor was nice. The food was the best part-​authentic and delicious. The party happening upstairs looked pretty fun with food, music (no real dancing space, though), and decorations. I think the place would be good for occasions like a large dinner, anniversary, business festival, and maybe a birthday… nothing too special like an engagement.

Very good lunch buffet, I come here with my coworkers pretty regularly. They typically have 9 or 10 different items. Good variety and good quality. The best deal is the to go box, where for $ 9 you get more food than you can possibly eat in a box plus naan. They are definitely going for a more classy atmosphere, unfortunately the place is pretty empty at night, and the food I’ve gotten for dinner hasn’t been as good.
For downtown Jersey City this is a good option for weekday lunch buffet. However, look to Journal Square for Dosas, takeout or delivery.

This is a good place for office lunches if u want to have Indian food. I have been here a few times for the lunch buffet and once for dinner. If u order off the menu the place is a bit overpriced but if u are paying only for the taste and quality you wouldn’t regret. I have not had a bad dish here.
The lunch buffet is priced at 13 $ per person and its worth it. The veg dishes are few –poori bhaji and sabudana Wada for starters and rice, daal, panner kadai, malai kofta and palak Chole for main course. Two sweet dishes Kheer and a kesar dish later was extremely tasty.
A la carte portions are small but very tasty. Okra fry and panneer tikka was what I had tried for strters dont miss it.

Food — The bugget is good. For appetizers the sabu dana vada, chilly chicken and kababs are good. Puri bhajji and daal rice along with the chicken kadai makes a good meal. The paysam is way to sweet.
Ambience — Its well lit spacious dining area.
Service — Nothing to boast off. Knocked a star for the plastic piece in the chutney.
Cost — ~15 $ per person.