Mantra has been one of my favorite MV restaurants whether it be evening appetizers or the reliable lunch buffet, and they just keep impressing me! Food is always exceptional and cocktails are spicy and unique! They hosted my bday dinner of 20 people fearlessly with exceptional and respectful service the whole night! Special shoutout to JOY for leading all the service, helping me order enough for the table, and bringing things out in a staggered fashion. They adapted to guests arriving at different times, accommodated gifts, and helped with cake cutting. It is so hard to find a restaurant that is delicious and happily accommodates large parties, but Mantra can do it all! Thanks to the team! read more

Mantra India - Indian Near Me - Mountain View, California

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We had a good experience here. We ordered kala khatta and mango madness drinks. They were delicious. Than we had chole bhature, Peshawar Chana, mantra malai paneer and farmers market veggies with bread baskets. The lucknowi pulao was very fragrant and delicious. Overall a great experience. The service was prompt and the servers were friendly. read more

Mantra India - Indian Near Me - Mountain View, California

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The worst Tadka Dal I ever had in my life, bitter, pungent. Who knows how old the ingredients are! And, chicken chettinad was pretty terrible too. Other few items are just okay. But, two above are def. cooked well, complete waste of every penny! read more

This seems like a pretty popular spot for lunch in downtown Mountain View! My friends and I stopped in on a Friday for the lunch buffet and it was packed inside. We chose to sit outdoors as the weather was nice, but we did get a fair amount of debris/leaves/seeds falling on us from the trees, so just something to keep in mind with outdoor tables. Food was flavorful and I enjoyed the variety of veg and non-veg options. The meal also came with a basket of naan for the table, which was great. The price is reasonable for a buffet and I wish I had been hungrier to go back for seconds! Service was friendly and attentive with filling our waters and clearing empty plates. I hope to be back! read more

Mantra India - Indian Near Me - Mountain View, California

Pros: nice ambiance, attentive severs, good menu items, not so oily food! Cons: the chicken trio appetizer could be better. Recently went there to celebrate a special occasion and it was good. Ordere malai kofta , chicken curry and bread basket. Everything was good but what stood out was the potato kulcha and the kofta curry gravy. My daughter had a mango lassi with pistachio drink and that was really good! Lychee panna cotta was also very good, chocolate lava cake was fine. Overall a good restaurant if you want not so oily Indian food which still taste like home food at a slightly high end price. read more

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Food was prepared in 15-20 minutes as per the order and that went very well. However the wait staff was extremely rude, asking for the name of the order for 3 times even after telling and showing them on a phone the name. Funniest part is the staff only had one to go order this early 5pm Sunday. The Pani Puri was good, but the rest of the dishes (Butter Chicken, Dahl, Lamb Seekh Kebab) was subpar and without flavor. read more

Mantra India - Salty Seekh Kebab without other flavors -- do not recommend. - Indian Near Me - Mountain View, California

This review is just for a recent experience. Saw a mushroom Poshto dish on their March specials menu and was excited to try it, as there aren't many Bengali restaurants in Bay area. However I was hugely disappointed, since the dish looked and tasted just like some north Indian curry dish, instead of an authentic Bengali Poshto. Poshto dish is generally dry dish (and the server who took my order mentioned the same) and has a distinct flavor because of the use of poppy seeds to make the base. This dish was nothing like that. Makes me not want to try this restaurant again. read more

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we order food for dinner co'z my wife craving for indian food.but we got so disappointed with what we get the sauce is like watery sauce,it's a waste of money!this is over rated restaurant and will not gonna order here again. attached is the photo of the sauce on my plate and reciepts of our order.. read more

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I loveeeee this place!!! The food is next level! Always a must visit whenever I am in the Mountain View area. We love the Indian buffet and the variety of delicious options it offers. The service is very warm, and attentive. The decor is beautiful and the inside is very clean and elegant. I love the chai tea so much and the coconut shrimp has to be one of my favorites. They also have very tasty dessert options like the Hawaiian pineapple Halwa which was just sooooo yummy!! Come visit soon and let your taste buds dance. read more

Mantra India - Chai tea, naan, and buffet plate - Indian Near Me - Mountain View, California

Very disappointing experience. I placed a pickup order a couple of hours in advance with a scheduled pickup time, but the food was not ready when I arrived. To make matters worse, once I got home, I realized an item was missing from the order. When I contacted them, they refused to provide a refund and gave a confusing explanation that another office handles it. Instead, they offered a replacement, which I did not want. Overall, the service was frustrating and poorly handled. I expected much better. read more

Review for lunch buffet: I would rate this as one of the best Indian Buffet in Bay Area. The good items to total items ratio is one of the best. The curries both veg / non-veg are very flavorful. The butter chicken in the last visit was amazing. All the people working there are very efficient and special mention to Mr. Roop for being extra attentive the last time I went there. Give this place a try. read more

Review is for Weekday Lunch Buffet - $20 adults/$15 child. Definitely worth in terms of items offered and quality of food. Fresh salads, plenty of vegetarian and chicken appetizers. Paani puri for appetizer as well. Main course had chicken biriyani, chicken curries, one goat curry. Plenty of vegetarian options - paneer, lauki ki subzi (bottle gourd), bhindi (okra) were mouth watering. As a child, I would never appreciate vegetables cooked this way, now I miss these. Hot naans were brought to the table. Came in for meat - Left eating lots of vegetables as it reminded of childhood!!! Desserts were fresh - Gulab jamuns, sabudana (Sago) kheer, and gajar halwa was great! Finish of with hot chai. All in all great experience. Service was great. Will be back if in this area. read more

During our restaurant hopping night in Downtown Mountain View , we ended up choosing this place to have our entree. Usually at Indian restaurants we like to try the butter chicken, but tonight a shrimp dish sounded nice and different from what we usually have. The flavors were spot on, it just could use some more shrimp, there were only a few pieces.. The service was welcoming, but honestly it took forever to get our food and no one really checked in on us. The naan was decent too, not the best I've ever had but satisfied the craving for bread. All in all, it was a solid choice for food but I've had better read more

Mantra India - Garlic Naan - Indian Near Me - Mountain View, California

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Great lunch buffet for a really great price! The service here was very friendly, and they had a great variety of dishes that were all very tasty. read more

This restaurant fails me every time, the worst chicken curry I have ever tasted. It is so bad.

A find among Indian restaurants. Their selection of salads, entrees and desserts in their lunch buffet is over the top - well worth the $20.00. They mark what is vegan and what contains meat, so it's easy to make selections. And it's delicious besides! The ambience is very pleasant and clean. If you like Indian food, enjoy! read more

After a great day of yoga, came to enjoy the lunch buffet at this restaurant with delicious food. The variety of dishes are so good! In this visit I tried a new dish, the coconut shrimp with a delicious creamy sauce! Desserts are very good like the Pineapple Halwa and vanilla mousse. Mmmm! Warm attention from everyone. Clean bathroom. I love the colorful and vibrant decorations that welcome anyone to come in. Great ambience for families and friends.. So far...my favorite Indian Buffet! Oh, Chai tea!! Perfect! read more

Mantra India - Fruit and salads - Indian Near Me - Mountain View, California

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Our party of 9 went for the Sunday buffet at 12:30 pm. As the weather was nice our reservation was for outside seating, the tables were setup with tablecloths cutlery etc. ,but it was very disappointing that there no umbrellas or canopy to protect the food people were eating. Most non Indian restaurants on Castro has either an umbrella or canopy to protect the food from getting bird droppings etc from nearby trees. As 50% of our group was vegetarian, we were very disappointed as the dishes were not tasty and a few had too much oil especially methi aloo and okra. In the non vegetarian food the butter chicken there was very little chicken but a lot of gravy. Since this is supposed to be a high end restaurant our expectations were high but we were disappointed. read more

First timer at Mantra! Ambience is really nice, and the food was great. Only downside was we tried to order mango lassi (priced at ~$5) and the waiter told us that they didn't have mango lassi, but could offer us this other drink instead (didn't catch the name of it, but essentially a mango lassi w pistachio and saffron on it). We said sure because he said it is literally the exact same as mango lassi. When we got the check, this drink was $10 each!! Also was confused because the contents of the drink was a mango lassi? So not sure why we couldn't get the mango lassi we wanted and if we just got tricked into ordering something double the price regardless, the food tasted delicious and we ate all of it. Would highly recommend the saag paneer and chicken tikka masala! I prob wouldn't order this mango drink next time as it was just an expensive version of the mango lassi I am definitely curious to come back and try their lunch buffet which is offered only on weekdays I believe. I will be back for sure! read more

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First time here and the service was amazing. The food was great as well. My family and I came to experience their buffet and it was well worth the travel. read more

9/26/2023 Mantra India 288 Castro St Mountain View, CA 94041 The best lunch entree buffet selections in Mountain View. Close by city parking can be hard during peak times. It's a modern clean booth setup with single tables in the aisle so it was a little tight, definitely pre-pandemic. We were directed to our booth and told to get started with our buffet. I asked our host if they had garlic naan which my wifey always orders. He told me he would talk with his chef, and sure enough there was garlic naan on our table. A standard buffet arrangement with plates at the head of the food with fruit and salads to start. I would avoid the Indian Pickles which were super salty. Then there was an extensive selection of entrees with proteins like chicken, shrimp and lamb. All my food was nicely spiced, the heat level was mostly medium. My only disappointment was that some of the food was cold, but better a cold moist Tandoori Chicken than a warm and dry piece of meat, or go earlier. Wifey said the Indian Milk Tea was great, she had two cups. This was a great find, excellent attentive service, tasty food and good value. Definite repeat. read more

Mantra India - Chicken Curry and Tandoori Chicken - Indian Near Me - Mountain View, California

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Had Makke ki roti and Saag twice, and both times it was excellent. We also had daal bukhara and aloo kulcha.. also excellent. I would go back again, fresh and tastefully prepared. Good pleasant people serving your orders! Overall very nice experience. read more

i love mantra restaurant , the team everyone always treat us very well. i come with my son always. very clean and friendly atmosphere. the avocado jhalmuri is very different food to try. cool and tasty. and i like tandoori chicken every time read more

Mantra India - dessert - Indian Near Me - Mountain View, California

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As transplants from London -- an epicenter of Indian food! -- we anxiously look for Indian restaurants whenever arriving in a new place. We have a cherished menu from a great Indian restaurant in Paris, where the menu was in English to confound French gourmands. We even have a must-visit Indian restaurant if we're ever staying overnight near Heathrow... So, it's a big deal for us to have a great Indian restaurant within reach of home! For us, that's Mantra India in Mountain View. It's good in so many ways. The food is excellent, each dish distinctively different and flavorful, with a lot of care for the ingredients, preparation, and presentation. There's such a wide range of dishes from the different regions of India, and always more to discover. Some dinner favorites: Tandoori Halibut, Vegetable Korma, Lamb Rogan Josh. But there's such a wide selection that you might never run out of something new to try. And ask for recommendations! As well as the usual beverages, Mantra has an excellent cocktail bar, with a wide and intriguing list of choices. The lunchtime buffet is very popular, and like the dinner menu, prices are reasonable. But we especially love visiting for dinner with friends and with family. Mantra is also a wonderfully welcoming place. So, a call-out to all the staff - Romaldo, Joy, and all the great folks whose names I haven't yet learned, but hope to learn and add to the list! read more

Mantra is a restaurant that has reinvented itself over the past few years, offering great food, inviting ambience, and friendly service. We started with the Asparagus Cheese Tikki and Gobi Manchurian. The tikki was perfectly crunchy on the outside and deliciously cheesy on the inside. For our entrees, we enjoyed the bread basket paired with the Malai Kofta curry, both of which were excellent. A special shout-out to our server, Joy, whose recommendations were spot-on, especially for my 6-year-old. We'll definitely return to try their non-vegetarian dishes! read more

Mantra India - Mantra Malai Kofta - Indian Near Me - Mountain View, California

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Can't say enough good things about Mantra. Whenever I have a friend who's never tried Indian food, I bring them here. Actually, I bring everyone here. The dishes are diverse and approachable. Any day is great to visit Mantra. Weekend buffet is a wonderful experience. Dishes are constantly replenished and rotated throughout lunch. You can order fresh naan and dosas as well. The staff at Mantra are what make this restaurant truly special. Reddy, Romaldo, and everyone else - super welcoming and offer a great overall experience. You guys are amazing! P. S. - They also cater! read more

Mantra India - Masala dosa - Indian Near Me - Mountain View, California

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Awesome food! 10 mins wait time and we were seated right away for lunch on a Thursday. Pretty Good buffet with excellent options to choose from. The chicken and lamb starters like Sheekh kabab, Chilli chicken and Tandoori were an absolute delight - well seasoned and flavorful. There were quite a few vegetarian dishes which I skipped but the mutton and chicken curries were exceptional - rich and aromatic. Another big plus was the curries weren't sweet unlike the typical Butter masala gravies at Indian places. Buffet also had few healthy choices like Salad, Cut Fruits, Cut veggies, Roster brocolli and stuff! Good value for money. Must visit! read more

I am posting this a little late. But one of the best Indian restaurants. We had a big party of 20 people and they took our reservation on the same day. Joy was our host and he did a wonderful job. I highly recommend the appetizers and mocktails were amazing. read more

Went for the weekday lunch buffet and was happy with the variety of dishes. Service was a bit slow and they were slow to refill foods that ran out (rice, fruit), as well as bring naan, which came after my husband already finished one plate of food. They were busy but not incredibly so and I would expect that they plan ahead for this -- especially in the case of a buffet where food is prepared en masse. Aside from that, the naan was fluffy and the gobi manchurian and lahsooni saag were made really well. Other vegetarian dishes in the buffet were malai paneer (sweeter than I prefer), dal makhani, gulab jamun, mango mousse, garbanzo salad, beetroot sago cutlets, methi kebab, and a make your own papdi chaat station. Price-wise, they are on par with most buffets at $19.99 + tax on a weekday. read more

I had a reservation for lunch inside. They were busy and offered me an outside table but it's December and we wanted to sit inside. Had to wait 15 minutes after our reservation time to be seated. Then no one came to ask us if we wanted a drink or to explain how anything worked (it turned out that it was buffet only for lunch, but that was never explained). They had chicken tikka masala in the buffet but ran out right before I got to it. They said more was coming out. I waited and ate fruit, which was nice and fresh, so that part was redeeming. Then they brought out shrimp tikka masala instead and said they had no more chicken. What the heck! That was the only thing I wanted to eat there. The naan was hot and fresh, but other than that and the fruit, it was a very disappointing experience. I definitely will not return. read more

They've got a pretty good lunch buffet here, with an impressive variety of dishes. About a dozen huge vats lined up against the wall, 4 or 5 with chicken, one with lamb, the rest vegetarian. The meat is OK, but the sauces are vivid and delicious. Some are quite spicy, the rest not. Besides the main course vats, there's dessert on the end and lots of appetizers, like sliced cucumbers and deep-fried cauliflower and some tandoori. The variety of dishes and the quality of the sauces are the real winners here. read more

I hosted a party at Mantra a few months back. The service was extraordinary - attentive and warm. In fact one of the guests, not feeling well, wanted a pharmacy. Someone told her where it is, a couple of blocks away, then said, it is not easy to find, I will show you and took her there! I had them reserve some tables at one end for me. It went very well, everybody enjoyed the ambiance and the food. Thank you Mantra and Gary. read more

*First time review, dined in at lunch buffet* My dad works in Mountain View so I grabbed him to head to lunch. He told me there's an Indian buffet near by so we stopped off at Mantra. I've had many Indian buffets in my time dining out but this one blew me away with the food options! I couldn't believe how many different options they had for meat eaters and vegetarians! I couldn't even capture the row of food they had because it was so many options! I personally loved the veg biryani and butter chicken (I tried a little bit of 2 other curries but forgot what it was). I'm not as adventurous as others I'm sure but what I had was good! They also gave us some naan, that was very fresh. I also love all the condiments they had prepared and it was on fresh ice not all melted down. The raitha was great! I cannot speak for the dinner service as I attended lunch but I'll be coming back for that soon. Price point for 2 for lunch without drinks was $44. Reasonable, good taste and no wait! I hope next time I go, they have kheer (rice pudding). They refill the water quickly and we didn't have to ask so that was great too read more

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Great lunch buffet with many selections and high quality authentic Indian food. It gets crowded quickly inside here, so you need to be here early to get a seat during lunchtime. Dinner time starts at 5pm and it is not buffet style, they have an excellent selection of specialty cocktails and drinks. Not as crowded at night, food is excellent and they give you plenty. Good service here. The restrooms here are kept clean and stocked. There is music playing and music videos on the screens. read more

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I went to an engagement party this past weekend where they were catered by Mantra India and my goodness, everything was delicious! I had a little bit of everything and honestly loved it all. My fave was this cauliflower appetizer. Not sure what it's called on the menu, but I LOVED it read more

Mantra India - Indian Near Me - Mountain View, California

Went for the Saturday buffet - It was delicious, had so many options, and everything was amazing. The service was super attentive as well and everyone was very nice. I can't wait to return! read more

We had been looking for a new go-to Indian buffet after our recent disappointing experiencing at (no longer) Favorite Indian buffet. Rumor has it that Mantra offers dosa as part of their weekend buffet so we made the pilgrimage to the other side of the bay to check it out. Absolutely blown away by our experience here, cannot recommend enough! Rating Breakdown: 2/2 Stars for Taste -- Everything was surprisingly tasty. The butter chicken had me making intense eye contact with my sister like "Damn, is this crazy good or what?!" The lamb curry was chock full of juicy morsels of meat. I thought the chicken would be dry, but both the tandoori chicken and the mustard chicken were tender and moist. They even had a calamari that was worth getting seconds of. My favorite was the DIY chaat puri, I could not stop popping those little suckers. The legends were true, they do offer dosa! I'm partial to the plain dosa, but they also offer onion, masala, and cheese options as well. Besides dosa, they also have fluffy garlic naan for all your dipping needs. There's unsweetened chai and you can choose between regular sugar or Splenda to season to taste. There are three different desserts to choose from but my favorite was the rasmalai. 1/1 Stars for Value -- No joke, when the bill came, we had to do a double take. Only $24.99 for a weekend lunch buffet? For this selection? WHAT! 1/1 Stars for Customer Service -- There was a bit of a line at Sunday at 1pm, but they have a physical waitlist you can add yourself to. By the time we were seated, they brought naan and multiple dosas to the table rapid fire. The restaurant is a bit small and the selection is big, so it can feel a bit cramped, if that matters to you. A piece of feedback to the restaurant -- I think the flow of the buffet line could be improved. Having the chai in the middle of the buffet line is a bit disruptive. Also, I'm not a expert on chaat puri, but it felt weird for the order of the fixings to be sauce, potato fillings, then puris at the end. Bonus star because I would happily pay $7 to cross the bridge again just to eat this and, if you know me, this is a big freaking deal. read more

Huge shout out to Arsh at Mantra and all the amazing cooks back in the kitchen for creating not just a fantastic meal but an outstanding experience. Arsh heard that it was my friend's birthday and went to town with a beautifully decorated dessert dish. I didn't ask for this - he just did it. With a smile and really exceptional positive energy, I have to add. Thank you! read more

Mantra India has a great menu with interesting cocktails and dishes. We tried their Reshmi Kebab and Palak chat for appetizers. It was delicious! Reshmi Kebab was a little on the spicier side which I liked. We ordered chicken tikka masala and saffron rice which was scrumptious too. For cocktails we ordered their Paan old fashioned which was ok. Their mango mimosas was awesome! read more

One of if not the most flavorful Indian restaurants I've tried outside of India. We had pesto sea bass, Pani poori shots, butter chicken, baigan bharta, garlic shrimp and a variety of breads. The garlic naan is really good and worth the extra money. They don't skimp on the flavoring. Overall, all the food was great other than the bread basket which was just okay. However, the price is pretty high for the amount you get. Otherwise this would get 5 stars. But if you want lots of flavor, this is about as good as. It gets. Service was fine. Our waiter was attentive. The ambiance was nice. I ate here with my family and we enjoyed the atmosphere. I'd like to try their buffet sometime read more

Mantra India - Pani puri shots - Indian Near Me - Mountain View, California