My favorite Indian place for all time. Haven't found a better one and I've tried 90% of the Indian places where I live in Seattle. The naan is always perfect. The spinach paneer? Also always perfect. The chai is great. The service is always super friendly and warm. And I enjoy the Bollywood videos they always have going. 10/10 recommend and I will always specifically make sure I eat here at least once every time I'm visit my family. read more

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I crave Indian food and this restaurant meets the challenge. I enjoy take out and always order extra to ensure leftovers abound. Great for feeding company. read more

If you guys are going to continue to cook this way , just stop ( I tried three times). I loved your gravy. I had to search for a sad face. BC I never give them. Okay, grab the tissues, what the heck are you guys thinking? I can toast some Grand masala then add tomato soup and it would really probably taste better than what I just ate That's not how I cook Indian and nor should you and I have no grandma recipes. I better make a gravy better than I do (no masala) . Your grandma would smack you if she found out you served that. I know that you're not that busy, no excuses for greatest. gravy should not be horrible that much for you too fail. have to drive by you a lot, stick to the basics and make them wonderful. Adding and drive through would be great but limitations are limitations. I think you guys should just close. You're giving a horrible rap to Indian food. I also ordered nine with goat cheese. The Nana was good. Sorry I can't do better than that because I've had a lot. Do you happen to know that goat cheese is not crumbly or feta. It breaks my heart you guys need to get your act together. I know Indian food takes a lot of time to cook otherwise I would never order from you. Sayonara Sorry read more

Yelp says open during lunch. Not so. Very disappointing. If you care to inform customers, be accurate.

Overall quality was fair. Prices were very reasonable, and order taker for our takeout order was very polite. We tried beef vindaloo, which I thought was OK but not thrilled with the tenderness of the meat. It's almost like it was pre-cooked chunks of beef that were thrown into the sauce and reheated. The butter chicken was very tasty, but with both the meat entrées, we thought there was lacking in the meat department and just a lot of sauce. The roasted cauliflower was our favorite by far. I would go back for that for sure. The chicken samosa was delicious. we did not dine in but at pick up time I looked around and the restaurant looked clean and tidy. read more

The food was Very Good and deserves a heads up to all wondering if it was worth the drive, IT WAS and can't wait to go back again. The serive was really good the man was very kind and explained foods that I was not familiar with. Thank You read more

The food is very authentic and delicious. It has become my wife's favorite restaurant in the area

Place looked clean. Server was pleasant. However, she didn't think to offer me a menu upon seating so I thought it was buffet only during lunch. But no, I was offered the buffet because "that's what most people want" for lunch. Huge mistake. It was the worst Indian food I've ever had. Food looked old, maybe reheated. Some items were even lukewarm. The buffet was tiny...sort of raggedy with minimal options. Only after picking at my food and asking about other dishes is when I was told about a menu. I knew better when I saw the empty lot but wanted to give the benefit of doubt. Too bad. read more

I've only gotten DoorDash from here so I can't speak to the restaurant itself. However, I'll share thoughts about the food: 1) Lamb keema mutter -- SO good. My go to. Get it every single time. I feel like it can be stretched to last three meals, for one person 2) idk why but their naan needs help. It's not very good 3) veggie pakora - wonderful. I loved this to satisfy my veggie and fried food cravings :) I feel like this was better than I expected for Oconomowoc Indian food, but not the best Indian food ever. read more

Glad we finally made it in for lunch buffet. It's small but packed with flavor. Everything was delicious, even for a 10yr old girl, she ate everything she took. Definitely scratch cooking here. Highly recommend. read more

Tried this place last year on a whim and didn't think I'd like it too much as I'd never had Indian food but I was IMMEDIATELY hooked. I've ordered probably 50+ times from here now. Always consistent with the flavor and portions. However sometimes it is a gamble how much rice they give you. When I order it I seem to get less but when I don't explicitly order it I get the same amount or more? The staff is always kind, and I've been there for lunch a time or two as well. Food is great (imo) and they offer a punchcard system for the lunch buffets as well. They are usually playing some cultural music in the lobby. They should be busier, everyone I've introduced to this place is hooked as well. I loved the butter chicken, but I get scared of chicken pieces in anything so I opted for the Marsala sauce instead which is the best part and actually significantly cheaper than the butter chicken. The garlic naan is super tasty as well. I wish they had a take out punchcard system as well. Definitely worth trying if you're in the area! Especially the lunch buffet where you can try multiple things at once. :) read more

Came by for dinner. Service was good, ambiance casual and food was fair in my opinion. Quality of carbs were nice and the curry dishes were missing the unique factor. Overall satisfied but not to be mistaken for pleased. read more

Mantra Indian Bistro - a variety of food items on a table - Indian Near Me - Oconomowoc, Wisconsin

We were in Oconomowoc around lunchtime on Sunday. We saw Mantra had really good reviews so decided to give it a try. I tend to be partial to Indian Buffets because it gives me a chance to try a wide variety of dishes. There was no buffet, but the menu did offer several dozen entrees. We decided to try the lamb curry and the lamb korma. Both were combos which included soup, a salad, naan, white rice, and dessert. The restaurant itself is in a building downtown. The entrance is off a hallway shared by several other businesses. The restroom is down the hall and serves all of those businesses. It was clean, though partially under construction. Our servers were polite, quiet, and efficient. They led us to our table, brought menus, took our orders, brought our food and bill. What I really appreciated about Mantra was the quality of each of our dishes. We started w/a soup and salad. The soup was broth based w/various vegetables and had tremendous flavor with just the right spices. Personally I didn't think the salad looked that appetizing: corn, beans, carrots, onion, cucumber. However, the sauce was light, bright, and surprised me. I really enjoyed it and would love to have it again. When our entrees came the rice was perfectly cooked, light, and fluffy. The naan was just slighty chewy, buttery, and soaked up the flavors of my curry. The curry was outstanding with lean tender chunks of lamb. Dessert was gulab jamun. The sauce was sweet but not cloying and again the balls were tender and delicate. The quality of all the dishes was so much better than I have found on any buffet. If you are in the area, I definitely recommend Mantra. read more

Mantra Indian Bistro - Indian Near Me - Oconomowoc, Wisconsin

Sadly the restaurant is very unclean. Dirty bathrooms too, which made me question the kitchen sanitation. This made for an uncomfortable experience. I did not eat the food because of this reason, just paid and left. Only two other people in the restaurant and one worker (who may be the owner). read more

Everything is always very well prepared and tastes great. Mantra has an excellent assortment of dishes to choose from with various ingredients and ranges of spiciness. Their naan bread is some of the best I have ever had, and the service here is always incredible. The staff is extremely kind which makes the dining room experience wonderful. read more

We are very familiar with Oconomowoc and were surprised to find out this bistro has been open 8 years now. We got the Buttered Chicken, Paneer Tikka Masala, and Gobi Manchurian, which was entirely new to us. This Gobi Manchurian was one of the best dishes we've had. Cauliflower in a sticky sauce that came across almost like wings in a sticky, sweet sauce. Perfectly cooked! We look forward to going back soon to try their lunch buffet! read more

Worst experience I have ever had at an Indian restaurant. I eat a lot of Indian food but have never been to this restaurant so I thought I would give it a try. I ordered butter chicken and shahi paneer with naan. Both of the curries were made incorrectly. The actual gravy was not the correct gravy for either curry. When I called and asked the man working there he seemed to know they messed up and it seemed purposefully done. I am Indian myself and know what these dishes have in them and I could tell they used leftovers of other dishes and just mixed them. Neither of these dishes come with whole green peppers and eggplants but we found them in both. Also the base for the shahi paneer was so watery and completely flavorless. It was not the correct base by any means. A shahi paneer should be creamy and thick when this was basically clear and watery. The butter chicken had so much tomato paste in it that it tasted like a tomato soup and was inedible. I could tell it was leftover chicken tikka masala that they just called butter chicken. We were told the owner would call us the next day and give us a refund as we couldn't eat the food but we never got a call or a refund. I would never recommend or go back to this place after the service we got. read more

I love Indian food. Full stop. I like it all, even the stodgy stuff. It is the most frequently craved foodstuff in our household because I have yet to master the art of home cooked Indian cuisine. My husband and I have certainly carved out our favorite places around town, but we were looking to find a go-to closer to our Lake County home. Mantra Indian Bistro seemed like a good prospect. The restaurant itself was not open for dine in service due to Covid19, but that was actually a plus for us. We appreciate businesses keeping staff and customers safe, even though it's inevitably not great for their bottom line. We did the next best thing, which was eating in the back of my Subaru. As tall humans, it's not ideal for comfort, but does guarantee the freshest, hottest take-out experience possible. We also got a little feeling of normalcy eating date night dinner away from our kids. We started our meal with the chicken 65 and Samosa chaat. The chicken 65 was sort of the Indian answer to boneless Buffalo wings, but it definitely fell short of my expectations. Despite picking our food up in a timely manner and eating in the parking lot, the meat was luke warm, dry, and had definitely spent some time sitting around before we received it. It was served with a mix of cold lettuce and raw onion, which hadn't even wilted, so it wasn't hot whenever it went in the box. The chaat, however, saved the appetizer experience. The creamy, slightly tangy chickpeas tasted remarkably reminiscent of samosa. There were also chunks of samosa mixed in, which seemed to me like a genius way to use up any leftovers. I would definitely order this again, even though I enjoy the traditional form of the samosa very much. For entrees, my husband got the butter chicken and I went with the ahloo gobi. The butter chicken was indeed VERY buttery. Ghee tends to have a very strong, almost artificial butter flavor, which came through nicely without being too overwhelming. I don't think I could personally eat a whole plate of it, but my husband managed happily without issue. My ahloo gobi was good, but not impressive. I would have liked about twice the amount of seasoning than was used in the dish. It was a bit like the Americanized "Indian" cuisine I make at home, which is acceptable, but never surpasses the seasoning miracles of authentic cuisine. To round out the meal, we ordered onion kulcha. I had mixed feelings about this bread, which is usually my favorite. It was hot, fresh and the onion and cilantro on the surface was perfectly distributed. The bread was just too thin. It was almost lacey in appearance and more closely resembled a tortilla than naan. It did the job mopping up the sauce on my plate (yes, we brought out own plates for dining in the car), but I would have liked a heartier bread overall. Would we eat Mantra again? Absolutely! We definitely want to experience more if their menu, but the first go was a mixed bag of good and mediocre. I don't think this place could ever replace our treasured favorites, but it may serve as a closer, acceptable experience when the craving strikes for other worldly eats. read more

Delicious authentic food. Enjoyable everytime. It's a clean, relaxing environment.

Food is good but the restaurant's interior is not welcoming. The hours of operation are in consistent. I can't begin to count the number of times I have stopped by to get sometime to go and they haven't been open during advertised operating hours. They have been in Oconomowoc for many years and I won't to support local business but they make it difficult. read more

Yummy! The beef curry is to die for! I've had Indian food a just a few places. This place is the best I've tried.

Got take out last night. Food was ready on time and hot when I got it home! The Vindaloo was great and spicy, the Tikka Chicken was delish. Garlic naan was out of this world! This will become a regular stop for us. read more

The food is incredible at Mantra! Dishes are prepared to perfection. Very friendly and pleasant staff. This is yet another incredible restaurant that call Oconomowoc home! Best Indian in SE Wisconsin... Nothing even close in Madison or Milwaukee. We have dined in and out, from a table of 2-14, had the buffet, and dined with kids....everything the same, hot, fresh, and delectable. The only down side about mantra, yet it has not been issue for us yet, is that seating is limited, and the buffet is SO popular that they have a hard time keeping up with demand... But they do! read more

Mmmmm!! This place is delicious! I had the butter chicken which is rich and creamy! And the naan is perfectly cooked! The rice was also great! And the soup with the lunch menu had such a great flavor! The lunch menu is kind of expensive - $12-15 per person. It's a lot of food, but more than needed. Don't get me wrong - I ate it all. It was too delicious to not eat. But a smaller price and smaller portion would have been nice. read more

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Ordered take out for the second time last night. Shrimp was hard/tough in the curry shrimp. Tikka and Tandoori chicken were both dry. Same thing happened last time. There is supposed to be a 10% "automatic" discount for online ordering. We did not get it. When my husband picked up the food and mentioned it, they really didn't care and didn't offer anything. Coconut rice was very good. Not sure we'll go back. read more

We tried Mantra for the first time tonight based on the recommendations of our neighbors who are Indian. We drove out to to try the restaurant and found out that they are only doing takeout due to the COVID19 and trouble finding wait staff. Since we made the trip from Waukesha we asked the owner how long we would have to wait for takeout, and he said 15-20 minutes. We waited maybe 10+ minutes and he brought the food to us. The Samosas were very tasty and the Chicken Tika Masala was excellent however could have more chunks of chicken, we received some extra sauce which was super tasty. We also had the Saag Panner which was tasty, it had nice chunks of cheeses however the spinach was very puréed. The garlic and Cheese Naan's and Tandoori Chicken were also solid choices. I would rate the food a 4.5 overall. If you are in the mood for Indian food this is a solid choice! read more

I got carry out from Mantra on the recommendation of a co-worker who lives in the area. I called ahead and my order was ready when I got there. You can order your food mild, medium, or spicy. I ordered the butter chicken spicy for myself, and the chicken mango mild for the Mrs. We also got an order of the garlic naan bread. First off, your food comes with delicious basmati rice. Perfectly cooked and great flavor. The butter chicken over the rice is awesome. And the spicy would not be too hot for most folks. Just great heat and spice that stays memorable on the tongue for a long time after. The naan is a must to soak up all that sauce. The amount of chicken was generous, with bites of chicken in almost every bite. The chicken mango had nice spice with a touch of sweetness. The person at the counter was very polite and helpful. I couldn't be more positive about the pick up experience. If you have a craving for Indian food, please put Mantra on your list. You will not be disappointed. read more

Mantra Indian Bistro - Butter chicken and chicken mango with garlic naan bread - Indian Near Me - Oconomowoc, Wisconsin

Not good or fresh. I would check around for other options. Not sure if it was just the dish or it's the whole menu. It's a big place but only have to go! Sad that the restaurant isn't being used ! read more

Good food, great service and any problems are resolved quickly....one caution however if they offer you a refill on your drink...they charge for it. read more

Delicious, great service, definitely recommend this hidden gem in lake country! Must try.

First time having indian food not sure if its for me service was ok I guess, just had lamb and also tried chicken both meats tasted the same kind of like a mint? It wasnt very expensive despite getting myself 2 entrees. I wanted spicy and hot and thats what i thought it would be but it was not what I expected. read more

The food here is just fine. I've tried the veggie biryani and the veggie curry both with garlic naan. The veggie biryani was tasty but there were almost no veggies in it. It was almost all rice. I also ordered a side of raita because I usually use more than they give and I like to dip my naan into it. They only gave me the one container of raita, so I'm not sure if they just don't give you raita for biryani (which would be odd) or if they forgot it or maybe just thought I wouldn't notice. Either way, I ended up not having enough. The second order, I got vegetable curry which was really lackluster. The flavor was pretty muted, veggies seemed like they may have been frozen, and the sauce was grainy. The garlic naan was pretty good, standard naan. This is one of very few restaurants in the area that isn't pizza/burger type fare, so I MIGHT order again, but it wouldn't be my first choice. read more

Have enjoyed every dish I've tried here. It's so refreshing having some Indian food around and the family and staff are wonderfully friendly. Recommend asking for the Rasam soup and dipping some of the pakora in there (or drop chunks in to soak a little bit for a dumpling texture) read more

The Chicken Tikka Masala is cooked to perfection. The chicken quite literally melts into one's mouth. It truly is to die for! My picky boyfriend is such a fan, which is a win for me! We both love the garlic naan as well as the samosas! Perfect for date night! read more

The Indian servers were polite and helpful with all of the dishes to try. The atmosphere was pleasant. The restaurant is clean and the decor is colorful and beautiful. The food was amazing. Everything came out hot. read more

Amazing gem of a restaurant! People working here are so nice & helpful. The food is fantastic (as most indian can be heavy on the oil). We went with 2 others that were not fans of spicy food and they we huge fans as well - even to the point of slightly overeating! I would recommend it to anyone and we'll be back for more! read more

You wouldn't necessarily have high expectations of any ethnic restaurant that is found in little ole Oconomowoc. Yet Mantra's is fantastic. The service alone gets 10 stars. I had a dropped glove picked up and given to me before I even knew I dropped it. Our water glasses were regularly filled. The gentlemen at Mantra's made sure we weren't in need of anything while we were there. I'm so grateful for them for choosing this blip on the map to share their delicious food and expand the culinary palettes of many a Cheesehead. I'm more of an Italian cuisine girl myself, but I enjoyed the Chef's special naan bread (a lot!) and my entree was good, too (sorry can't remember what it was called. It was cauliflower and potatoes, though). We were with two people who in their 7th decade of life had never before been to an Indian restaurant (one of whom is NOT an adventurous eater---as in "meat and potatoes, good. Spicey, Bad.") One fell in love with the place (and the service) on the spot and the other other said he'd be up for going back and enjoyed his shrimp masala. The youngest member of the group (at 8) ordered the Lamb Biryani and be forewarned---the plate is HUGE. Otherwise portions are a reasonable size (i.e., they look small to Americans, but the portions are appropriate and filling). However, the biryani was also taken home and enjoyed again at breakfast. Lastly, our experienced Indian cuisine group member was quite pleased with his Chicken Tikka Masala. Afterwards, head over a few blocks and enjoy some gelato at the Golosi Gelato Cafe (except in January, when they're closed for the month). Cheers! read more

Mantra Indian Bistro - 2016: Lamb biryani (I think!) Might be hard to tell, but that's a LOT of food. - Indian Near Me - Oconomowoc, Wisconsin

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So lucky to have such great Indian food in Oconomowoc! Check it out. You won't be disappointed!

Food was incredible. I'm not an expert on Indian food, but this is one of the best I've had. Paneer pakora, chicken tikka masala, and the dish my wife got which I can't remember were all top notch. Service was great too. read more

SO. DELICIOUS. My husband and I recently moved back to the area from Los Angeles, where we had the privilege of eating a wide variety of authentic cuisine from different world cultures. Our favorite is Indian. It was a breath of fresh air to walk into this little place, to be greeting by such a friendly staff, and eat some incredible authentic Indian food. The food was flavorful and perfectly prepared. When we had finished eating, the chef came out to say hello, ask us how we liked everything, and even spent some time sharing his cooking process with us for our dishes. It has everything that we loved about mom and pop Indian restaurants in Los Angeles, but with the added bonus of small town hospitality. We had a wonderful time and will absolutely visit again. read more