Shifu Momos Review
Shifu Momo’s is a small hole-in-the-wall shop located at
Panampilly Nagar. Before you decide to try and correct me, no I have NOT
forgotten my grammar; this is what the name of the establishment is written as.
Check out the photo if you don't believe me!
We finally happened to be in the
general vicinity one day and decided to see for ourselves what this place had
to offer.
Honestly, the establishment itself is not much to write about: it is really tiny and they have a counter behind which they prepare
all the items. They do not provide any seating arrangements; only a trash can
for when you have finished eating. Most people sit at the pavement near the
shop, take away the stuff to have it at the nearby park or like we did: eat in
the comfort of their cars. It is a true fast food joint where you are expected
to order what you need and move on. They had a few staff cooking or serving up orders. Since there is nothing more to be said here, let us move
onto the food.
They offer Veg, Chicken and Beef momos. You can opt for full or
half plates which would entitle you to 10 or 5 momos respectively. They also
offer noodle etc. but it is worth mentioning that they actually ran out of this
and a few other items we tried to order to make the review as comprehensive as
possible; I guess that definitely says something about its popularity. Apart
from the steamed momos, the main sauces on offer were Schezuan and Manchurian.
This confirmed our suspicions: the place would serve up Indo-Chinese or
Tibetan-style momos which are more appealing to Indian taste buds, and we enjoy
those too! We decided to go with all the
three available options: steamed as well as the two varieties of sauces.
Steamed Chicken Momos
The obligatory taste test, one that we use to gauge the
quality of any joint’s momos.
We are happy to report that the outer covering
was nice and soft as it was freshly made, apart from being reasonably thin. There was no hint of
chewiness or anything, so off to a good start.
Coming to the filling itself, it had lots of chopped cabbage. It was very finely shredded, so it lent a great
texture without being noticeably chewy at all. The filling had a detectable
taste of chicken too. However, we found no pieces at all so the satisfying
‘bite’ was missing. It was served with chili sauce and garlic sauce. The garlic
sauce was mild and creamy and while these are not traditional, it went well
with the momos. The chili sauce also added a tangy aspect to the dish; good for
those who prefer such flavours.
Chicken Momo in Schezuan sauce
As with most places, the Schezuan option is expected to be
the spiciest.
When we took a bite into it, the first impression one of us felt
was that we were eating chaat made with momos…! The sauce was sweet and spicy,
a combination characteristic of chaat. [Chaat refers to a variety of Indian
snacks consisting of tiny flatbread slathered with tangy chutneys and such.]
After a bit more the flavours came through though and we
could tell that it had a balance of sweet and spice working in tandem. I can
imagine this being the most popular option they sell, as the addition of
Schezuan sauce makes an otherwise bland plate of momos taste a lot more
exciting. Not authentic but come on, it was never meant to be anyway!
Chicken Momo in Manchurian Sauce
Predictably, this sauce had a more 'Chinese-style flavour'.
The texture was slightly thick and it had a darker shade of brown compared to the Schezuan version. It was difficult to tell but the sauce seemed to have finely chopped chili and garlic.
The texture was slightly thick and it had a darker shade of brown compared to the Schezuan version. It was difficult to tell but the sauce seemed to have finely chopped chili and garlic.
A full plate of 10 chicken momos is just Rs 90/- as of May
2017. With prices like these, it was no surprise this place is so popular. Also
not to mention, the food itself was as good as it gets. Sure, if one were to
nit-pick, you could bring up the argument that it is Indo-Chinese and not
authentic Chinese. There are no seating arrangements. As long as it tastes good
and is inexpensive, who cares? The flavours are adapted well to suit the palate
of the people here and we think it tastes great.
Our final verdict? We all agreed that we will
likely never go anywhere else for momos. ‘Nuff said.
Type of Cuisine: Momos, [Indo-]Chinese
Location
Opposite Kids and Teens, KV Nagar, Panampilly Nagar.
Parking: Nothing dedicated, but the roads nearby usually have enough space, should not be problem.
Ambience: None to speak of, Buzzing with activity but no dedicated place to sit or anything. Plenty of space including a park nearby so should not be a major problem.
Service: Quick
Onone occasion, got cartilage in more than one momo. Will monitor to see if this was a one-off occurrence. Update: We have returned a few times and every now and then, we have encountered a little bit of cartilage.
No dedicated seating arrangements; but not to be expected either.
What we liked/Recommended for:
Very good value for money. Although not authentic Chinese, is well made and tastes good.
Potential Shortcomings:On
No dedicated seating arrangements; but not to be expected either.
Taxes: Included in price, fat tax not applicable.
Phone Number:
Timings: 15:00 - 20:00
Restaurant Website: <None>
On Zomato: 
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