Shifu Momos: Mo' for your Money!

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.

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

What we liked/Recommended for:

Very good value for money. Although not authentic Chinese, is well made and tastes good.

Potential Shortcomings:
On one 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. 

Taxes: Included in price, fat tax not applicable. 

Phone Number: +91 9633 918 717

Timings: 15:00 - 20:00

Restaurant Website: <None>

On Zomato: 
      

WOW! Momo: More than just Momos!

WOW! Momo Review

Having various branches across the city, WOW! Momo as the name suggests, have a good selection of momos and also offer other things like soup, sizzlers, a burger with a predictable twist: it uses a momo instead of a patty and even chocolate filled momos for dessert! 

Steamed Momos

Starting out authentic, the steamed momos are available in chicken (three varieties), fish, prawn, mushroom, paneer and some other veg options. We like to keep it simple so we tend to go with plain chicken momos.

These deliver well in terms of flavor. It comes with spicy red chili and green mint sauces for those who need it. This serves as a base for the other preparations of momos that follow. 

Pan Fried Momos

This is a twist on fried dimsum, it uses the standard momo base with the same choice of fillings as before but they are fried gently till the coating is slightly crisp and then slathered with a sauce. You can select between two different types of sauces, and we have tried both so that we can tell you about them.

 
The Schezwan sauce is as expected, spicy with bits of red chili seed etc. to please Indian taste buds. This is Indo-Chinese leaning closer to the Indian side! If you love and live for spice, this is a no-brainer. We found it a bit too Indianized however.
The tomato garlic sauce seen in the photo is what we usually order, this comes with a light tomato sauce reminiscent of ketchup and a good hint of garlic. It is garnished with a little bit of chopped spring onion. This is a bit sweet, so you may want to choose this wearily; whenever we order the staff tend to tell us that it is meant for kids! This is how we ended up trying the Schezwan sauce in the first place. 
The choice of sauces is a bit unbalanced as one is pretty spicy and the other is pretty much sweet.

Sizzler

As the name suggests, the sizzler comes on a sizzler plate with a portion of noodle topped with momos prepared to your choice. The noodle is actually pretty good just like real Hakka noodle should be, and the momos as described above. It would make a decent meal thanks to the addition of the noodle, making it one of the few dishes you can actually order for a meal instead of an appetizer or snack. Of course, it looks interesting when it is served to you, all steamy and sizzling! It is reasonably filling too we should say. 

This is a nice place to have a light snack in a decent food court/restaurant setting and their momos are pretty good. We come here every once in a while. The steamed ones have decent flavour and can be considered a healthy option. The Pan fried ones may be a little too Indianized and the sauces are on two ends of the scale but altogether, a worthwhile place if you like momos and want to sample different types; of which they have a commendable variety. Not horrifically overpriced for the non veg options, though I can't say the same about the veg ones but then again, you get a restaurant setting [unless you are in LuLu] so the poor value for money is to be expected. Recommended for those who like momos, or are adventurous about trying new foods, or of course: both!!!


Type of Cuisine: Momos, Chinese [Indo-Chinese]
Locations

Food Court on Third Floor, LuLu Mall, Edappally.

Emir Plaza, Kaloor Kadavanthra Road.

Food Court, Centre Square Mall, MG Road.

Parking: Mall parking at LuLu (chargeable) is fine except on very busy days and weekends. Other outlets have some parking space in front. 

Ambience: Typical mall ambience, love it or hate it! The restaurant ones are quieter.

Service: Good.

What we liked/Recommended for:

Plenty of variety of momos. Have alternate dishes too.

Potential Shortcomings: 

• Sauces for pan fried momos are unbalanced. 
• Momos tend to be expensive for the quantity provided even considering the restaurant setting. 
• Taste is average to good. 

Taxes: Included in price, no fat tax applicable.
Phone Number: +91 484 4064888
On Zomato:
     

Have you been to WOW momos? What did you have? Please share your experience in the comments below!