Mangoes for the summer menu? Groundbreaking.
Every year, restaurants surrender to the king of fruits in this season. There is mango sushi, mango burrata salad, mango matcha, mango curry, mango salsa, and mango cheesecake, among many other things.
Mangoes deserve this elite spot on the menu. They define the Indian summer. But somewhere between mango matcha lattes and mango-salsas, restaurants forgot one important thing: there are other fruits in the basket.
Spotting mango-centric dishes on every single summer menu has become painfully predictable. It’s about time chefs started taking risks beyond the obvious.
We have a goldmine of ingredients that scream Indian summers. There is kokum, falsa, jamun, muskmelon, cucumber, vetiver, jasmine, lychee, phalsa, palm fruit, tamarind, guava and the list goes on.
Seasonal menus should feel exciting, exploratory, and even a little surprising. But lately, they have become very safe. Chefs today have access to hyperlocal produce, regional inspiration, and diners who are far more adventurous than before. So why does every summer menu still feel trapped in the same mango loop?
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More than mango
Now, a seasonal menu should capture the mood of summer, not just its most marketable fruit. Summer is floral, smoky, tangy, cooling, sharp, juicy, and chaotic all at once. It’s the smell of jasmine in the evening, the comfort of chilled kokum sherbet after stepping out in brutal heat, the crunch of salt on guava slices, and the earthy sweetness of muskmelon eaten cold from the fridge. Mango can absolutely remain the star of the show, but it shouldn’t be the entire cast.
That said, all hope is not lost. At Manam Chocolate, a cafe in Malviya Nagar, Delhi, for instance, ingredients like jasmine, guava, and kokum have found their way into a playful beverage menu. Their Kokum Iced Chocolate pairs a tart house-made kokum brew with rich 60 percent dark chocolate. The Guava Chilli Iced Chocolate brings together guava, chilli, mango, and dark chocolate, while the Mango Jasmine Iced Chocolate layers ripe mango and oat milk chocolate with delicate floral notes of jasmine. Even their Guava Chilli Soft Serve taps into nostalgia, inspired by the familiar street-side ritual of guava slices dusted with chilli powder and salt.
Meanwhile, HOSA Restaurant & Bar in Gurugram is leaning into lighter South Indian flavours with dishes like sweet potato sago paniyaram, thairu vada, naranga chicken Hosa benne, and gassi with neer dosa, meals that foreground coconut without feeling too heavy. Latoýa in Delhi’s Malviya Nagar is experimenting with cocktail slushies infused with tamarind, passion fruit, coconut, watermelon, and yuzu, while Chor Bizarre in Bikaner House has put together one of the most refreshing seasonal spreads around, featuring litchi salad, peach and mango salad, gondhoraj mahi tikka, and gulkand paneer tikka. The mains travel through coastal and North Indian flavours with dishes like Malvani fish curry, mangshor malai curry, and kathal kofta pukhtan.
Unfortunately, these are some handful examples. Most restaurants continue to lean on the comfort of predictable mango-led menus, barely scratching the surface of what Indian summers truly have to offer. I wonder what it will take for more chefs to finally tap into the giant Indian pantry sitting right in front of them.
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