Madly Indian Mangawhai is an Indian restaurant on Wood Street serving a full menu of tandoor-cooked starters, classic and regional curries, vegetarian dishes, biryani and fresh naan breads. Chicken, lamb and seafood each get an extensive curry list, from Butter Chicken and Chicken Korma to Lamb Rogan Josh, Chicken Madras, Fish Malabari and Dehradun-style prawn and fish dishes.
Every main course can be ordered mild, medium, hot or extreme hot, and all mains come with complimentary basmati rice. The breads are made in the tandoor — plain, butter, garlic and cheese naans, keema and stuffed naan, Peshawari naan, roti and paratha — while appetisers like Vegetable Samosa, Onion Bhaji and Pakora come served with tamarind dressing.
The vegetarian section is a real highlight, with eight paneer preparations plus Malai Kofta, Chana Masala, Aloo Gobi and a Punjabi-style Daal Makhani finished with butter. Whether you want a familiar butter chicken and garlic naan or something further down the menu, adjustable spice levels and platters for two make it an easy place to share a meal.
Madly Indian Mangawhai brings the full breadth of an Indian restaurant menu to Wood Street in Mangawhai — tandoor-cooked starters, an extensive list of curries across chicken, lamb and seafood, a dedicated vegetarian section, three biryanis, and naan breads made to order in the clay oven. Classic curry-house favourites sit alongside regional styles from Goa, South India and North India, and every main is cooked to your chosen heat level.
If the menu has a centrepiece, it is the tandoor. Tandoori Chicken — billed on the menu as Madly Indian's specialty entree — is marinated in yoghurt and spices before being cooked in the clay oven, then served with fresh cabbage and mint dressing. Chicken Tikka comes off the same oven, four succulent morsels per serve, while Seekh Kabab rolls lightly spiced lamb mince onto skewers for a roast in the tandoor.
Vegetarians have their own starting points in the Vegetable Samosa, Onion Bhaji and Pakora, all deep fried and served with tamarind dressing. For shared tables there are two platters for two — one fully vegetarian with samosa, onion bhaji and pakora, the other mixing chicken tikka, seekh kabab, samosa and pakora, both with mint and tamarind dressings.
The tandoor also drives the breads section. Naan arrives plain or coated in butter, and can be stuffed with garlic, cheddar cheese, garlic and cheese together, spiced lamb mince (keema), a potato and pea filling, or dry fruits and cherries in the Peshawari style. Roti and a flaky, butter-enriched paratha suit those who prefer a flatter bread, and the paneer kulcha hides cottage cheese and coriander inside. The cheese naan, the menu notes, is a hot favourite with kids.
The main courses run long and cover a lot of ground. Butter Chicken uses boneless chicken marinated overnight, smoked in the tandoor and finished in a delicate butter and tomato gravy. Chicken Korma builds its flavour on ground cashew nut and cream, while Chicken Tikka Masala simmers tandoor-grilled chicken in a tomato and onion sauce laced with aromatic spices.
Regional styles get a look in, too. Chicken Chettinad leans on black pepper, ginger and garlic; Chicken Madras is a traditional South Indian dish built on coconut cream; and the Vindaloo — in both chicken and lamb — is a speciality from Goa made with a special vindaloo paste. Lamb has a full parallel list of its own: Rogan Josh from North India, Lamb Nawabi garnished with cashew nut, plus Madras, Saag, Korma, Curry, Do Pyaza and Dehradun preparations.
Seafood gets its own section, pairing prawn cutlets and fish fillets with the same curry families — Butter Prawn, Prawn Malabari cooked in coconut cream with capsicum and onion, Fish Masala simmered in tomato and onion sauce, and Dehradun-style dishes cooked with vegetables in an onion gravy.
The vegetarian list is one of the longest parts of the menu. Eight paneer preparations range from Paneer Makhani in butter tomato gravy to Kadhai Paneer and Paneer Chettinad, and beyond the cheese there is Malai Kofta — croquettes of cottage cheese, potato and raisin in cashew sauce — Chana Masala, Aloo Gobi, Saag Aloo, Mix Vegetable, Garlic Dal Tadka and a Punjabi-style Daal Makhani finished with butter.
Heat is a choice rather than a default: every main can be ordered mild, medium, hot or extreme hot, and each one comes with complimentary basmati rice. If rice alone will not cut it, there are vegetable, chicken and lamb biryanis, a peas pulao, and an accompaniments tray of raita, mint dressing, tamarind chutney, mixed pickle, mango chutney and papadum. A sweet mango lassi is the listed drink for cooling things down.
This is food built for a shared table: a platter to start, two or three curries at different heat levels, bread to mop the gravy, rice on the side. The breadth of spice options makes it an easy pick for families and mixed groups — cautious eaters can keep things mild while chilli enthusiasts push to extreme hot — and the length of the vegetarian list means no one is left with a single option.
Two dishes sit under the Special heading: a Chilly Chicken and a Cheese Chilly, both listed without further description, so it is worth asking what is in them on the night. Otherwise, the menu tells you everything you need — whether you are after the familiar comfort of butter chicken and garlic naan, or something further along like Fish Malabari or Lamb Dehradun, the kitchen covers a wide map of Indian cooking from one small Mangawhai address.