Mangoes Take Centre Stage at Manam Chocolate’s Summer Somewhere Festival

Titled ‘A Summer Somewhere’, the Summer Edition 2026 runs from May 15 to July 15 and carries the warmth of childhood through desserts, beverages and flavours that instantly feel familiar. Speaking about the menu, head chef Ruby Islam said, “It really went back to nostalgia and think of months between school or college with summer camp or open courtyards or the beach side lounges. That really was the memory of this particular menu.”

The menu took nearly three weeks of trials, tasting sessions and iterations before it reached its final form. But the result feels deeply personal. Every dessert seems to begin with a memory before turning into something contemporary.

Ruby speaks about growing up with ice cream sandwiches from summer camps, orange cream biscuits, bakery-style honey cakes and family tables where mangoes were cut and shared after meals. Those references appear throughout the menu. There are mango citrus ice cream sandwiches layered with orange zest and black poppy seed cookies, cherry vanilla combinations inspired by celebratory Black Forest cakes, and a pineapple coconut lamington that instantly reminds you of old bakery counters and homemade cream cakes.

“Amras was an essential at home,” Ruby recalled. “Whether you would eat it or whether you would cut a mango fruit, the remaining would always go into straining and keeping in a box at home. We would have it with pooris, I would have it for breakfast, some of us would put it over a gelato, some of us would make a shake out of it.”

That memory now becomes the backbone of the beverage menu. One drink pairs fresh Himayat mango with jasmine infused milk and oat milk chocolate foam, bringing together the fragrance of jasmine flowers that filled homes during summer evenings. Another combines mango, pink guava, chilli and dark chocolate, balancing sweetness with heat in a way that feels unmistakably Indian.

The menu also celebrates Hyderabad’s closeness to mango-growing regions. Himayat and Banganapalli mangoes sourced directly from farmers across Andhra Pradesh and Telangana find their way into tarts, sundaes and milkshakes. The mango custard tart, layered with almond frangipane and cream, carries the comfort of bakery-style fruit tarts many grew up eating. The mango sundae arrives loaded with chunks of fruit, coconut sponge, vanilla cake and pineapple elements that keep the sweetness balanced rather than overwhelming.

At the heart of it all is Manam’s understanding of chocolate, which never disappears even in a mango-forward menu. Kokum paired with dark chocolate, oat milk chocolate shots folded into drinks, and carefully balanced acidity keep the desserts light enough for Hyderabad’s long summer afternoons.

There is also a thoughtful shift towards lighter, more drinkable formats. Many beverages are vegan, several can be customised for guests looking for lower sugar options, and the textures stay easy on the palate. Even with indulgent desserts like the mango tres leches, the sweetness never feels excessive.

The nostalgia is not limited to one city either. Conversations around the table move naturally from Kolkata’s custard tarts to Bangalore’s Iyengar Bakery honey cakes and Bombay’s old-school wafer ice cream sandwiches. Somehow, the menu makes space for all of those memories.

That perhaps is what makes ‘A Summer Somewhere’ at Manam chocolate work so well. It definitely doesn’t try to reinvent the mango season. Instead, it reminds people why they fell in love with it in the first place. And in a city where summer stretches well into July, Hyderabadis now have another reason to hold onto mango season a little longer.