A surprise email from a friend this Monday led to a dinner at Mango Tree which is one of my favourite Thai restaurants. Although I hate the fact that the hostess says on the phone 'your table is booked from 6.45 to 8.45' as if we're on a flight or something, the food is normally absolutely delicious and served with lots to spare.
The place is as I described last time: Busy, a bit packed in, lots of waiters running around, quick service and quicker turnaround. There's dark wood tables, one very huge very high-ceilinged room and it does get quite noisy.
We learned from our last visit - the desserts are not so brilliant - and ordered starters and mains this time. Although with the extensive menu, it was very hard to choose between the frankly mouthwatering options!
Starters:
- Yum Makuer Yau - Spicy grilled aubergine salad with crispy shallots
- Satay Nuer Luam Mid - Mixed skewers of chicken, lamb and beef served with satay peanut sauce
Mains:
- Gaeng Kiew Wan Gai - Green curry with corn fed chicken
- Nuer Pad Nam Man Hoi - Stir fried sirloin beef fillet with ginger, garlic and spicy soy sauce
- Pad Thai Jay - Stir fried Thai rice noodles in house spicy sauce served with
Chinese chives, peanuts and bean sprouts
- Sticky rice (very very sticky!)
The food was of mixed quality. The spicy grilled aubergine salad was actually more like aubergine with onions and beansprouts on top. It was horribly slimy and I couldn't eat it - Both of us left it after a couple of bites. The satay however was scrummy and the meat was lovely, hot and tasty. The satay wasn't overpowering and with the skewers of meat and the dipping sauce, it meant you could have as much or as little as you'd like.
I really wanted to like the mains. Really. But the meat tasted a bit old, especially the beef. It tasted of that smell you get when it's on the turn and once I recognised what the unusual taste was, I couldn't eat any more of it. It was a shame as it looked beautiful and the onions and red peppers were lovely and the sauce was also very tasty. The chicken curry was spicy and hot, exactly as it had been last time and the pad thai jay - My friend Fliss will tell you that I was a little bit in love with it the first time and this time was no different. Light, gorgeous flavour and more importantly - Huge portions! Next time I'm having chicken pad thai and avoiding the disappointment!
So not as good a trip this time although my strawberry bellini was pretty gorgeous and the pad thai jay was still perfection. We didn't have the dodgy desserts this time but the shouty atmosphere and the old meat made it a not brilliant trip. No tip!
Damage: £45 for two of us inc. a gin & tonic and a bellini (drinks came to £20). You could eat there for under £30 easily with either toptable's 50% off or a tastelondon card.
Vitals
Mango Tree
46 Grosvenor Place, London, SW1X 7EQ
Tel: 020 7823 1888
Website: http://www.mangotree.org.uk/index.php
Toptable listing: http://www.toptable.com/en-gb/venue/?id=1313
Nearest tube: Victoria
No comments:
Post a Comment