Mango Tree Thai Restaurant Review

mango tree starter platter for 2

I talk a lot about chocolate but as the name of this blog implies, I am not solely interested in chocolate. I fact, I generally consider my beat to be chocolate, desserts, spirits & cocktails, wine and confectionery. I rarely foray into the world of food blogging. Why? Well, while I have always had a passionate interest in chocolate, I didn’t want to try and be all things to all people so I restricted my beat and let others do genera food but sometimes \I get the chance to go for a really posh meal and since I love to share, I end up blogging it 😉

In the case of Mango Tree Thai food, I was lured there by a friend on the promise of an interesting take on Thai food and the fact the other branch was in Harrods. What I didn’t know at the time, but made me sort of fall in love with the place is that apparently the head chef is an 80 year old Thai woman who still does a lot of cooking herself. What’s not to love when it is your (or someone’s) grandma cooking your meal??

We started with a cocktail. I chose a mojito created with genuine Thai rum (at least, I think it was – at times I had trouble hearing because of my cold) and it was absolutely lovely. The price was spot on for this area of London and the blending was particularly well done, meaning none of the constituent ingredients particularly shone above others.

mango tree pad thai

We next opted for the sharing platter which seemed the best way to try everything without the cost of ordering one of everything (it was complimentary but we were trying to think like people going for dinner). There are 2 of everything but the salad (which was a shame as it was surprisingly good!) and sauce to share. Almost everything was delicately flavoured and well balanced but we were slightly let down by the spring rolls. They had a slightly thicker pastry surround and the filling was blandly flavoured. Shame but learn from my experience and avoid the spring rolls or the shrimp rolls 😉

mango tree fish dish

We had a really nice wine recommended by our waiter which we had throughout the meal. I’m not sure I’d usually go for wine with Thai but their recommended wine was a really nice counterpoint to some of the warmth in the food.

The main dishes we chose were a Pad Thai with Chicken and a fish dish with a side of tied greens including asparagus and broccoli. The Pad Thai came with a net of egg. This net of egg was created with scrambled eggs that were quickly drizzled over an extremely hot pan. I cannot imagine the skill required to do this and to have it on a main dish was extra special. I liked the balance of the flavours in the Pad Thai. I am extremely picky and this got my Pad Thai Judith likes Seal of Approval! As a chocolate reviewer I’m just so picky about flavours and when I review food I can be extremely harsh about the flavour combinations, some of which I feel at times were created by amateurs but this was extremely well done. Go grandma! YOU ROCK!

mango tree mango brulee

The fish though – wow. I’m not big on fish as it tends to rely on the flavouring of the added sauces to give it any taste. This was brilliantly flavoured combining subtle flavours with a touch of flare (not spicy). I found the balance to again be spot on and would go back again for just this dish or just the pad Thai

For dessert I opted for the mango crème brulee and it was surprisingly amazing. It was almost like a sharply tangy mango yogurt but a really thick one with a sweet sugar crust meaning you get the interplay of the two flavours.

Overall I liked it but watch what you order. Our bill was £145 for 2 people