Thursday, September 25, 2008

The Mango Tree, Belgravia

A celebratory meal was in order and a friend and I chose The Mango Tree as our destination.  We booked the day before and, despite it being a very big restaurant, I was glad we did because it was packed and there were people waiting.

The atmosphere was really buzzy but not too noisy and the sleek interior is smart but not so smart that it's formal.  In short, I liked it.  We had an offer with Toptable and so we felt we could order without worrying about prices.

To begin we ordered the kong wang luam mid, which is an assorted platter for two, featuring chicken and beef satay, shrimp cakes, fish cakes, vegetable spring rolls and a papaya salad.  It was really delicious, the meat was juicy and flavoursome, the spring rolls not greasy (my bugbear) and the fishcakes had a good spicy tang.  The salad was fresh although it's a hard one to share, I find.  My main course was so so good - a panang curry with lamb shank which was so beautifully tender it literally fell off the bone.  Charlotte's yellow curry with monkfish and butterfish was full of big chunks of lovely fish. 

The service was attentive and friendly.  The house wine was very good.
My only reservation would be that without a discount it would be quite expensive and the wine list begins at about £20, so potentially, not a cheap night.

Two courses and half a bottle of wine: £35 per head (without Toptable discount)

Value: 7/10

Service: 8/10

Atmosphere: 9/10

Food: 8/10

SCORE: 32/40

The Mango Tree, 46 Grosvenor Place, London, SW1X 7EQ.  Tel: 020 78231888.

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