Whirlers,
So me and a dear friend (ignore her man-ly hands in some of the photos, they were too big to crop out of the photos :p) went to eat at The Mango Tree in Grosvenor Gardens, London (closet tube was Victoria and a short 3 minute walk from the Station). I thought I`d share my experience with you, Whirlers, obviously with photos :p
(click on photos to enlarge)
I`ve heard of this restaurant and had been wanting to try it out for a while, as I had heard such good reviews from friends, "celebrities" and newspaper reviews, alike. The cuisine is Thai, which I enjoy and the meat is halal, all thumbs up, so far! I randomly came across an offer that had 50% off the a la Carte Menu, which available was through toptable. Do join and check out their other special offers on their site because they are pretty good! It was a simple process of selecting a table for 2, at a set time, with an email confirmation sent to your email address all done within 2 minutes.
You would have to ensure you are able to make the reservation as there is a £20 charge per head if you miss the reservation, so reserve carefully. Also, there is a 2-hour turnaround for the table, which in effect means, you have two hours to eat your food, wash your hands, pay the bill and leave. I like this policy because if you`re hungry, you know you`ll get your food within good time and won`t have to wait around!
We were pretty happy when we saw they had a mocktails menu, the two that are circled/squiggled/clouded are the ones we chose. Virgin Mojito was for myself and the Exotic Pago was chosen by Man-ly (lol).
This is how they were presented to us. Yay. We all love it when mocktails come in pretty shape glasses, with fruit stuck on the edge, right? Only an umbrella was missing!
One thing, I wasn`t very fond of in regards to the mocktails, however, was the price. At £6.85, I personally think this is pretty dear, so what is essentially a mixture of fruit juices, no? The maximum I usually spend on a mocktail would be £5, but even then, I`m quite reluctant...
Oh, also, the Exotic Pago was the nicest out of the two. It was nice and sweet, which we were surprised about as it had such a large combination of flavours! They didn`t put enough brown sugar in the Virgin Mojito, so I was disappointed with that.
Me posing away with my mocktail...any chance to pose, eh?
(Ignore my man-ly hands, too now that I think about it!)
The starters: Chicken Satay and Gai Hor Bai Toey
I adore Chicken Satay! Its my favourite dish so I always order it whenever I go to a Thai restaurant, and I was not disappointed with this one. The peanut sauce was perfect, too! My friend ordered the Gai Hor Bai Toey, this was pretty standard chicken boiled in spicy sauce and wrapped in a leaf. Nothing too exciting. I won the starter round for best choice. Haha.
Main Course: Gai Pad Med Mamuang and Chicken Chilli Basil
My friend had the Gai Pad Med Mamuang, which also had cashew nuts, but she requested it be taken out. I made her keep the mushrooms though, which I had. Her dish was mild, but really nice. The mushrooms were fresh and nicely cooked. The dish was put in a pastry sheet, so the sauce made it soft, but the top was still crispy, so the combination of textures was really nice.
I had the bottom dish, the Chicken Chilli Basil, which was really spicy! It was covered in chilli's, which was disappointing, because it was basically a dish filled with chilli's...I didn`t want to eat chilli's for an entire meal? So, I just had the chicken and sauce, which was nice and spicy though - which I love.
2 - 1 to the friend -______________-
How do you feel about having an automatic 12.5% gratuity added to your bill? I personally hate it! I know its not compulsory to pay the gratuity, but it is just so awkward, when they take the bill and money and realise we didn`t pay it. And, 10% is more than enough to give for services, and that is coming from someone who has been a waitress from the age of 13!
My feedback.
Would I go back? Yes, but only on a special offer basis, maybe next time the chef special offer, as there was more choice of dishes under that offer. But, they also accept the tastecard on weekdays, which is great - as I have one! And, I will most definitely be ordering the Exotic Pago. And, I probably won`t pay the 12.5% next time...10%, most likely.
What do you think of my review? Have you eaten there? How do you feel about 12.5% added automatically to your bill??
xo
