Mango Tree London; A Taste of Thailand

Probably the most exciting email I’ve received in the Healthy Twenties inbox to date was an invitation to a complimentary dinner for two at Mango Tree restaurant in Belgravia. I’ll admit, Belgravia isn’t an area of London that I usually find myself in, what with it being one of the wealthiest districts, but I was keen to see what food it had to offer.

Mango Tree originated in Bangkok and offers traditional based yet innovative Thai flavours to its London visitors. We arrived at the restaurant at 6pm after a long day in London and were quickly shown to our seats. I have to mention that the staff had reserved a window seat especially for us because you know, natural lighting, and that made me very happy. I wish more restaurants had a specified ‘blogger’ seat!

Having never been to a Thai restaurant before, I was little overwhelmed at the choice (and names) of dishes on offer and really had no idea where to start. Our wonderful waitress Ester must have noticed the perplexed look on mine and Bobby’s faces because she was over within seconds to talk us through the menu. Based on her recommendations we ordered the signature Mango Tree sharing platter to start, a traditional coconut milk soup and classic north-eastern Larb Gai E-Sarn salad (spicy minced chicken) for second course, and Gaeng Phed Ped Yang Pon Lai Mai (a red curry served in a pineapple) and Pad Thai Goong Yai (stir fried noodles) for main course. If you want to have a look at the menu for yourself, you can view it here.

Whilst we waited for our starter to arrive, we munched on some complementary prawn crackers and I had a chance to take some photos of the gorgeous interior. I hope my photos do it justice!

What date night would be complete without a couple of cocktails? I enjoyed the ‘Blooming Hibiscus’ made of gin, hibiscus syrup, lychee juice and fresh lime while my boyfriend decided on the champagne cocktail; ‘Mango Tree Fizz’. I have to say, the cocktails on their own were some of the most beautiful cocktails I’ve ever had! I quickly realised throughout the evening, that the Mango Tree’s attention to detail is just impeccable.

I’m not going to go into too much detail about the food itself because I’d just be repeating the same thing over and over again. As always with my reviews I want to be as open and honest as possible but I genuinely can’t fault Mango Tree’s food. It was one of the most delicious meals I’ve ever had and I’m 99.9% sure my boyfriend would agree.

If you’ve seen my Instagram, you’ll know I’m a sucker for presentation. I can confirm that every single dish tasted even better than it looked. And can I just reiterate, my curry came in a frickin pineapple!?

I think it’s a well-known fact that there’s always room for dessert and despite being very full we ordered the chocolate sphere with caramel sauce to share; the perfect end to a phenomenal meal. (I’m running out of adjectives here to describe the food but it was just bloody brilliant).

For a special occasion, the quality of the food is 100% worth the higher price and the portion sizes do not disappoint. Writing this post has just made me want to eat here again and again and I will definitely be paying Mango Tree another visit in the future. And, as for my first experience of Thai food? Incredible.

I want to say a huge thank you to Ester and Set for being extremely attentive throughout the evening. The service they provided was amazing!

Have you ever had Thai food? What’s your favourite dish?