I’ve been hearing raves from my friends about Mango Tree Bistro in Trinoma and I was already planning to visit the restaurant in the coming weeks when I got an invite to their soft opening at their branch in Greenbelt 5 last September 6. Unfortunately, my schedule for that day was pretty loaded and so I had to decline, much to my dismay. Weeks after, I got an invite again for dinner at Mango Tree Bistro. Luckily, I got a clear schedule, so I was able to attend the dinner last Wednesday, September 21, 2011.
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| Mango Tree Bistro Greenbelt 5 |
It was one of the most unique experiences I had so far because while I was expecting to see familiar faces of my fellow food bloggers, I wasn’t aware that I’ll be spending the dinner with gorgeous fashion bloggers.
My friend D and I were the first to arrive at the location so we just waited for other guests. While we were perusing the menu on iPad, a bunch of fashion bloggers came in and everything was set for the dinner to start.
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| Menu on iPad |
At first I was a bit hesitant that I may have attended a wrong event, but everyone was very welcoming and warm that I feel at ease right away. A couple of minutes more, fellow food blogger Abet and his lovely wife of The Food Alphabet arrived which made me feel all the more at ease knowing that I have a fellow food blogger at the event.
First dish that was served was the Som Tum Thai. It’s a classic fresh spicy Thai green papaya salad with dried shrimps, peanuts, tomatoes, and yum sauce. I love that there’s just the right amount of spiciness in this salad that it does not overpowers the saltiness of the dried shrimp and all the other components of the dish. The refreshing taste of the green papaya in my palate with a kick of spiciness is what I love about it.
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| Som Tum Thai |
Tom Yum Goong is a spicy and sour soup with mushroom, shrimps kaffir, lemongrass, galanggai, and fresh herbs. My friend D enjoyed this dish a lot. Perfect balance between the sourness and the spiciness is apparent. The shrimp kaffir and the mushroom are perfect combination which makes the dish more filling.
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| Tom Yum Goong |
Thod Mun Gong is a deep fried fresh shrimp cakes with sweet chili dip. Downright simple, yet it’s one of the best tasting Thod Mun Gong I’ve ever tasted. I love that there’s still a little juiciness when you bite into it, which screams shrimp in your face.
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| Thod Mun Gong |
Talay Prik Thai Dum is stir fried seafood with black pepper sauce. This is also another favorite. I love the smokey, sort of like barbecue taste in the sauce. Plus the seafood are all tender to the bite and seasoned well. I’ll definitely go back to Mango Tree Bistro for this.
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| Talai Prik Thai Dum |
Phad Thai Jay, stir fried noodles with bean sprouts, egg tofu, peanuts, and chives. According to my friend D, it’s the best tasting Phad Thai he ever tasted yet, considering he’s probably tried the best Thai restaurant here in the country, it was a remark I couldn’t just ignore. I agree with him, anyway. I love the perfect combination of flavors as nothing is too over powering to the palate.
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| Phad Thai Jay |
Panang Nua is a Penang style red curry with beef and kaffir lime leaves. I am big when it comes to curry, it’s one of those dishes I would definitely think of in my death bed. I am hard to please when it comes to curry dishes, but Mango Tree Bistro was able to do that. The tender thin slices of beef were perfectly cooked and every strand screams flavors. I love how the kafir lime leaves flavor were very apparent, giving it a certain kick that leaves you wanting for more. Pour the sauce over the hot steamed Jasmine rice and you’re good to go.
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| Panang Nua |
Grai Ta Krai yang is Mango Tree’s signature lemongrass chicken with Northeastern Thai dipping sauce. While the lemongrass chicken was already common for me in terms of taste, the Northeastern Thai dipping sauce made all the difference. I mean really big difference. We were told that they get their sauces fresh from Thailand, no wonder I haven’t tasted anything as good as this before in any other Thai resto I have tried.
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| Grai Ta Krai |
For the dessert we had Khao Niew Mamuang. It’s imported fragrant Jasmine rice with coconut cream sauce and mangoes. This reminds me of our local Suman na Malagkit. I grew up in Antipolo where Suman are bounty, so this dessert reminds me of childhood memory.
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| Khao Niew Mamuang |
Any Thai restaurant visit wouldn’t be complete for me without having Thai Milk Tea, since I am addicted to it. My friend Chris raves about Mango Tree’s Thai Milk Tea and after having tasted it, I already know why.
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| Thai Milk Tea |
It was a fun dinner and meeting fellow bloggers although of different niche was definitely a plus. The fashion bloggers were all nice and friendly. I was seated amidst of them, and upon knowing that I am a food blogger, they were very patient in waiting for me to finish taking photos before eating the dishes that were served, wonderful people!
Fashion bloggers spotted were Tracy Ayson, Camille Co, Lissa Kahayon, Ana Gonzales, Sarah Tirona, Vern Enciso, Aisa Ipac, Aie Corpuz, Bjorn Bedayo, Keigh Jalbuena, and Krissy Cruz. (photos of fashion bloggers credits to Ana Gonzales of The Fashionista Commuter Thanks a lot dear!)
Aside from wonderful dishes that they offer, Mango Tree Bistro’s modern interiors and decorations are one of their strong points. Perfect not just for simple dining get together, but for fun night out with friends as well. They have branches in Dubai, Macao, Tokyo, London, Kuching, Busan and Manila.
If you are into authentic Thai food and if you dig cosmopolitan dining experience, Mango Tree Bistro is definitely one of the restaurants you should try.
Mango Tree Bistro Manila is located at the Level 3 of Trinoma Mall (beside Power Books and across CBTL) and at the ground floor in Greenbelt 5 (beside Mr.Jones). Contact number is Tel # (02) 5855460.
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