Mango Cafe has gone through new ownership and now called Mango Caribbean. I was a bit worried about the food since I fancied Mango Cafe. It's been a long time since I've been so I recruited some friends to partake in the Caribbean feast. It wasn't hard to convince my friends considering Thursday nights has a $2 Red Stripe happy hour between 4-10PM.
I found parking easily in the front and you can also look in the adjacent parking lot. We arrived a little after 7 and there were a couple of tables occupied. Mellow reggae music over the airs and even more easy going waitress. We sat down, ordered some drinks and enjoyed the atmosphere. With island artwork on the walls, vibrant colors, I feel as I'm eating in the Caribbean. With a tiki bar and an upgraded VIP room, the recent additions have made Mango Caribbean a better place.
We browsed the menu and settled for red stripes, jerk joints, and my main dish was Reggae Platter. Although the service is laid back, food was delivered in a short amount of time.
aruba (jerk joints) - drummettes seasoned hot with meat practically falling off the bone. For people sensitive to heat, watch out, this one will have you sweating. It's spicy and induced with heaps of regional flavors. Very good.(picture #5)
reggae platteer - jerk chicken, red beans and rice, and steamed veggies. There was a couple sitting next to us and the guy carried a container of habenero pepper shaker. For starters, I find it odd this guy carries 2 types of haberneo pepper to restaurants. He's my hero. Number 2, as if the jerk chicken wasn't spicy enough, this pepper mix brought it to the next level of hotness. The jerk chicken was pretty much the same as the jerk joints with the same seasoning...meaning I liked it. The red beans and rice was a good addition to the meal but found some of the rice on the dry side. (picture #6)
Everyone at the table was in complete agreement, we loved the food. The spice, tender meats, respectable prices, and colorful atmosphere made dinner enjoyable. Dinner came out to about $20 each. Our waitress was a sweetie and even the manager appeared to be a personable guy. We watched him give a free drink to a stranded motorist. What's more to say? Mango Caribbean is a class act and serves spicy goodness.
I think I had recommended the old Mango Cafe to Jason a while back. Recently, I was told by some of my friends that the place is under new ownership and looks fantastic. I had dinner just couple weeks back for a friend's birthday at the new Mango Carribean.
The place really does look much nicer. Earlier it just had a whole bunch of Bob Marley and other Reggae artist posters on the all. Now, it has a lot of local art from Jamaica. There's a fishnet hanging from the ceiling with some fake fish in there. They also have live steel drums on Saturdays.
We ordered some jerked joints and a bbq shrimp-like dish for appetizers. The jerked joints (chicken drummetes seasoned in spicy jerk seasoning) is some of the best chicken I have ever eaten in my life. It's falling-off-the-bone tender. And tasty! You need to make sure you have a beer or some other cold beverage while you enjoy these cause they are SPICY. The shrimp was good too though I didnt each much of it cause I was busy with the jerked chicken.
For dinner, I ordered curry goat over rice. It's now called Mi Good. I like it that they have fancy fun names for their dishes. This was the reason for my visits to the erstwhile Mango Cafe and I was totally looking forward to this dish. It comes with goat curry, rice and steamed vegetables. I had asked the waitress to make it spicy. A sort of a bring-it-on challenge. She said the chefs love people like me. This thing is mighty spicy. Very tasty too. The vegetables were amazing. Granted they were just steamed veggies but they had this flavor that you get when you use some herbs/spices to flavor the steam that steams the vegetables. I loved them. My only gripe about the goat curry is that it was not boneless. Mango Cafe used to have it boneless and it used to be shredded goat meat. Easier to eat in my opinion. I am not sure if that's how the authentic goat curry in jamaica is supposed to be like. But I would really like to see a boneless goat curry. The curry chicken was boneless so I am not sure why the goat isnt.
A new thing that I tried on this visit was Red Stripe+Jamaican Kola Champagne. This champagne is non-alcoholic and apparently this is a popular drink in jamaica. You mix it 1:1 and enjoy. I found out from one of the friends I was eating with who had just come back from a vacation in Jamaica.
I will keep going here again. Next time though, I am going to ask them why they dont have boneless goat curry. Possibly on the Thursday night happy hours to score some 2$ Red Stripe!
Reviewer: wchane
Total Reviews: 141
Reviewed: 2/22/2007
Rating: 8
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Be warned - The portions are deceiving. I didn't finish my plate and left absolutely stuffed.
Three of us somehow ended up at this off the beaten path treasure. As you enter it had that island vibe, although more jamacian then caribbean. We were immediatly seated and water was brought out before we knew it. I went with the raggae plate ($12 - Jerked Chicken, Rice w/Red Bean, and Steamed Veggies) and a Red Stripe. Total on my part was about $20
The jerk chicken was delicious at first; moist, crusty, slightly shredded. I didn't think it was spicy at all, so I added some of their hot salsa, that stuff is GOOD, next thing you know I realized the chicken itself had spices. There were subtle enough that they grew on you through the meal until I was drinking water like a camel. I couldn't finish all of it...there was quite a bit of chicken.
The rice is very good, not at all what I expected. It's more of a sticky rice with red beans simmered with the grains. Delicious.
The veggies was something else, I thought it was a salad at first and promptly burned my mouth. It's a mix of steamed zucchini, white onions and carrots, which I mistook for a cucumber vinegrette salad for some reason. Also tasty, and not bland like I expected.
The food was good, not fantastic and nothing really to rave about but just plain good. What did set this restaurant apart was the Hamilton Rd location, and the Excellent service. Our waitress was more then attentive, joked and laughed with us and full of suggestions. I'd dine here again if the oppertunity presents itself.
