Whoa Wednesday @ Mango Tree Thai Bistro JBR

We’ve never been to the Souk Al Bahar branch when it was there. Have you? How was it? Happy that we finally tried the Mango Tree Thai Bistro, newly opened in The Hilton – situated on Plaza Level JBR just last night with mum. Date night without the munchkins 🙂 Then as we walked in, I saw a little play area set up at the far end – which started the ‘Awww, wish we brought them…….’ discussion. That lasted about 2 minutes. C’mon, it’s nice to go out every once inawhile without the little ones, right? 🙂

So, how was Mango Tree Thai Bistro?

We were there to review the ‘Whoa Wednesday’ deal – 99AED per person for unlimited dishes of Thai Street Food. As an overall, we had a good night in. The decor, the ambience – beautiful, it did make me feel like I was in one of those upmarket restaurants in Koh Phi Phi. Minus the mosquitoes. They had a bar area with fairy lights which I would love to return with the husband and friends. Only downside is – that’s the smoking area. The outdoor terrace where we sat – you had tables to the front and back of you only as it was a narrow terrace – so it still felt quite private.

Food? Starters came – a good combination of flavours – the hot and sour chicken bites , we both loved. Before you fill yourself with all that protein, try the Green Papaya Salad. There’s a Chinese phrase for dishes like these, it’s called ‘open appetite’ – just the right sour and spiciness to kickstart your tastebuds. The prawn salad was a surprise – a very spicy surprise. Make sure you have your cocktails and beers ready, and some tissues too. And if you can’t really take spicy – let them know to tone it down. If they can! Otherwise, you can always just have the spring roll. The menu stated spicy prawns soup was an option but that never came?

We then took a break, sipped on the cocktails, and took a lot of photos. Try the Mango Basil Tini please. Mum’s Lemongrass Galangal Tini was a bit strong I felt – or maybe I’ve lost my touch over the years of making these little people 🙂

Onto mains. We both thought the mains selection was carbohydrates-heavy. You could choose from – pad thai, mixed rice, vegetables fried rice, garlic flat bread and then there’s the only protein – green curry chicken. We wanted to try a bit of everything so asked them to bring small portions of all (minus the fried rice). The garlic flat bread was a bit out of place – not sure what he was doing in the menu – maybe they wanted to have something different in case people didn’t like Thai food? The Green Curry Chicken was tasty – and very spicy. So just… prepare yourself. It was spicy even for my mum, who brings chilli out whenever we go to a restaurant. The Pad Thai (we ordered a bit of prawn, a bit of chicken) – it could be better – maybe add some chopped roasted peanuts, and a serve of lime on the side?

By the time we were done, it was two hours in. We had asked for dessert but unfortunately they were so busy, I just assumed they forgot about it because it never came. It was too late to hang around – so we missed out on what would possibly be the highlight of the evening – glutinous rice pudding with coconut milk, and thai street ice cream. I’m still sad as I type them out. How could we miss dessert?

As an overall – 99aed for unlimited Thai Street Food is a fabulous deal. I mean, you don’t need a 241 for that. Where else in the marina or JBR can you find such a deal (that is a licensed premise, as well?) If you head there early, you can get happy hour drinks for 28AED as well 🙂

Would we return? That’s a solid yes for me. A night with the adults. And also earlier, with the little ones before it gets too hot. We did see a couple of families with little kids sitting down the other end of the terrace where the play area was. I asked if the play area would be set up in the daytime and unfortunately it was only up during the evening (I’ll request for an afternoon set up too, yea? 🙂 )

There’s work to be done with the menu and food, and to be honest they probably should get more staff for the busy periods as I felt they were struggling to keep up with the guests’ request (I shall return another day for the dessert!). It is still such a nice spot, and so close to home. You can then take the lift/stairs/escalator down to JBR and walk straight out across to The Beach. I love this area 🙂 Hoping that things will improve by the time you get there – please go and let me know what you think of the place!

PS – Would be nice if they launched a ladies night deal there as well?