Published in Travel Sri Lanka magazine, July 2004.
By Laurie Ashton
The Mango Tree Restaurant is a recent and welcome addition to the island – it opened 24th May of this year. I was lucky enough to dine there a mere two days after it opened.
My husband and I were greeted by enthusiastic waiters just after I noticed a row of glasses standing at the bar balanced at a precarious angle. We were later given a demonstration by the bartender and I’m still amazed that it worked – and more astonishing still, that the glasses didn’t fall over in the time we were there. We were promptly seated , and this is where my only real complaint about the restaurant comes in. The bench seating has a velour-like upholstery that, when I sat down, grabbed at my skirt, making it difficult to slide in. A minor point indeed, especially when coupled with the fact that it was very comfortable.
We could hear music playing, and it turned out that it wasn’t traditional Indian music at all, but rather meditation music called Buddha Bar. It was pleasant and unobtrusive – a feature important in background music. To be honest, I didn’t even notice it until someone pointed it out to me.
The décor was like the music – classy, elegant, and definitely unobtrusive. Original artwork by local artists adorn the walls. All are for sale – contact restaurant management for more information.
My husband had a creamy coffee mocktail that arrived at the table with a pretty floral-like pattern cut into it. He loved it – it was sweet, it was chocolatey, and what else could he, a devoted chocoholic, ask for?
I had a mocktail with ginger beer, nelli, and lime juice – just a little bit of bite due to the ginger. Delish! Later, I had another mocktail called Hotwire which was a mix of red currant and lime juices and crushed ice, and it came topped with a lime wedge and a green chilli. Artsy, too. Both were refreshing.
The next question our server asked us was “veg or non-veg?” Our answer was non-veg for me, and fish only for my husband.
The Mango Tree serves genuine North Indian cuisine using only authentic North Indian ingredients, I was assured by Sukhvinder Singh, Director of the Mango Tree. None of the recipes have been modified in any way. The Quality Control staff, including Sukhvinder, are all from North India and they’re anxious to preserve the authenticity of North Indian cuisine.
Given the distinctive cultural histories of the various regions in North India, it’s only natural that there are also differences in cuisine. The menu, as extensive as it already is, can’t possibly represent all of North India. To that end, the Mango Tree also offers special items not on the menu so its patrons can sample an even wider variety of North Indian foods.
Some of the dishes we had were tandoori. I thought this was a type of seasoning, or perhaps the name of a region. Not so. Tandoori refers to the oven the food is cooked in.
Traditional tandoor ovens are cylindrical clay ovens at least one metre in height and are often sunk up to its neck in the earth with its opening being at the top of the oven. Modern tandoor ovens, such as the ones the Mango Tree uses, are a big metal box on the outside, clay on the inside, and fits perfectly in a modern kitchen.
The coal fire is built in the tandoor and allowed to burn for several hours to heat the oven to temperatures of 450 F. Meats cooked in the tandoor are marinated .
A basic marinade starts with curd and lime. Then, for a black marinade, pepper is added. For a red marinade, chili, onion, and ginger is added. For a green marinade, it’s spinach and mint, and for white marinade, cream is added. The meat is then skewered and placed vertically in the oven with one end resting in the ashes. Bread, such as roti, is pressed into the sides of the oven.
We started with Machli Tikka, Black Pepper Chicken, Shammi Kabab, and Jhinga Tandoori.
The Machli Tikka we had was red marinated fish as described above, and it was flaky, tender, and flavourful. The Black Pepper Chicken, also called Kali Miri Murgh, a black marinated dish, was succulent and tasty. I’d had it before – years ago – and it was as much a favourite then as now. Shammi Kabab is a lamb cutlet – ground lamb mixed with chickpea flour and seasonings. This, admittedly, was my least favourite dish. The seasoning didn’t taste quite right – I think it was just a little too foreign for me and my Western palate.
The Jhinga Tandoori – red marinated prawns – was incredibly flavoured. It was an amazing taste explosion in our mouths. Unfortunately, the prawns were a bit too chewy – likely a little overcooked. But even with that, they were still wonderful.
These were served with condiments – mint chutney, jaggery and mango chutney, pickled onion, and lime wedges. It’s a toss-up whether I preferred the mint chutney or the jaggery and mango chutney more – both were sooooo good.
We were then served Murgh Tikka Masala and Fish Goan Curry with Roomali Roti and Tandoori Roti.
Roomali and Tandoori Roti are both breads. Roomali means “like a handkerchief” and is exactly that – very thin. It was presented folded over and over again until it was a small square package. The Tandoori Roti reminds me of pita bread – it’s a thicker bread than the Roomali Roti, but still a round flatbread, and only about six inches in diameter. The Roomali Roti and Tandoori Roti are both eaten by tearing off a portion of the bread and dipping it into the sauces from the chicken and fish dishes, picking up some meat with it, and popping it in your mouth.
Murgh Tikka Masala is a chicken dish with a gravy of curd, tomatoes, and seasoning. The chicken was tender and juicy, and the dish was unbelievably flavourful. Fish Goan Curry was white fish, tender and flaky, falling apart. It tasted divine.
At the end of our meal, our waiter thoughtfully brought water and lime finger bowls – much appreciated for cleanup after eating with our hands.
Unfortunately for us, by this time, we were getting rather full. As much as we would have liked to, we simply didn’t have any room to sample any of their many desserts.
Service was excellent, as was the food. The staff were courteous and attentive, bending over backwards to make sure everything was exactly to our liking. All in all, this was a wonderful, pleasant experience and I highly recommend it.
The Mango Tree also offers a lounge, comfortably decorated in blacks and oranges. It offers comfortable chairs and huge, sinking sofas with many cushions. There’s a large screen television on one wall, and on another, there are water pipes. The lounge is open for drinks, finger foods, and starters only.
The Mango Tree will offer home delivery starting in June. They also have packages for kiddy parties and can host conferences for 40-50 people. Please contact them directly for more information or to arrange an event.
The Mango Tree Restaurant+Lounge+Bar
No. 82 Dharmapala Mawatha, Colombo 03
Telephone: 011-5379790/011-5379791
[email protected]
Lunch Daily 11.30 am – 3.00 pm
Dinner 6.30 pm – 11.30 pm, Fridays & Saturdays until 2.00 am.
