Green Mango
Where:
Avonmore Centre, 9th Ave, Morningside
Open:
Daily noon to 2.30pm, 6-9.30pm
Call:
0313127054
A friend felt like sushi on a Sunday evening and so a whole group of us descended on Green Mango, in Morningside.
Open seven days a week, Roger Sirvajanakul’s simple eatery has always been one of my local go-to spots whenever I feel like Thai or Japanese food.
The sushi here is always made fresh and is always generous in its ingredients. It also has some options, like the Green Mango sandwich and a fashion sandwich that are a little different from the norm, while the sashimi is recommended.
I always tend towards the tempura prawns because this is one of the few Durban restaurants that do a proper tempura batter, which is beautifully light and crispy. The prawns are a decent size and it’s served with an Asian dipping sauce. Too often what passes for tempura in Durban is prawns dipped in a glorified pancake batter.
But tonight, while the others were enjoying platters of tuna handrolls, salmon roses and bamboo rolls, I went for the crispy duck pancakes, which I thoroughly enjoyed. The pancakes were light, the duck crispy and the hoisin-style sauce not too sweet and with a little bit of zing. It’s garnished with spring onion and sesame seeds.
Other starters might include chicken satay in a spicy peanut sauce, which are good, or a spicy Tom yum soup. Or there’s crispy wontons, dim sum, crispy calamari, spring rolls or tempura veg. Starter platters are also a good option.
For mains, a friend went for the crispy chilli chicken, which is an enormous portion that could easily feed two. The chicken was succulent, yet crisp; the sauce a very enjoyable sweet chill.
Another tried the crispy duck, which was similar to what was in my pancake, served on a bed of noodles, tossed with bok choy and vegetables.
If you want some heat in your duck, there’s always the angry duck, which doesn’t pull any punches. I’ve enjoyed the dish many times.
Curries, red and green, are available with chicken, beef, fish, prawn and vegetable options, while stir fries take in sweet chilli, or
chilli and basil, sweet and sour or cashew nut.
Another friend had the e-San fillet, which was slices of fillet in a pepper spicy sauce with rice. This too was good.
Wanting something light, and something I hadn’t tried before, and something not too spicy so that it would kill the wine, I took our waiter’s recommendation of a Beach Garden salad. This was a mixture of chicken, calamari and prawns, tossed in a sweet chilli sauce with roasted coconut, on Asian veg and crispy spinach. The crispy spinach really makes this dish. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Thailand is perhaps not best known for desserts, so options
are limited. There’s ice-cream
and chocolate sauce, or fried bananas or chocolate spring rolls, which are enjoyable.
We skipped dessert in favour of a round of tequilas.
Food:
4
Service:
4
Ambience:
3