Mango Moon: A Taste of Thailand

is a place I've been meaning to try but never got around to trying so I was in luck when my editor suggested it for my next review.

I arrived on a Friday night, and, after some questionably legal driving, I managed to snag a parking spot right in front of the restaurant. 

You walk in and see the kitchen almost immediately, which is always a plus. The downstairs dining area is intimate with Asian accents but we were escorted upstairs. It was very dimly lit, which makes it ideal for a date but bad for a food writer trying to see all the details of a dish.

We were presented with menus and then a small bowl of nuts and wasabi peas that my friend inhaled. "From the Cart" we had the spicy Bangkok wings, (wings marinated with cilantro root, fresh garlic, black pepper, fish and oyster sauce, tossed with spicy chili sauce, $6), shu mai ($6) and Thai beef jerky with sticky rice ($6).

The wings were only mildly spicy but so tasty. They did not arrive very hot but were delicious nonetheless. The shu mai were decent, a bit more salty than what you would find in Chinatown.

The Thai beef jerkey was not tender at all. I understand it was jerky but the meat strips were so thick and tough I found them rather difficult to eat. The sticky rice was quite good and we ate it with our other dishes.

"From the Boat" we had the spicy baby octopus, (steamed baby octopus with celery, garlic, onions, sweet tomatoes, cilantro, basil and lemongrass served in a fresh chili-lime dressing, $8). This dish was well received by the whole table.

The octopus was soft and not chewy, the blend of sweet and salty was spot on and the whole combination of flavors was enjoyable.

We also had the papaya salad, (shredded green papaya, string beans, steamed shrimp and roasted peanut tossed with fish sauce and lime juice, $9), which was good but not great.

When a papaya salad is prepared well there is a perfect interplay between the individual components such that each bite is a symphony of flavors. I think this salad could have used a bit more of a sweet note, perhaps palm sugar? The steamed shrimp, however, were quite large and bountiful.

The Hong Kong noodle with shrimp ($19) was one of our favorites. The blend of noodles with shrimp, garlic, eggs, leeks, bean sprouts, white onions, tomatoes, soy and oyster sauce was a wonderful savory dish. It arrived as a mountain of noodles and was nearly double the size of everything else we had ordered. It's a great dish to share, but then again, I feel as though everything on this menu is better when shared.

The side of roti bread ($3) was pretty large given how inexpensive it was. I relished the crisp and hearty wedges of roti but my friends found them a bit too heavy for their taste. If I were to do it again, I would have added a cucumber salad ($3) just to see how they did it there.

Mango Moon does a great job in the kitchen. The food is good, well prepared and reasonably priced. My complaints were very minor and some things were just not to my taste.

My solution for things that didn't taste quite the way I wanted them to was to mix everything together, which kind of happened by accident as I helped myself to more and more food. By the end of my meal everything was so tasty and just the right balance of flavors and textures. In southeast Asia, many of the dishes are prepared with lime juice, fish sauce, sugar and chiles and different countries are going to use these items in their own combinations and differing amounts.  

The decor as mentioned earlier is Asian. It's also very clean and dark. There is a trendy date vibe to this place but I saw a toddler with his parents in a high chair when we walked in which shows that this place is also kid-friendly.

The service was extremely friendly and efficient. I don't think I ever had an empty water glass. There is a bar in the upstairs dining area for those that want a drink, (the lychee martini sounded killer), or a place to wait for a table.

Despite the very dim lighting, I would definitely head back here again.