Mango Tree

Kaprow (30s, Female, London)

Beautiful restaurant, wonderful atmosphere, distinctly average food. The head chef here is British and it shows – particularly when it comes to the preparation of ingreidents. Most of the sauces are pretty good (if erring on the mild side) but the meat is always too thick-cut so the textures are all wrong and the flavours don't reach that perfect balance that Thai food's all about. Nothing tastes authentic: I'd say it's Thai-flavoured European food rather than Thai food. I know I'm in trouble when I don't even get excited about the som tam but there are a few good dishes among the disappointments and most of them are starters: tender seafood satay and a lovely seared tuna salad. Service is pushy and they're always trying to over-sell drinks, which combined with the small portion sizes (the steeply priced rice bowls are tiny) leaves you feeling you've been ripped off. I wish I could swap the kitchens and dining rooms of Mango Tree and nearby Nahm around. Over there, you get fabulous food but almost zero atmosphere, here it's the exact opposite.