Review: Mango Thai Tapas

Portswood isn’t renowned for its lavish dining experiences, but having heard only great things, we could hardly refuse when Mango invited us down to check them out.

I was pleasantly surprised to find such a quaint, cosy and welcoming atmosphere just off the high street and seemingly miles away from the crowds of students hurrying down to Jesters!

After choosing a seat by the window, we started off with the difficult decision of choosing from the vast wine and cocktail list. In the true spirit of Mango, we started off with some Mango Martinis.

Mango Martinis

I’m not sure how common these are, but they are definitely down as my new favourite drink – and with 2 for £9 it would be rude not to try them.

Being a vegetarian, I made sure to bring along a big time meat eater as my date to get the all round experience. It’s not often you find somewhere that caters so well for both.

Tapas Dishes

With each dish costing £5.75 (and 4 for 3 everyday 12 – 5pm), you can order as much as you want depending on the party size, and how hungry you’re feeling.

Tapas is ideal for when you couldn’t possibly choose just one thing from the menu. It’s also nice and sociable to be able to share dishes with friends and try a bit of everything.

If you’re not so keen on tapas / want it all for yourself – there’s also the option to have the dishes as mains, or an entirely separate list of mains too.

Being the brave, ferocious girl that I am, trying the hottest curry on the menu, Jungle Curry, sounded like a challenge right up my street. This may have resulted in drinking about a litre of water, but was still delicious! (And I had been warned…)

Jungle Curry and Tempura Vegetables

Anyway, back to the cocktails…

While we may have slightly over indulged on tapas, the desert menu was too good to resist. From various cheesecakes, to ice-creams, there was even a chocolate cocktail to compliment.

A Selection of Ice Cream and Sorbet

Tamsin, the manager, could not have been any more accommodating. She talked us through the menu, answered all our questions and even let us try some new cocktails she has been working on (think passion fruit or raspberry deliciousness and you’re almost there).

The atmosphere was chilled and casual yet buzzing with eating and chatting – it wasn’t one bit surprising that by the time we were leaving, every table in the house was full!

“Mostly on a Thursday (sometimes on a Tuesday!)” there is live music – from soul to classical, you can check out the events section of the website for more details.

Mango is definitely the place for catch up’s, dates, celebrations, wind downs, or even just treating yourself. I myself will definitely be taking my parents / any visitors here to show them that there is an other side to Portswood!