Fancy Thai Food In The Harrod’s Food Hall: Mango Tree

I love Indian food of course but I have to say comfort food for me is South East Asian food – Chinese, Vietnamese and Thai and Thai food definitely tops the list. So when I had a chance to test out the Thai food at Mango Tree in the Harrods food hall I didn’t exactly hesitate before saying yes of course. Although of course there is nothing comfort food about Mango Tree. This is fancy dining at its finest. I mean this place is in the middle of Harrods – who is surprised?

The Ambiance:

It is a little different than your normal restaurant. The place is in the middle of the Harrods food hall with a open kitchen concept with a counter running all around the kitchen. We were sat at the counter at the end in the corner which was just perfect. You have your privacy but can keep an eye on whatever is going on in Harrods.

At times I felt it was quite a surreal experience sipping champagne cocktails and relaxing while people are scurrying around with the bags.

The Decor: 

What I liked is that even with the space constraints the decor still looked detailed and well thought out. It was something I actually specifically noticed. I think it was because I didn’t really expect it. You don’t expect a restaurants in a food court to have separate decor aesthetics and it was a nice touch. The cutlery, crockery, all of it was just a little fancier than what you would expect in a food court and helped create a more luxurious experience.

The Drinks:

We were recommended the champagne cocktails – one with a flower in it! Now I have to admit they looked absolutely gorgeous but it was just too sweet for my taste. The problem is I love the idea of Thai beer with Thai food but I really didn’t want to fill up on beer so thought the champagne would be a better option. Honestly though, (spoiler alert) the food is so good you might as well get straight to it.

Finally, the Food:

This is beautiful, detailed food made with time, effort and patience – and it shows. We tried both the platters of dim sums – one steamed and one fried. There was one of each kind of dim sum, about 6-7 in each platter and I pretty much loved all the ones I tasted. But I did prefer the steamed platter to the fried one. The famous papaya salad was really good – probably the best I have had.

The fried one was too heavy to actually eat too much of although I cant say any of it wasn’t good. The popcorn shrimp (the little balls in the bowl) was yum. I would recommend trying out all the sauces to see which one you liked. In a lot of cases I ended up mixing up which sauce was meant for which dish but enjoyed dipping them into any random sauce. The sauce with the chilli flakes was definitely a favourite.

The star of the Menu:

We ordered the wagyu beef to taste. This was when we were almost finishing up with almost no will to eat anymore. Obviously once we tasted the beef our actual ability to eat became immaterial. We finished the tray of beef in seconds.

The beef is served with three sauces – Thai green sauce, teriyaki sauce and hoisin sauce. This was amazing – the beef was of course fantastic but the sauces were delicious. Definitely my favourite.

The Prices:

This is not a cheap meal by any standards. And when you consider that its in the middle of a food court you would think its too expensive. But then its Harrods – I mean you are hardly there to save money. In any other departments store its too expensive and in Harrods it just falls into line. I remember our drinks were about £20 each and the dim sum platters were about £40 each. The wagyu beef was extremely expensive as with wagyu beef anywhere in the world – I think it was about £60. So yes, it is quite expensive but when you are shopping for a day in Harrod’s its probably just a stop along the way.

Now, would I go again?

My way to calculating if I really liked something is to ask, would I go for this meal again and would I be happy to pay my own way?

Yes, but I will probably try out their restaurant in Belgravia for a change of scene. But I would also skip the champagne cocktails and the fried dim sum platter and maybe even try something new although I wouldn’t mind the steamed dim sum platter again!

So there you have it – a look into my obsession with Thai food. There has been a lot of food talk on the blog recently and of course, there is a whole food section you should check out. This post should help you get organised for the week.

Let us know what is your comfort food? The food you want to eat ona  cold day, the one you want while curled up in front of the TV or the one you can eat everyday. Come say hello on our Twitter, check out our Instagram and like our Facebook page! You can also subscribe to our emails just here – scroll down and add your a details and you are done!

Our meal at Mango Tree was sponsored by the restaurant.

– Anisha