Mango

My friend, Dave, took and a friend to “this great new restaurant” two years ago. He said it was Peruvian and we said – “huh?” The idea of a Peruvian restaurant in St. Louis intrigued us, so we went. It was – and still is – a wonderful surprise! Now, all Dave or anyone has to do to get me to go to Mango, is ask. I’m always ready.

My love for Mango comes not only from the fact that, as a vegetarian, I can order no less than half a dozen “real” entrees and be satisfied. What I mean by “real entree” is this. Often, as a vegetarian whose friends are mostly carnavoirs, I go to a restaurant and end up eating an order of side dishes with no one item being central to the meal and no distinct taste making me want to go back for more. Not so at Mango.

In the past two years I have taken no less than 20 friends to Mango and, vegetarians and meat eaters alike, we are ALL always satisfied. They order beef, chicken, pork and (outstanding) seafood entrees and I order Tallarin Huachaina or Tallarin Verde or any number of great choices. We all start with the free fried plantains, ceviche and (secret recipe) green sauce, then enjoy a uniquely refreshing salad with fresh mango and tangy lime juice atop leafy greens and sprinkled with almond slivers and finally get around to our entree.

Dave and Rick both like the Loma Saltada (I think), a lightly spiced shredded chicken dish; Linda loves the mussels in garlic lemon sauce, the steak sandwich (at lunch) and swears by the talapia. In fact, she says all the seafood is superb. We chose one of many moderately priced wines but, if you want to try something more exotic there are many choices – like Sondra’s Sanghria.

Jorge and Nori Clavo and their daughter, Sondra, will make sure that you are well served, well fed and happy. The food is fresh and carefully selected so take time to enjoy its preparation.

And, by the way, I was recently checking the St. Louis County Health Department’s Restaurant Ratings and learned that Mango was one of a hand full of St. Louis area restuarants to receive a 100 rating, so, try something exotic and Enoy!

The desserts are rich and, at the same time light and the coffee is fresh and tasty.

Ditto! I love this place! If you don’t know where it is, it’s in MacKenzie Plaza at the intersection of Chippewa ( aka Watson Road, Higway 66) and MacKenzie Road just west of River Des Peres. Food is really good, setting is very nice but you can dress casually. Try the mussels, for sure.