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A few weeks back, a man called Keith Kennerk got in touch. He had, he told me, just read a review that I'd written about one of Dublin's best-known Thai restaurant businesses, in which I expressed disappointment with our takeaway and questioned the authenticity of the experience. He agreed with my conclusion that Dubliners are, in the main, being palmed off with something that's not quite it. His Thai food operation, he said, was the real deal: Thai owners, Thai chefs, Thai décor. He encouraged me to try it.
Now, I've never been to Thailand but I have had the opportunity to eat in some superb Thai restaurants in London and New York and also the food of David Thompson, regarded as one of the world's finest exponents of this cuisine. And I have read enough about the food of this fascinating country – one of the world's greatest – to have a small understanding of what it is supposed to encapsulate – and what it is not.
Quality of ingredients is essential. The components of a dish are assembled, cleaned, sliced or pounded, then combined and seasoned. Many dishes are complex, with myriad ingredients, and vibrancy of flavour is paramount. Good Thai food should zing on the palate. There has been little of that in my experience of Thai food in Ireland to date.
We ordered online from just-eat.ie, where the full menu for the Mango Tree is available. A few minutes after placing the order, a telephone call to confirm the order and collection time came through. We live outside the delivery area, but having to collect the order gave us the opportunity to see the Mango Tree up close. There's an open, modern kitchen packed with a half dozen or more Thai chefs working their socks off to cater for demand (this was an X Factor Saturday night), the place is gleaming, there are mountains of fresh herbs and it all feels absolutely authentic. It's that word again, the holy grail of foodies the world over.
In the interests of research (tough job, this one) we ordered four starters, a soup, two salads and six mains. Out of all these dishes, there was only one dud – Sweet Corn Cakes (€4.50), which did not take kindly to being transported and ended up soggy and steamed. Aside from this one aberration, everything else that we ordered was excellent.
Prawn Wraps (€5.50), Pork Wonton (€4.75) and Pork Spring Rolls (€4.95) were all fabulous – distinctive and delicious. Tom Yang Goong (€5.50) – a wonderfully sinus-clearing soup of prawns, lime leaves, lemongrass, chilli, lime, onion, mushrooms and coriander – brought a smile to all our faces. This was good stuff. Squid Salad (€6.95) is not for the faint-hearted. Some of us loved it; others found the chilli quotient over the top. The Glass Noodle Salad (€6.95) with chopped pork, prawns, chilli, red onions and lemon juice was less exhilarating but still more than fine.
As is customary in a Thai menu, the various curries are each offered with a choice of principal ingredient. So, you can have Red, Green, Yellow, Panang or Massaman Curry with Beef, Chicken, Duck, Pork, Prawn or Vegetable Tofu. These are all priced at €9.95. We tried a Pork Red, Prawn Panang (featuring coconut milk, lime leaf, green bean and sweet basil) and Beef Massaman, which differed subtly but were universally successful. The red curry was the spiciest of the three, but the heat still very manageable. The Massaman, rich with coconut and comforting with potatoes, was the favourite.
In addition, we tried three duck dishes from other sections of the menu. The Duck with Chilli and Basil (also €9.95), cooked in a wok, packed a fair punch; we liked it very much. The Duck Pad Thai (€8.95) – wide flat noodles with beansprouts, spring onions and egg – was less scintillating but a satisfying, classic dish nonetheless and the Duck Tiew Pad Guay Kee Mao, rice noodles with carrots, baby corn, basil and chilli sauce, was also very pleasing.
This feast for six – which left us with ample leftovers for a light lunch the following day – cost €100.20. We thought that excellent value. Just the thing for a January evening when you don't feel like cooking and about as far away from turkey and ham as it's possible to get. The Mango Tree rings true.
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