The décor is bright and inviting, without being pretentious.   Seating space is tight, so reservations are pretty much a must during ordinary dinner hours.   

The menu includes the standard curry and noodle house fare you’d expect to see at a Thai restaurant, with a few fresh twists.   Somewhat to my dismay, they also offer a few other westernized pan-Asian  ”classics,” which I suspect are on the menu because, let’s face it, there are still some people who get nervous about ordering anything but fried rice at an Asian restaurant.  But I digress.

Between the two of us “R” and I have now sampled a few of the appetizers ($4.50-$9) and curry entrées ($9-$13).   Just about everything we’ve had to date has been good or better.  I (“K”) particularly enjoyed the green curry with tofu.  The balance of sweet and spicy was just right and although I am usually a glutton for the deep-fried doughnutty-like kind, I particularly enjoyed the subtly of the fresh tofu.    “R’s” favorite entrée to date was a mahi mahi curry special.   

Overall the prices are a bit higher and the portions a bit smaller than other local Thai restaurants, but we don’t mind.  Why?   Well, Mango Thai doesn’t have a liquor license yet and, at least for now, they are happy to let you bring your own wine a beer and they don’t charge a corkage fee.  Our recommendation:  stop in at Solo Vino down the street and pick-up an affordable bottle of bubbly on your way to Mango Thai and enjoy.

-K

The interior is decorated a la Salut–with dark stained wood, a similar paint palate and framed vintage poster prints–but without the snarly quotes.   A bit too serious to be truly cheeky, but the fireplace and staff were warm and inviting.

The menu choices are largely limited to sandwiches, soups and salads, with a few mix-and-match meat, cheese and veggie sides/appetizers and a small handful of entrees that could have been snitched from my grandmother’s repertoire (meatloaf, pot roast).  Dessert choices included simple brownies, cookies and pie.   There is a short tap and bottled beer list and an even shorter wine list–one red and one white. 

I ordered a cup of soup and selected three of the mix-and-match veggie options including hummus, roasted veggies and griddle potatoes and took my order to go.   The soup ($3.50) was  roasted tomato and pepper.  It was comforting, but in a disconcerting kind of way.  Although it had a pleasant spiciness, the overall flavor and texture was more than suggestive of the stuff from the red and white labeled can.   The mix-and-match items were tasty, if not exciting, and I would have considered them modestly priced ($3), but the portions seemed somewhat stingy.  (The griddled potato portion was the equivalent of about 1/3 of an average-sized russet; the hummus filled less than half of the half-pint to-go container they put it in). 

Overall, I can’t say I don’t like this restaurant.   I just don’t love it like I hoped I would.  Rest assured, I will go back to Cheeky Monkey, not just out of a sense of responsibility to support local restaurants, but also because I am still rooting for these guys.  

Come on Monkey, show us you really can be cheeky!

-K