Mango Caribbean Cafe

I visited the restaurant on Friday night 5/23/08, there was a minimum wait for a table. I find the restaurant to be small, but cozy. I love the atmosphere, the service was great. The owner was nice and friendly, he greeted the customers with professionalism and respect. The food was tasty, seasoned well, and spicy. (I love spicy food) and the drink I had was WOW!!! Need I say more; Friday was my 3rd visit, each time I brought someone different with me. I am a food critique this food was the best Jamaican food I have ever tasted, and I tried many. It taste just like the food cooked in Jamaica. I would highly recommend Mangos. more

I visited the restaurant on Friday night 5/23/08, there was a minimum wait for a table. I find the restaurant to be small, but cozy. I love the atmosphere, the service was great. The owner was nice and friendly, he greeted the customers with professionalism and respect. The food was tasty, seasoned well, and spicy. (I love spicy food) and the drink I had was WOW!!! Need I say more; Friday was my 3rd visit, each time I brought someone different with me. I am a food critique this food was the best Jamaican food I have ever tasted, and I tried many. It taste just like the food cooked in Jamaica. I would highly recommend Mangos. more

Went on a Friday night wanting good sangria, beans, plantains. What we got was ok service, watered down sangria and bad food! I ordered the Grand Caymen Special (mango chicken) which was tasteless, the rice and bean side dish was mushy but rice was undercooked. How does that happen? The presentation of the food was terrible. It basically looked like someone had just slapped it on our plate. Not appetizing at all! I would not recommend this restaurant and will never be back! Cons: Bad food, ok service more

Went on a Friday night wanting good sangria, beans, plantains. What we got was ok service, watered down sangria and bad food! I ordered the Grand Caymen Special (mango chicken) which was tasteless, the rice and bean side dish was mushy but rice was undercooked. How does that happen? The presentation of the food was terrible. It basically looked like someone had just slapped it on our plate. Not appetizing at all! I would not recommend this restaurant and will never be back! Cons: Bad food, ok service more

I visited this restaurant in search of good Jamaican cooking and what I found was complete disappoint-\r ment. I ordered curry goat and it was horrible. The meat was red. Goat meat looks and taste like\r beef. This was not. I sampled the jerked chicken and almost lost my lunch. The spicy shrimp was not\r what I had in mind. Growing up in Jamaica, we bought small boxes of tiny dry fried shrimp cooked in\r spicy coconut oil. This was not it. This was small shrimp sauteed in hot oil. Not the same.\r The beef patty was shocking. I expected it to be fresh and well seasoned. Instead, it was the frozen\r kind I usually buy at the Carribean supermarket. The inside was dried out. Perhaps the owner should\r try eating one or at least open one to see the inside of it.Luckly, I got my food to go. It never made it pass the nearest trash can. I travelled all the way from Pinole to Palo Alto, to be totally disappointed\r I have tried Jamaican restaurants In Berkeley--Jamaican Soul Food; Emerville-Jamaican food Palace;\r In San Leandro on E.14 street. The best I have tasted is Backayard in Menlo Park not far from Mango \r Carribean. It is usually crowded. I had one bad experience but I am willing to go back to Backayard. \r Perhaps the people who eat at Mango have no idea what true Jamaican food taste like. Good luck to the\r owner of Mango. Don't know how you stay in business. more

I visited this restaurant in search of good Jamaican cooking and what I found was complete disappoint-\r ment. I ordered curry goat and it was horrible. The meat was red. Goat meat looks and taste like\r beef. This was not. I sampled the jerked chicken and almost lost my lunch. The spicy shrimp was not\r what I had in mind. Growing up in Jamaica, we bought small boxes of tiny dry fried shrimp cooked in\r spicy coconut oil. This was not it. This was small shrimp sauteed in hot oil. Not the same.\r The beef patty was shocking. I expected it to be fresh and well seasoned. Instead, it was the frozen\r kind I usually buy at the Carribean supermarket. The inside was dried out. Perhaps the owner should\r try eating one or at least open one to see the inside of it.Luckly, I got my food to go. It never made it pass the nearest trash can. I travelled all the way from Pinole to Palo Alto, to be totally disappointed\r I have tried Jamaican restaurants In Berkeley--Jamaican Soul Food; Emerville-Jamaican food Palace;\r In San Leandro on E.14 street. The best I have tasted is Backayard in Menlo Park not far from Mango \r Carribean. It is usually crowded. I had one bad experience but I am willing to go back to Backayard. \r Perhaps the people who eat at Mango have no idea what true Jamaican food taste like. Good luck to the\r owner of Mango. Don't know how you stay in business. more

We keep going back, it's so good. I love the breaded salmon and my husband keeps ordering the curry chicken. Fun place for drinks and hors d'oeurves, plus their breaded pudding dessert is the best I've ever tasted. It's cozy, friendly, romantic, very friendly owners and staff. If you want to be sure to get in on a weekend, make a reservation, or take your chances and stop by. They always try to accommodate. I can almost hear the ocean, it's so authentic Jamaican. Great food, service, and ambiance. Pros: Reggae music, fun atmosphere, great food Cons: May have a small wait on weekends, but worth it more

We keep going back, it's so good. I love the breaded salmon and my husband keeps ordering the curry chicken. Fun place for drinks and hors d'oeurves, plus their breaded pudding dessert is the best I've ever tasted. It's cozy, friendly, romantic, very friendly owners and staff. If you want to be sure to get in on a weekend, make a reservation, or take your chances and stop by. They always try to accommodate. I can almost hear the ocean, it's so authentic Jamaican. Great food, service, and ambiance. Pros: Reggae music, fun atmosphere, great food Cons: May have a small wait on weekends, but worth it more

We went on a Sunday night and luckily got there a bit early as it became busy after we arrived. The boss sat the two of us in a little alcove off to the left which had three tables and three candles lighting each table. My wife found it a bit dark and hard to read the menu, but some would consider it romantic. I thought it would be a nice private area for a group as large as 12-14.\r The waitress was really working hard and serving many tables she did an efficient job. I ordered the ""port antonio"" a stew of beef with beans and an interesting bean sauce that results from the cooking the beans. It had a rich thick consistency, mild in taste. Came with salad and rice to round out the meal. My wife ordered the snapper and let me taste it, luckily for me since it was moist inside and obviously fresh fish. Also the snapper comes with vegetables which the menu claimed to be sweet and tangy. Pros: good service, quick seating, tasty value food Cons: could get noisy inside more

We went on a Sunday night and luckily got there a bit early as it became busy after we arrived. The boss sat the two of us in a little alcove off to the left which had three tables and three candles lighting each table. My wife found it a bit dark and hard to read the menu, but some would consider it romantic. I thought it would be a nice private area for a group as large as 12-14.\r The waitress was really working hard and serving many tables she did an efficient job. I ordered the ""port antonio"" a stew of beef with beans and an interesting bean sauce that results from the cooking the beans. It had a rich thick consistency, mild in taste. Came with salad and rice to round out the meal. My wife ordered the snapper and let me taste it, luckily for me since it was moist inside and obviously fresh fish. Also the snapper comes with vegetables which the menu claimed to be sweet and tangy. Pros: good service, quick seating, tasty value food Cons: could get noisy inside more

I visited mango with a group of people last friday night. the atmosphere was relaxing and fun with good reggae music playing in the background. I brought my lady back on sunday to get her opinion. in compliance she agreed that this sopt was authentic as her parents come from jamaica.\r \r I would recommend the spicy pepper shrimp/plantain appetizer if you like spicy food. The Jamaican Patty (Beef) was perfect, flakey crust and warm spiced beef on the inside. Reminded us of the pattys we would get in Negril. The jerked chicken was amazing, the sauce was spicy but not overbearing. Just thinking of it makes me salivate. The other dish i would recommend is the escovietch snapper. There is a sweet but tangy taste to it.\r \r Most of all the white sangria we had was amazing. The bartender said it was a chardonnay blended with pineapple and lime. He told us they also have a two dollar red stripe happy hour on thursdays, we will be back. I highly recommend Mango, the service was also very attentive. Pros: Music, Sangria, Traditional Food Cons: Loud but fun more

I visited mango with a group of people last friday night. the atmosphere was relaxing and fun with good reggae music playing in the background. I brought my lady back on sunday to get her opinion. in compliance she agreed that this sopt was authentic as her parents come from jamaica.\r \r I would recommend the spicy pepper shrimp/plantain appetizer if you like spicy food. The Jamaican Patty (Beef) was perfect, flakey crust and warm spiced beef on the inside. Reminded us of the pattys we would get in Negril. The jerked chicken was amazing, the sauce was spicy but not overbearing. Just thinking of it makes me salivate. The other dish i would recommend is the escovietch snapper. There is a sweet but tangy taste to it.\r \r Most of all the white sangria we had was amazing. The bartender said it was a chardonnay blended with pineapple and lime. He told us they also have a two dollar red stripe happy hour on thursdays, we will be back. I highly recommend Mango, the service was also very attentive. Pros: Music, Sangria, Traditional Food Cons: Loud but fun more

Last we went to the Mango Cafe for dinner. It was our second time in the last 2-3 weeks. The food is really good - especially the appetizers ... Tey the combo platter which includes both the joints. It's a bit spicy but real nice. Don't order wine though ... They don't serve good wine ... In any case it's not one of those joints where you'd order wine. The staff is friendly and nice ... Seems to be a family run place ... Hence the service is a bit slow ... but that's ok ... It's a very relaxed place. The entrees are equally good ... the lamb/chicken curry over rice is very good. We did not try the desserts ... Overall we had a good time ... I would highly recommend it. Pros: Food, Location, Staff Cons: Wine Selection more

After reading some online reviews of Mango Cafe, I was excited to go there for dinner, expecting a good spicy meal. We had joints, curried and jerked. The curried had faint flavor and the meat was dry. The jerked were more flavorful, but was also dry, and not spicy. We had chicken roti and jerked chicken. Neither dish was particularly flavorful or spicy. I was quite appalled at the service. When the server brought out our main dishes, she had neglected to clear our table of the plates of joint bones. We moved our plates ourselves so she could set down the main dishes. She then cleared the table. I have never ever seen this happen in any restaurant before. I am very disappointed in this restaurant having high expectations of flavorful and spicy food. Based on our experience there, I do not recommend it, and will not be back. more

Yep.. this is the real thing! If you are from the islands, you will feel right at home when eating Mango's Jamacian patties, jerked chicken, or their ginger beer! That's right ginger beer. My wife and I have been looking all over the bay area for food from the islands and this is it! For those who are not from the islands... have no fear--you will love the food there. It is spicy and hot, just the way the bay area loves it's food! Give it a try, you will love it! Pros: hard to find foods, home cooked taste Cons: far from SF more