Mango Garden

Haven’t been here for a long while… I guess I crave Malaysian a lot less than I though I would (used to go all the time for roti when I lived in Manhattan, but that was a whole lifetime ago)…
The other day I was thinking I need to write a review for this place, and maybe even do some takeout… Then I realized the place had closed. No restaurant has ever survived the address that is 111 E 4^th — wonder if the space is haunted! And here I was thinking Mango Garden would survive finally cuz they actually have decent food.
Alas, it’s gone. Wonder what restaurant is going to be brave enough to try out the location next!

For what it’s worth, when Mango Garden was open, this was our favorite restaurant to go out to in San Mateo (and perhaps one of our favorites of all time). The food was excellent, the prices were very reasonable for what you got, the food came out quick, it was always busy, and the service was outstanding. What more could you want from a place? We would take our out of town friends here all the time and they always loved it.
I am not sure why the business closed. RIP MG.

Damn, looks like it went out of business. All of the tables removed, the phone doesn’t ring… too bad. Am I the only one who likes Malaysian food around here?

I love coming here. Mango garden is all around a great restaurant for any occasion. They have a spacious space with a private event room upstairs. They also have a semi closed off area in the back for more privacy.
When I come to mango garden, what always stands out is the service. The waiters are always extremely attentive and competent. I have yet to receive subpar service from them, A+ from me.
Trust me, you absolutely must get the roti pancake; it is buttery heaven. Another standout dish is the basil fried rice. It is packed with flavor so I would definitely try it if you’re feeling spontaneous. Lastly, I really liked their taro basket. I thought the taro was cook perfectly.
Overall, one of my favorite restaurants in dtsm

I really wanted to like this place, because I’ve been craving Malaysian food ever since Langkawi closed several years ago. Mango Garden doesn’t hold a candle to Langkawi.
The service was good and the décor and ambiance are nice. The food, however, was either bland, or something else wasn’t right.
My seafoood dish was surprisingly very bland. My husband’s beef dish had tender beef, but it was so fatty, with so much gristle that it was unpleasant to eat. Not fun to eat around globs of fat!

Food here was pretty good and service was awesome as well. This place wasn’t too packed on a Sunday night during dinner time, but it eventually got busier.
After looking at the menu, we were pretty overwhelmed with what dishes to pick because everything looked so good. We looked around to see what others were ordering and of course saw everyone with the roti prata. The waiter was extremely helpful and recommended us all their popular dishes. Of his recommendations, we practically ordered like 70% of it.
We ordered:
–Roti prata (must get!)
–Satay Combo
–Hainan Chicken
–Ox tail curry
–Char kway teow noodles (must get!)
Everything came out pretty fast and was all delicious! The oxtail curry seemed like it had more bones than meat, but then again it is oxtail. They chop up the oxtail in smaller pieces so you gotta watch out when taking a spoonful of the curry. Overall, great experience and would love to come back again. Not bad for a chain restaurant.

This place is yummy if you’re craving Malaysian/​Singaporean cuisine. They share the place with a Taiwanese restaurant. Service is attentive even when the restaurant is packed during peak hours.
We ordered the roti prata, balachan kangkang asparagus, fried chicken, and char gway teo. Everything was delicious! The only dish I wouldn’t order again would be the fried chicken. I loved that the meat was tender and juicy, but the sauce was too overwhelming. It seems as if they dumped the entire bottle, which can be found in any Asian market, on top of the freshly fried chicken. Other than that, everything else hit the spot for me.
This place is located in downtown San Mateo, so parking may be a bit tough. However, do utilize the central parking garage, which is free on Sundays.

This place is not quite a year old and we have eaten here two dozen times. It is my son’s favorite place to eat (superceding Pasta Pomodaro — Be Still my Heart!). It is a Malaysian joint with some Thai and Indonesian cuisine (Nasi Goreng, Nasi Lemak, Mee Goreng) thrown in.
Why we love this place? Service Service Service. OMG — consistently fabulous service (ok except for the last time when they seated us in the VIP section and forgot all about us ;-) …I am not holding it against them because I have two dozen times of fabulous service. Note to Self — Never ever sit in the VIP section again :))
Some of our favorites (along with my comments on how they tasted) —
1) Roti Telur — we order 2 of these for 2 adults and 1 kid and still fight over the last piece. The curry that goes with this is scrumptious and they now bring each one of us a separate bowl of it ;-)
2) Dry Black Pepper Chicken with Vegatables — Super Delicious
3) Mango Chicken — very well executed — on the sweeter side — if you like Mango and like your curry mild, you can’t go wrong with this one
4) All their soups are gigantic and nourishing
5) Nasi Lemak — as authentic as it gets
6) Satan Fish — sounds shady but tastes oh! so delish — pick the salmon not the whole fish and avoid all the bones (you are welcome!)
7) End the meal with the Mango Shaved Ice — Yum! This used to be a freebie if you paid cash… they stopped doing that 3 months back — dang it!
We have also done the weekday take-​out which is a fabulous deal ($ 30 for 3 entrees and jasmine rice)
If you decide to go here for your next meal — say Hi to Jerry for me and try and see if you can get Jerry for your table — all the servers are amazing but Jerry takes hospitality to the next level.

In Downtown San Mateo, the land of 1000 Chinese restaurants and ramen shops (exaggeration, but not by much), I was excited to see a Malaysian/​Singaporean restaurant open up! It’s somehow connected to the Taiwanese Bento place next door and I think uses the same payment system, but each side has a separate menu and setting.
The first time I went here I tried the Seafood Curry Laska. I wanted to start with it since it is the most common unique Malaysian dish, and it did not disappoint! It’s similar to Thai curry, but slightly thinner and like a noodle soup. It was served in a big bowl with two different kinds of noodles, fish balls and shrimp, with the perfect consistency and blend of coconut milk and spices.
We’ve been back for the pineapple fried rice (served in a half of a humongous pineapple — awesome) and a couple lunch specials. While the main dish servings are generous, the sizes of the lunch specials are inconsistent although maybe that’s because all of them are priced the same. Anything focusing on chicken, noodles, and/​or veggies is huge. On the other hand, dishes focusing on seafood or beef are fairly small, although big enough for a moderate appetite when served with rice, soup, and salad. Also, I like that they have brown rice but they don’t serve it with lunch sadly.
One nice option they’ve introduced lately is the take-​out family meals, where you get to pick 3 dishes for $ 29.99 that are served with rice to go. These must be paid by cash only. But they have a pretty good selection. We got the Rendang Curry Chicken, Singapore Prawns, and Coffee Short Ribs. All were good, but it was difficult to decide whether the Rendang Curry or Coffee Ribs were the best! The Curry featured huge, succulent pieces of chicken with a dry but very punchy and flavorful sauce, and the Ribs were sweet but had a very strong and savory coffee flavor.
Also, I’ve seen signs for the other famous dish, Singapore Chili Crab & Lobster — will have to try that one of these days!

Complimentary appetizer and dessert! We ordered way too much food for two people but that’s what happens when you want carbs, meat, and veggies. We ordered the roti with the eggs and onions, curry chicken, coffee short ribs, pineapple fried rice, and some sautéed veggies. Everything was really flavorful. The chicken was really tender. Friendly and attentive staff.

Mango Garden ended up being an incredible let-​down, after a hankering for some Hainan chicken and rice led to our rather sizable order last night.
THE GOOD:
— Presentation of the food was great
— The restaurant is trendy and comfortable
— Helpful, polite servers
— Easy online ordering system (although 0 notification when our order was ready)
THE BAD.
— Bland, flavorless food (which is the whole point)
I think because of how much we spent for dinner (we ordered several dishes to try them out), I was mostly frustrated that not ONE dish had any real flavor. Don’t get me wrong — nothing was over-​cooked, burnt, under-​cooked, etc. There was just no FLAVOR in any of the sauces or dishes, which I thought was surprising and ultimately very disappointing.
Based on that alone, I wouldn’t spend money on a tasteless meal here again.

Decided to come here for dinner with my family after my brother suggested it. He told me the fried calamari here was possibly even better than the one at our usual spot for calamari. Well, I was intrigued and wanted to see for myself if that was true.
We parked in one of San Mateo’s public parking structures. It was free since it was already after 6 pm but even during the daytime, parking is only 50 cents per hour. Yeah, you read that correctly. San Mateo doesn’t try to rob you like some other cities further north, ahem.
Anyway, we were greeted and seated immediately. We ordered the fried calamari, the roti pratha, Indian Mi Goreng Noodles, and black pepper string beans. They even gave us a complimentary stuffed tofu appetizer while telling us «Happy Holidays». It was quite nice of them. All of the dishes we ordered were good, but I wouldn’t order the string beans again because it was TOO peppery (I know, I know, it’s in the name, but I wasn’t prepared). After dinner, they served us a complimentary mango shaved ice dessert. So many places don’t give free dessert at the end anymore so I was pleasantly surprised.
The fried calamari was excellent and I would order it again, but I prefer the extra greasy salt & pepper calamari from a local Chinese restaurant slightly more. I love me some grease.
Overall, it was a very good meal with superb and friendly service. Highly recommended if you are in the area!

I like this place! Delicious Malaysian food and good for groups. Came here twice and did family style so we tried a bunch! They even accommodated our party of 22!
First time:
Pineapple fried rice — 3.5
Char kway teow noodle — 4
Balachan KangKung — 4 (good veggie dish)
Hainan chicken — 3.5
Malay sizzling black pepper beef — 3.5
Sarang taro basket seafood — 4
Satay chicken app — 4
Calamari app — 3.5
Indian mee goreng noodle — 3.5
Second time:
Huat Dan ho noodle (bee hoon) — 5 (my fav cuz I love gravy sauce!)
Satay beef app — 4
Satay chicken app — 4
Thai basil chicken — 4.5 (really good!)
Balachan KangKung — 4
Seafood fried rice — 4
Sizzling black pepper beef — 3.5
Siam prawns — 3 (too saucy)
Coffee short ribs — 3.5
String beans — 3.5 (too saucy)
Tai pou chicken — 3 (too saucy)
Everything was pretty good! However, there are many dishes that are heavily sauce based, and some seemed to overpower the dish. We even ordered tai pou chicken to have something fried and balance the saucy dishes, however even that dish had a lot of sweet and sour sauce that we thought was unnecessary. Just be warned that this restaurant may have a lot of saucy dishes.
ATMOSPHERE: Casual, nice décor, really good customer service. They gave free naan with curry for appetizer and shaved iced for the birthday celebrant for dessert. The whole staff sang happy bday! The staff and manager are super friendly and bubbly.
OVERALL: Good variety of Malaysian food, great customer service, and awesome place for big groups! We’ll def be back!

As a Unilocaler, I’m ashamed that I’ve eaten here so many times without giving this place a proper review! This place opened up this past year, but their service still feels like they are having their grand opening. Attentive service and even complimentary appetizers at times! Their menu is huge, which is why we’ve been able to come back so often without getting bored! Here are my favorites so far:
Roti Prata– there is never enough roti to sop up the delicious curry dip. Delicious!
Tofu Salad– fried tofu with a peanut sauce and freshly topped with cucumbers. We’ve received this on the house twice and it’s always very tasty.
Sarang taro basket chicken– in Korean this means, LOVE taro basket chicken. Which makes a lot of sense to me! I don’t know what it means in Malay, but it sure is tasty! The chicken and vegetables are sautéed in a standard way, but the crispy fried taro basket it comes in is out of this world.
Malay sizzling black pepper beef– flavorful and best paired with rice to offset the saltiness.
There’s enough variety here to keep everyone in your party happy!

It was my first time around this area so I went here with my friend to check it out. Parking wasn’t bad at all since there were a lot around the area. Also, the parking lot that we found offered free parking after a specific time.
ATMOSPHERE:
I thought the atmosphere in this restaurant was comfortable. The ambiance was calming and the noise level was very low.
FOOD:
We ordered the chicken satay and salt & pepper calamari with a bottle of wine which was 50% when we came in here Tuesday!
Chicken Satay: ⁴⁄₅ — It was very tasty and the meat was perfectly cooked since it wasn’t too dry, yet it was easy to bite off. It came with this sauce that made it even more flavorful when you dip it.
Salt & pepper calamari: ⁵⁄₅ — One of the best calamari I’ve ever had! I wish it came in a bigger serving size just because I couldn’t get enough of it. It’s chewy, but not too chewy where you get tired of chewing
CUSTOMER SERVICE:
Our waiter was great! He gave us everything we needed. Everyone here was pretty friendly.
I’d love to come back here and order some of their other entrees and get more of their calamari! I highly suggest getting that appetizer.

Solid inexpensive Thai cuisine in downtown San Mateo!
Mango Garden is especially good for lunch and offers a number of lunch specials priced at only $ 7.95. I opted for the Mango Garden Highlights appetizer dish, which features an assortment of their most popular appetizers, including mango salad, fried tofu, 2 egg rolls, 3 fried shrimp and some kind of fried green onion pancake. Overall the sampler was a bit heavy on the fried food but the mango salad was super fresh and helped balance it out a little bit.
At only $ 10, this would be a good dish to share before your main course. A tasty variety of nibbles (although I didn’t really touch the green onion pancake because it was way over cooked).
Mango Garden also serves house made mango and lychee iced teas (which I definitely intend to try next time) along with a full bar of spirits, wine and beer. My wine pour was huge for only $ 5 and I left full and very happy.
Service was attentive and food came out lightning fast. Parking was very easy with a large parking garage in the back and meters on the street.

I actually came here for the unofficial Unilocal event organized by Stan, one of the Unilocal Elites in our community, so my experience here takes place in the private room two stories up.
The private room upstairs was both spacious and organized. I was telling a lot of Unilocalers how I already went to the Mango Garden in Cupertino and explained how their entrees and customer service were on point. Likewise, this Mango Garden had excellent management and servers and brought out food out at a reasonable time while explaining to us which food they are about to serve us. A lot of Asian restaurants just put your entrees down in a hurry and do not bother to tell you what it is, but Mango Garden puts a lot of consideration and care into their customers.
As for the food, I enjoyed all of the appetizers (and got full off of them before the main courses arrived :(), which consisted of Chicken Satay, Roti Canai, and Salty Deep Fried Squid. All were over-​the-​top amazing and I pretty much kept sampling from each plate consistently. Before my friend and I left, I saw the main dishes come in and they smelled amazing! My already-​bloated stomach and eyes yearned for these dishes, but I knew I had to resist.
Anyways, Mango Garden is a great place to satisfy your Malaysian or Asian Fusion cravings and I would definitely recommend this place to both family and friends.

What a nice dinner we just had here! First of all I am gonna start by saying how amazing the service was. The staff was super attentive (refilled your drinks before it’s done), always making sure you are satisfied with everything and always smiling. I have to mention Jerry for his amazing hospitality as he insisted on offering us the Roti on the house because according to him you have to start with it so the curry opens up the flavors in your mouth.
Now to the food. The portions are BIG and the presentation is nice (not what is usually expected from that type of cuisines)! I mean just look at the size of that pineapple fried rice!
Jerry was right that Roti really was delicious and was a great starter for a really good meal. The pineapple fried rice is tasty and plenty! The pineapple pieces tasted so fresh and not your usual canned ones.
The black pepper chicken came extra sizzling and that chicken was oh soo soo tender. How do they do it?
As for the highlight of the meal it was definitely the ox tail curry. I am a sucker for ox tail and this dish was one of the best ox tail dishes I’ve had. The curry was just hot enough without overwhelming you. The meat on the ox tail just falls off the bones and melts in your mouth like butter.
Found a new favorite place in San Mateo!

I can understand why they have a 4+ star Unilocal rating. Their customer service here is fantastic. And Unilocalers are really big on customer service, and Mango Garden really sets this precedence!
I’m a big fan of Roti Prata, and I was surprised how good it was. My favorite here though is their Rendang Curry Lamb. That puppy is soooo good. The curry is set just right. Overall, I think it’s a great place to have an awesome meal if you like curry, and they even serve Malaysian dishes too! I like this place so much that if they have an outdoor dinning, I’d take my dogs with me and dine in more!
Until then, Cheers! ~ :p

This place looked like it recently open
and I finally had a chance to try it!
The place is actually really good. The inside is very, very well decorated – everything from the tables to the walls, to the clothing of the wait staff are all very professional. The service is fast and attentive, the water glasses are always refilled, and generally the place is pretty well-​run.
In terms of food quality, as you can see from the photos, the presentation is superb. The taste is also very nice, especially the pineapple rice which was soft and full of flavor. Nice
Overall, worth going back again and again