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Chinatown DC -- Cool / inexpensive Restruants?

yo ladydeac that you talking to Sietsema about Mango Tree? I saw your similar review on DR.com
 
I want to check out Mango Tree. Anyone been? It's a block from my office.
 
DBGB is fine. Been a few times, and while the food has always been good, it didn't blow me away. I keep meaning to walk over and try the burger for lunch. It looks pretty good.
 
wfudkn said:
I want to check out Mango Tree. Anyone been? It's a block from my office.
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Yikes. It's directly across the street from my office. We're too close. Some people from here went when it first opened and said it was good not great, and they couldn't really figure out what they were trying to do with a bunch of dishes. But it had just opened and they all said they'd try it again.
 
Mango Tree - also across the street from my office. Now I need to try that as well.

Also, the DBGB Frenchie burger is probably the best I've ever had in DC. It's not huge and it's definitely pricey, but it's really good. Headed there for dinner in a couple weeks and I'm interested to see how their dinner options are.

Nice to see Mason Social on the Heat Map from EaterDC. Only a few blocks from my house, had lunch there the other day and it was great. Nice bar, cool setup, small menu - looking forward to trying dinner there as well. Plus it's next to Sugar Shack which is always a bonus.
 
DCDeac said:
Mango Tree - also across the street from my office. Now I need to try that as well.

Also, the DBGB Frenchie burger is probably the best I've ever had in DC. It's not huge and it's definitely pricey, but it's really good. Headed there for dinner in a couple weeks and I'm interested to see how their dinner options are.

Nice to see Mason Social on the Heat Map from EaterDC. Only a few blocks from my house, had lunch there the other day and it was great. Nice bar, cool setup, small menu - looking forward to trying dinner there as well. Plus it's next to Sugar Shack which is always a bonus.
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I believe Sugar Shack was started by my good friends fraternity brother.
 
The Richmond one or the new one? The Alexandria one looks to be killing it. We've only gone during off-hours and there's still a line.
 
BarcaDeac said:
yo ladydeac that you talking to Sietsema about Mango Tree? I saw your similar review on DR.com
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Twas me on both.

wfudkn said:
I want to check out Mango Tree. Anyone been? It's a block from my office.
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Went Tuesday night.

BarcaDeac said:
Lady Deac has
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Yep.

Not impressed.

Here was my post to Tom:


Q: Respectfully disagree on Mango Tree

Tom, I have been a devotee of your chats and columns for years, and you rarely steer me wrong. However, I have to respectfully disagree with your glowing praise for Mango Tree. The actual restaurant space is lovely, but that didn't really make up for our extremely overpriced food and memorable (in the wrong way) service.

Our server was a bit over-enthusiastic and overly friendly from the start, and when he asked if he could go over the menu, he literally went through every single menu item and said something about it. So we asked for clarification and if he had anything he'd particularly recommend, and he basically said it was all good. Very helpful. He also gave us the line about the spice being toned down for American palates (so it sounds like that's a tagline they're using repeatedly, which is a bit off putting). He mentioned at one point that the dishes were fine for individual servings or that things could be shared, but we ended up each ordering our own entree and a couple of shared apps. When the last person ordered, she made a comment about us not sharing entrees like he suggested, and he said, "I know. You're women. You never listen to any suggestions!" Maybe not the most appropriate thing to say to a group of mid-30s professional women. The final annoyance of the evening was his overpouring of our wine. I think I had had a sip, or two at the most, when he was immediately back at my shoulder pouring more into my glass and to the others at the table. And for one of our friends who had requested just a small amount, he topped off her glass, which she did not want, when she was chatting and not paying attention. Not surprisingly, our bottle was quickly empty.

The food was fine. Between us we had the two mushroom curries, the chicken curry, the duck, and one of the beef dishes, and we shared the duck spring rolls and a side of pad thai as appetizers (no one was tempted by the market price on the lobster pad thai last night at $49!? Which was nearly double the next highest priced dish). I don't think anyone disliked their food, but there were many comments that we all thought we could have had equally good Thai food at a number of area places for less than half the price. We also compared it to Rasika where we have gladly paid a little more for innovative and delicious Indian food that we couldn't get somewhere else, but nothing at Mango Tree stood out in the same way to us as worth the rather large price tag.

A: Tom Sietsema

While I stand by my review, which was based on four visits and noted the pricing (CityCenterDC isn't cheap real estate), I'm grateful for your detailed issues with your server.



I don't know what's worse, being told that "everything's good;" the spicing is restrained (as if DC can't take the heat); the over-pouring (grrr); or the line about women not listening. I hope your post is flagged at Mango Tree's next staff meeting.



Did you mention anything to a manager at any point?
 
CityCenter is like DC Vegas. Everything is trendy, new, there's modern lounge music playing in every indoor space, and it's all over priced. But then some of it is really good... Can't wait to find a vendor who's down for Del Frisco's surf and turf...
 
I will admit that we may have come away feeling differently about Mango Tree if we'd had a better server.

But I still have a really hard time paying $22 for chicken curry or even more egregious $49 for lobster pad thai when it really doesn't taste all that different from some of the other Thai places around town. Yes, it's a nicer dining room and it's in City Center, but it's not THAT much nicer.
 
I am super stoked about Momofuku however. Milk Bar is supposed to open this summer.
 
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