When I arrived, the place seemed a little disorganized. It is small with benches and a few tiny tables lined in the front. This suggest that the place is not meant as a hang out for large groups, but this doesn't stop people from sitting around and socializing. The line was at the door when I went in, and it took awhile for it to move. I think someone had a large order to fill. There were one person taking orders, three people making drinks, and the kitchen seems pretty fast. The person handling the orders coming out from the kitchen was trying to help with calling out the drink orders as well. It seemed a little chaotic behind the counter. Since all the benches were filled, it was also kinda awkward of finding a place to stand and be out of people's way while waiting for your order to be up. Further, after I finished ordering, the person taking orders came up to me twice as she forgot to give me a straw and then my pudding.
Mango Coconut $7
If you like coconut and mango, this is the drink for you. The drink is basically fresh mango juice over coconut milk slush. The coconut milk slush part was very good and all coconut flavour. The mango juice is thick and overwhelming by itself. When you mix the drink, you get a little bit of coconut and lot of mango flavour. This drink is big, and I think reasonably priced considering they have to import the mango from the Philippines and maybe other places. They also top this drink off with big mango chunks.
Bao Trio (l to r) - Bulgogi Cheese Steak, Braised Pork Belly, and Miso Mushroom $12
When you order the bao trio, you get a complimentary dessert or green mango salad. I chose mango pudding. The pudding is very good and is full of mango flavour filled with little mango chunks. The pudding comes in little cups. You can buy it separately - 1 for $2.50 or 5 for $11.
The last time I had baos was over a year ago in San Francisco at a little famous food truck. The baos at Mango Mania are very tasty. The buns are made in-house and are soft and pillowy. During my visit, they ran out of roasted duck and that was my top pick. So in its place, I chose Bulgogi cheese steak. The meat was tender and spicy, but not overly spicy as I was able to handle it. However, the spiciness overwhelmed the cheese. I could barely taste the cheese or the onions. Braised pork belly bao was good. The pork belly melted in my mouth, and the pickled mustard greens gave it a little crunch. This was suppose to have a garlic mayo but I didn't get any on this bao which was okay since it didn't need any. The miso mushroom bao was also very good. The sauteed mushroom was tender. I didn't taste any miso (butter) because the garlic mayo was a bit over-powering, but the garlic mayo gave the mushroom bao an extra layer of flavour. Overall, the baos are very good. All the flavours in each of the baos were there, and the little buns was able to hold all the fillings pretty well.
All in all, this is a cute little place with a wonderful unique concept. The workers seemed a little over-whelmed when the place gets very busy, but I'm sure over time they will get use to the rush. And for sure, there will be a lot of rushes. I'm seeing this place will last for a long while. Next month, they will be switching over to winter hours, but they will still be open late on Fridays and Saturdays and close on Mondays.
Mango Mania
1115 Centre St N
403-668-0802
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