1. One of the aspects of a restaurant that is sometimes overlooked in the mix of elements that make up a complete dining experience is the atmosphere of a room or the entire restaurant. Different restaurants seek to invoke different feelings from their customers by the way they decorate, light and accessorize their dining areas. Fast-food franchises, for example, create a bright, artificial atmosphere that most people would not consider to be intimate or comfortable. The result: people tend to eat and leave without wanting to loiter unnecessarily which is exactly the desired result. Table space, and therefore cost, is kept to a minimum because there is a high turnover of people in the restaurant. Most restaurants, however, want their guests to feel as comfortable as possible so that they will come back again and again. This objective is achieved in innumerable ways but one method is by matching the cuisine to the decor. In the case of Thai food that means creating a traditional space for dining. One restaurant that has done that remarkably well is Mango Tree off Silom Soi 6 (actually reachable by Surawong also at 37 Soi Anumarn Rachthon. Owned by the Coca Group of restaurants, Mango Tree has for a number of years been serving diners from a traditional looking Thai house that has been converted into the restaurant. It's even walled from the street and has a small courtyard that provides a convenient space for the musicians who perform traditional Thai music nightly on a raised platform. The music provides a low background accompaniment to the meal through the walls of the house, so you are aware of its presence but it never intrudes on your consciousness. The interior of the house is broken up into small rooms and doesn't seat more than about 50 people or so. However, those seats are usually occupied due to the quality of the food served here. Another thing that keeps the seats filled is the excellent service that is provided. Ms Matiya, who seems to be the person responsible for maintaining service levels in several of the company's restaurants, has done an excellent job of ensuring that the needs of the guests are placed first at all times. The other major reason is, of course, the food. Being a farang (foreigner) makes it difficult to always ascertain if certain dishes are created according to the exact way that tradition dictates. However, what is possible is recognizing quality ingredients and careful preparation. Mango Tree receives high marks on both of those counts. The rather large menu contains dishes that are representative of a number of different regional cooking styles and features well-known standards such as to yum goong and laab gai to more esoteric entries like stir fried morning glory and raw shrimp in fish sauce. Our own selections tended perhaps more to the ordinary, but there are certain dishes that we use as measuring sticks and they tend to get ordered more than they probably should. We first started with deep fried chicken in pandon leaves which proved to be just a little spicy and extremely moist and flavorful, a perfect way to start the meal. This set us up for tom yum seafood which was filled with tender mushrooms, plentiful squid, a shrimp and a good mixture of the flavors that create this simple soup. Our entrees consisted of la gai, a whole grilled red snapper and fried shrimp with pepper and garlic. All of the dishes were good but the snapper was the favorite of the night Cooked to the point of almost dryness, the meat flaked off the bones in large chunks and"
very tasty. We didn't ask what the individual ingredients were that produced this great taste' so we can only report that the end result was certainly worth the effort. And, it's worth the effort to seek out the Mango Tree, both for the food and the atmosphere. The authenticity of the surroundings won't necessarily make the food taste better, but in this case the food is great anyway, so the surroundings only enhance what is a pleasant and relaxing experience.