The Green Mango

I absolutely adored our meal at The Green Mango. We went earlyish on a Saturday evening for dinner, and it was an excellent choice. My mojito was strong and minty, the peanut satay was delicious and well-​presented (see photos), and our mains… oof. I had a daily special — roasted duck breast with vegetables in a delightful spicy sauce with coconut rice. It came with a pretty seagull carved out of a carrot, and perched on the side of my plate. My partner had another special — crab-​stuffed salmon in a green curry sauce with steamed jasmine rice. His came with a bird carved from what we think was a mango, with a chili for a beak. Both dishes were big on flavour, packed a bit of punch heat-​wise, and were just scrumptious.
The atmosphere was pretty good. We had a noisy table nearby, but that’s just down to bad luck. Décor was clean, with lots of wood tones and soft greens. Not the flashy décor of traditional Thai joints. Friendly waitstaff, if a bit scattered. The toilets are down a flight of stairs, though, and would be a bit tricky for someone with mobility issues. The pricing was very reasonable by London standards, but mid-​range for the area. Well worth it, in my opinion, though.
Highly recommended for small groups or dates. Might not be for kids unless they have a very sophisticated palate. Great for a casual date night or dinner after a long day on the beach.

Charming buzzy atmosphere on a Saturday night. Attracts all ages. Amazing and kitcsh vegetable carvings accompanying the food are great fun — squirrels, seagulls, swans, roses, all sorts of deftly carved flora & fauna. Its not style above substance — the food is good and interesting chefs specials too. Recommended for cheery birthdays and celebrations.

Green Mango is an exquisite family run restaurant that is simply divine. The couple who run it (he’s British, she’s Thai) put their heart and soul into running a brilliant establishment that offers up Thai food with a twist. The thai fishcakes are the must have on the menu and the lunch time offerings are excellent. Great atmosphere and great food. One of the finest restaurants in Hove for my money.

This is one occasion where I ignored the Unilocal community, and took a punt on the Green Mango. Two 1 star reviews (1 filtered) would normally put me off but a recommendation from a friend convinced me to give it a try and I was pleasantly surprised.
Green Mango is the brainchild of an English-​Thai couple, Sebastian and Suchani, who met and fell in love in Thailand, and decided to bring the taste of Suchani’s home country back to Brighton and Hove.
The restaurant is nicely done out, but in a simple way in contrast to a number of other local Thai restaurants that are full of glitz and glamour. There are quite a lot of tables and it was pretty busy on a Saturday night, another good sign.
I had booked on line, but due to a problem with their email system, no confirmation email was sent so Sebastian sent a text to confirm my booking. A nice personal touch.
On arrival we ordered a bottle of Chilean Sauv Blanc, although they did offer Thai cocktails which I would be interested to try on another occasion.
My friend and I were so busy chatting that the wait staff came to take our order three times before we had even looked at the menu — it’s definitely attentive service!
The menu is large with your standard Thai dishes and ones that I didn’t recognise. They also have a good number of specials so it was difficult to make a decision. In the end we went for the mixed starter which was your usual run of the mill selection of chicken satay, spring rolls, wantons, fish cakes, prawn toast and crackers. Tasty as expected but nothing out of the ordinary.
For main I chose the Pregnant Squid — much more appetising than it sounded. This was squid stuffed with minced prawns and chicken, served with peppers in a tamarind and chili sauce. Really tasty but a little difficult to eat with just the fork and spoon I was given, I had to request a knife! My friend went for the Pork Penaeng curry which was also delicious.
The food came with presented with fantastic seagulls sculpted out of carrots — a fine example of Thai-​Hove fusion!
We had look at the dessert menu but nothing really appealed and we were pretty full up anyway so we decided to skip it. The bill was a little slow in coming but this wasn’t really a problem.
It’s probably not the cheapest Thai meal you will ever have in Brighton and Hove, but the food was good quality and well cooked, and the service was friendly and efficient.
I’m glad I took a chance on them and hope you will too!