sweet mango cafe

sweet mango cafe
3701 new hampshire avenue NW, washington, DC 20010
tel: 202) 726-2646
hours: sunday 11am-8pm, monday-thursday 11am-10pm, friday-saturday 11am-12am

what was consumed: jerk chicken meal (large!) ... subsequently, fish (i forget what it's called on the menu)

** an edit of addition - 24 may 2009**
i went back to sweet mango cafe for dinner last night and while we couldn't eat upstairs (it looked like it was closed for a private party of sorts), we took our food to go and came home to eat (still super yummy). this time, i had the fish - a whole fish, fried, with onions (some people are squemish about seeing whole fish, but not me! fish is delicious ... sweet mango cafe's fish is delicios!). the meal, of course, came with veggies and rice (and while the rice was delicious, i will have to go with all veggies, no rice, in the future). the fish was nicely fried - a slight batter covering on the fish, not overcooked, and seasoned with just a bit of spice. i wonder what the "large" order looks like - more fish or a bigger fish? haha ... next time, beef patties!

23 march 2009

with people talking about sweet mango cafe having the best jerk chicken in the dc/metro area, with solo (who has had real jamaican jerk chicken in jamaica) in town, with the cafe being just blocks from my house, AND with me smelling the delicious food when i walk to the metro on a regular basis ... i had to check it out.

check it out!

so, a bunch of us got together for some sunday dining. leonard and i were driving up from charlottesville and picked sarah up as we passed through the city to the cafe. christine met us there with solo and matt. we were running late and christine was hurrying us because the cafe's kitchen closes earlier on sundays - yikes! luckily, we made it there in the nick of time.

now, sweet mango cafe has some seating in the main dining area and that's fine. you take a look at the menu, order it at the counter, and wait for your food to come out in nice styrofoam containers. some people complain about it taking a long time for the food to come out. i think that it takes as long as it would if you were at any other sit-down restaurant. it's just that at sweet mango cafe, you're sort of standing around, waiting for the food (as opposed to sitting at your table, having drinks, being served). but it was totally worth the wait.

you open the container and the delicious wafting scent of the jamaican jerk chicken overtakes you and all you can think about is digging in. the chicken was cooked well and smothered with the jerk chicken sauce. i don't have any previous encounters with jerk chicken, so i don't know how it is elsewhere, but the sauce was nice and spicy here at the cafe. while it looks like more traditional bbq sauces, the jerk chicken sauce is not vinegar based. my jerk chicken meal came with some delicious vegetables (mostly cabbage - i love cabbage) and rice with beans and the like. mixed in with the jerk chicken sauce was as delicious as it was filling. delicious!

the second floor of the cafe is the sports bar (this is where we took our food to eat) - their hours are longer than the cafe, so hurrah! the jamaican bartender and the jamaican locals make dining and having red stripe beers in the sports bar quite a great adventure. the bar also has an outdoor patio that, i'm sure, will be inviting to all of the DCers who go bonkers when it comes to good weather and sitting outside to enjoy it.

yum! i can't wait to go again.

online: www.sweetmangocafe.com/