Coastal magic at The Mango Tree Coastal

Sheela Narayanan | tabla! | Fri Sep 14 2012

by Sheela Narayanan

Singapore, September 14, 2012

The Mango Tree Coastal 
112 East Coast Road, I12 Katong, 03-11
Singapore 428802
Tel: 6604-9661

Sometimes the price to pay for progress can be a little annoying, especially when it means one of your regular haunts has to move.

The Mango Tree had been planted at the East Coast Recreation Centre at East Coast Park (ECP) for 12 years before it had to uproot itself and move to I12 Katong due to redevelopment plans for the ECP area.

When the restaurant started in 2001, it was the first to offer Indian coastal fare in Singapore. And owner Chin Choon Kean confesses he did not know anything about the cuisine until he made an exploratory trip to Kerala, Goa and Mumbai prior to setting up the business. 

Over the last decade, I’ve been to The Mango Tree at the ECP with my friends many times for a nice, chill-out meal and cocktails by the beach. I particularly loved the huge wooden doors at the entrance.

When the restaurant moved to I12 Katong, those wooden doors had to be redesigned and cut to fit the new decor. It was a pity but I was more interested to see if the food was still the same.

I am happy to report yes. The mushroom pepper fry starter ($9.90) still has that big spicy hit. If you are feeling under the weather, this is the dish to have with hot steamed rice.

The Koliwada Prawns ($11.90) is another good item from the appetiser section of the menu. You can’t really go wrong with battered deep-fried prawns.

For the mains, The Mango Tree Garlic Crab (a stonecrab stuffed with garlic and butter, $36) was exactly as I remembered it. The dish draws its influnce from Chinese cooking as the crab’s delicate flesh is not overwhelmed by the garlic and the butter.

The Meen Polichatu (fish smeared in spicy paste and wrapped in banana leaf, $20.90) was another good trip down memory lane for me, although I would have liked a bit more kick in the spice paste.

For vegetarians, I would recommend the Mango Mapas (green mango curry, $10.50). The green mango cooked down to a fleshy pulp gives the coconut-based curry a lovely tangy hit.

Wash all the food down with the Masala Soda ($9) – one of the new additions to the menu – and you may just not miss the view and sea breeze from the previous location too much.