Mango & Papaya - Walthamstow

12:45pm Wednesday 11th June 2008

THERE'S always something disconcerting about walking into a near-empty restaurant. Especially when there's no obvious reason for the lack of other diners.

If the paint was peeling off the walls and I had only heard bad things about the food, then I would understand. But that's not the case as having been open less than a year, Mango & Papaya is still very new, and reports of the Caribbean cuisine have been very favourable.

A lot of thought and investment has obviously gone into the interior of the restaurant, with a series of interesting paintings on the walls and expensive leather chairs with walnut tables.

The service is equally attentive, as we found throughout the evening, with the staff friendly and actually interested in whether you were enjoying your food, rather than just chucking it in as an obligatory question.

With neither of us being massively hungry, we went straight for the main courses, enjoying a glass of Red Stripe beer (£3) as we perused the menu.

And although there were only ten dishes to choose from (well, nine when we found that there was none of the restaurant's sticky Hawaiian chicken left), it was still a tough choice to make.

Easy if you're a non-fish eating vegetarian, as it has to be the macaroni cheese (£7.95) and easy if you don't fancy anything from the Caribbean, as it has to be the steak and chips (£11.50).

Otherwise it is a toss-up between a host of interesting fish and meat dishes including ackee and salmon (£10.50) and curried goat (£10.50).

My girlfriend eventually opted for the chicken stew (£9.95) while I went for the curried chicken (£9.95) with a side of dumplings (two for £1.50).

And when they arrived, for a man who thinks with his stomach, I was definitely not going to quibble about the portion sizes, as both plates came piled high.

The curried chicken required a bit of work, as it came on the bone, but the meat was so tender it came off easily and was delicious.

It wasn't too spicey, which worked well for me and the accompanying dumplings lived up to the menu's boast as the most succulent dumplings you'll ever find on the planet'.

The chicken stew, which came with rice and peas, was equally tasty, and the rich Caribbean sauce had a bit of a kick to it without being oppressively hot.

So despite the portion sizes, the empty plates were testament to the quality of the food.

After being so pleasantly surprised, we did debate the merits of dessert but decided that we wouldn't do them justice.

However, with delicious ice cream dishes, banana cake and chocolate delight (ranging from £3.50 to £4.95) on offer, it was certainly a difficult offer to pass up.

Our bill, which included two beers each, came to £33.40.

Maybe more than you would expect to pay in most of Walthamstow's other eateries, but we were certainly not complaining.

Hopefully a return visit will see us following the crowds in their droves rather than leading the way ourselves.

MANGO & PAPAYA
257 Hoe Street
Walthamstow
E17 9PT
TEL: 020 8520 2637

www.mangoandpapaya.com

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