Hot, hot, hot Hot, hot, hot (June 24, 2005)

Fiery cuisine at Mango Cafe heats up palate with spicy chicken wings and curries

By Mandy Erickson

I thought I could handle spicy food. I pour fiery salsa on my tacos, order Thai curries hot and prefer tekka maki with plenty of wasabi.

But Mango Cafe's goat curry humbled me. Its habanero-enhanced sauce was so incendiary, nothing on the table could quench the fire -- not the rice on which it was served, not the red beans on my friend's plate, not the coconut-pineapple-orange smoothie I was sucking down like a camel in the desert.

The waitress did warn me when I ordered the spicy lunch plate ($8.95), but I figured she misread me for a chili wuss. In fact, goat curry wasn't the only source of heat on the plate -- the dish comes with "joints," the part of a chicken wing that looks like a mini drumstick. These were jerked -- marinated in a cinnamon-pepper rub -- and plenty spicy. (To preserve a morsel of my dignity, I'd like to add that these I tolerated just fine.)

It's only appropriate that Mango Cafe, which serves dishes from the Caribbean at its Hamilton Avenue location, where the king-of-heat habanero originated, offers truly scorching dishes. While they're not the only thing on the menu, spiciness is definitely the way to go. The best dishes were the fiery concoctions, while the rice dishes and other curries were more humdrum.

In my first bite of the goat curry, in the few seconds before the chilies' capsicum exploded on my palate, I found the meat flavorful (akin to both beef and lamb) and coated in a well-spiced, velvety tomato sauce. The curry had stewed long enough to render the meat tender and to allow the spices to develop.

The jerked joints, similarly, positively yelled cinnamon, pepper and allspice. These wing drumettes, one of the tastiest parts of a chicken, had been slow roasted so that the succulent meat fell off the bone.

And the rasta pea cook-up ($7.50), a thick stew of black-eyed peas, red beans and pigeon peas (a yellow pea that originated in Africa) was sufficiently spicy to give it personality. The stew is served over chocho, the West Indian word for chayote, a squash similar to zucchini, and rice.

The other, tamer dishes I tried were less inspired. Chicken roti ($6.95 as a lunch special, $7.95 for dinner), a turmeric-colored, thick curry of chicken meat, potatoes, carrots and peas inside a roti -- which at Mango Café meant a white-flour wrap like a soft tortilla -- was only OK.

Chicken pelau ($7.95 for dinner), a rice dish with peas and black olives colored with turmeric served on top of baked chicken thighs, also fell flat. None of the ingredients offered much for the taste buds.

And the rice and peas ($2.50 as a side dish), really red beans and rice, was disappointingly bland.

I did find that adding chili sauce helped these dishes. Each table at Mango Café features three bottles of West Indian chili sauce: hot crushed pepper sauce, West Indian hot sauce and West Indian-style calypso sauce, in descending order of heat.

Incidentally, the curries and the roti (another word for chapati, the Indian flat bread) come to Caribbean cuisine from India. And the pelau, similar as it is to biryani, the Indian casserole of rice, meat and vegetables, may have taken its inspiration from the subcontinent.

India also supplied the West Indies with the mango, and you'll find Mango Cafe's namesake fruit in its beverages. The restaurant whips up a number of terrific smoothies ($3.50), mixtures of tropical fruit named after locations in the islands -- Kingston, Dragon's Mouth and Montego Bay. Served in massive goblets, they're refreshing, fruity and not at all oversweet.

The service at Mango Café is unbelievably fast: Each of the four times I dined there, my meal arrived less than five minutes after I ordered it. The waitress, the same one each visit, was friendly and competent. Only once did she make an error, though it unfortunately ruined lunch for my friend, who can't tolerate spicy food. She was served jerked joints, rather than the milder curried joints, with her small order of joints with rice and peas ($5.95).

Mango Café's atmosphere is relaxed, cozy and a bit festive: Entertaining photos of island people and scenery dot the walls, Bob Marley and other reggae greats play endlessly and vines trail along the walls.

It all makes a good place for a party. And if you want it to be an authentic celebration, you'll need to order the goat curry because it's the national party dish of Jamaica. Here are my suggestions for fighting the fire:

Order a baked plantain ($2.25), mild, starchy, faintly banana-flavored and simply baked in its skin. Save it until the entree arrives so you can take as many bites as you need to help absorb the heat. Wash it down with beer or a coconut smoothie -- capsicum dissolves in both alcohol and fat but not water. Order goat roti, curried goat over rice (both $11.95) or a "taste" of the curry ($6.25) with a rice dish rather than the spicy plate.

Be forewarned: Even with these flame-resistant measures you'll feel the burn.

Mango Cafe, 435 Hamilton Ave., Palo Alto; (650) 324-9443
Hours: Monday - Friday 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.; Monday - Sunday 6 to 9:30 p.m.

Reservations - yes
Credit cards - yes
Lot parking - yes
Alcohol - yes
Takeout - yes
Highchairs - yes
Wheelchair access - yes
Banquet - yes
Catering - yes
Outdoor seating - no
Noise level - low
Bathroom cleanliness - good

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