The Blue Mango is an Indian Restaurant in the heart of Birmingham, situated just off Broad Street on Regency Wharf. It’s not somewhere I had been before although it had been on my radar, so I looked forward to trying it. There’s some fabulous Indian food going on in Birmingham and the surround at the moment, the likes of Raja Monkey, Lasan, Delhi 6, Punjabi Rasoi and many many more so the bar is set pretty high.
The restaurant inside was large and spacious with a combination of booths and tables. For a Wednesday night it was filling up quite nicely while we were there. We had some excellent and prompt service, and it was a nice touch to be asked after our starter if we needed a break before the mains were brought out (we did!)
So what of the food? Poppadoms were crisp and non greasy with a traditional and good quality dip selection. Starters wise we went for a Dosa – Wafer thin and crispy rice flour crêpe served with chicken tikka filling along with fresh coconut and tomato chutney and a Punjabi Samosa – Dough pastry stuffed with spiced potatoes served with green peas, hung curd and tamarind sauce. I’m a little obsessed with tamarind at the moment and can’t get enough of the stuff so was trying my best to steal the tamarind sauce of Lee’s samosa plate – it was excellent and the samosa it self lovely and light. I’ve never tried a dosa before and must say I loved it. A filling starter though. The tomato chutney that came along side I wolfed down it was so good.
For my main I chose something I wasn’t familiar with; Chicken Tak-a-Tak – Strips of chicken breast marinated and basted in tandoor and sautéed on an iron taws with fresh melee of pepper, tomatoes and fresh green chilli. This arrived at the table sizzling on the tawa and the flavours were excellent. It was a drier dish that a usual curry, and was huge – plenty enough for two to share. Lee decided on a Hydrabadi Nalli Gosht – Slow cooked lamb shanks cooked with mild smooth nutty gravy. Anybody that knows him or reads the blog won’t necessarily be surprised at this choice – he’s a bit of lamb shank and lamb in general fiend! The meat was very tender, falling of the bone just how it should be and again he enjoyed the flavours a lot. We shared some rice and an garlic naan, but to be honest we barely made a dent in them as everything was so large!
The food at Blue Mango was extremely enjoyable and decent value for the huge portion sizes on offer. I would certainly recommend you to try it out if you’re looking for somewhere new to go.
http://bluemangobirmingham.co.uk
Disclosure: We were invited to try out the Blue Mango and the meal was complimentary. A positive review was not required, and all views as always, are our own.