Eclectic Fusion Food at the Mango Room Restaurant in Hoi An

For most Europeans the combination of sweet and spicy flavors in one dish is strange and foreign. I vividly remember when I first had fresh pineapple with sugar and chili and the first taste set my mouth on fire! Too quickly this unusual combination gets qualified as too spicy and therefore unpleasant. In most Asian cuisines, Thai and Vietnamese in particular, the delicate mix of different sweet and spicy flavors is essential and has its own distinctiveness. Spice brings out the flavor in many foods, giving it a spin and challenges traditional expectations. After getting used to the combination of spicy, hearty and sweet flavors in one dish one starts to discover different shades of spiciness and slowly starts to appreciate those unusual combinations. Some spices for example burn on the tongue, others in the mouth and some even in the throat and the stomach way after the meal. With a huge variety of different Asian spices from different chilies and peppers (the Cambodian for example have their own very tasty Pepper) a skilled cook tickles one’s taste buds and creates a true firework in one’s mouth. Duc, the cosmopolitan Vietnamese owner and cook of the restaurant Mango Rooms in Hoi An, comes up with surprising combinations of flavors and creates a wide panorama of taste sensations unheard of in the Europe. Here are three creations of Duc: Number one is called Asian Sins Noodles with Shrimps - Quick wok-fried local rice noodles cooked “al dente” with Vietnamese ginger, pepper, brown sugar, juicy tomatoes, onion slices and fresh-water shrimps. Even my travel companion Alexander Drews, a self-proclaimed pasta-lover, was startled by this extraordinary combination! Creation number two called Salsahsimi was Sashimi Tuna Steak with Mango Salsa – Tuna steak quickly fried on the outside on a spicy-sweet Mango Salsa bed with rice noodles on a pepper-dressing served with soy sauce and Japanese Wasabi. And for desserts I had crispy Mango-Wontons with coconut droplets served on a banana leaf and chocolate sauce – a heavenly delight!

The Mango Rooms restaurant can be found at 111 Nguyen Thai Hoc or send them an email: mangocafe@yahoo.com

Comments

[usha]

We had dinner at Mango room last week. We are both vegetarians and there was one vegetarian entree on the menu called Buddha appetite.
Cubes of tofu seasoned in curry,lemon grass and black pepper and pan fried,topped with garlic,tomato and sweet basil sauce.

That was the best food we have had in our travels. I give the chef a high five.