Mangosteen

What's it like?

It's already been a few weeks since I had lunch at Mangosteen, but a craving for one of their dishes reminded me that I never gave it a write-up.

First things first: Joan Obra first hinted at Mangosteen's arrival back in April. Evidently, it's kind of a big deal in San Francisco, so I was excited to see another restaurant of their reputation expanding here.

I never ate at Kim's Vietnamese, so I'm not sure what the interior looked like before, but it looks as though the new owners have preserved an older space, adding bright colors (lime green, predominantly) to give it new life. It's a good vibe.

As with other San Fran restaurants that move into the community, Mangosteen offers a lot of food for the price. Lunch entrees are in the $7-10 range, and many come with a salad and egg roll (it's a lot to eat). The menu items were unfamiliar to me, so I went with the server's recommendation: "shaking" beef. Not bad.

I also tried a guest's chicken, which was even better, but the best part of the meal was the Malaysian chicken (that's what I'm craving right now): cubed chicken lightly seasoned and over-fried. It's hard to describe, but for us carnivores, there's something very satisfying about the texture. For those already familiar, Mangosteen also serves boba, though I don't recommend it with a meal that heavy.

I've heard mixed reviews from others on the food and service; from my first experience, the food is worth another trip, but the service needs week. Our server was polite, but uncoordinated and slow. The Malaysian chicken, for example, was ordered as an appetizer, but not served until after we started eating our entrees (which were preceded by salads).