Mangrove Kitchen — Restaurant in San Francisco

Mangrove on Divisadero in San Francisco was reported to be a fine Thai food experience. The menu certainly gave that impression as did the very high prices.

My friend and I found parking right in front on the street and were seated almost immediately in one of the large booths. The decor of this place is quite lovely! Woven basket lampshades hung from the ceilings in shapes that went from organic to fish.

After scanning the menu, I realized I could only afford one dish, so no appetizers I had a Thai iced coffee, which was awesome and ordered the softshell crab Ramen, which came with shiitake mushrooms… my FAVORITE!!! my friend ordered the vegetarian green Thai curry. Hers came first, but the food was served quickly. Her bowl was decorated with savory crispy fried Long noodle sticks. When mine arrived, there were two large crispy pieces of softshell crab. But something was off. I’m allergic to fish, but I can eat shellfish. It’s just fish with scales that I’m allergic to. But the smell of fish makes me retch. And the smell of bad fish…

One bite into the crab, and I realized that that was where the odor was coming from. It’d befouled the entire soup. It’s a pity. The soup had lots of corn and some pretty slices of a small onion… maybe shallots?

But I couldn’t eat it at all! I was struggling not to throw up. I had to suck down my Thai iced coffee to attempt to eradicate the taste.

I flagged the waitress down and told her of course she seemed concerned she asked if I would like anything else and I said yes I would appreciate the same dish only with chicken and no crap. I asked her to add shiitake mushrooms to it. She seemed concerned about that too.

When she returned, she brought a large bowl like the previous one, but after one bite and then a second bite to make sure, I realized it was not the previous Ramen soup as before. At all. It was vastly different in spice, fairly bland, and then she reappeared with a little bowl in which was placed a single small shiitake mushroom

Seriously? They charged me five dollars for one shiitake mushroom cap? Better be magic for that money.

Sadly, all the magic had been drained from the evening, and I can only say that after all their arguing that their chicken Ramen was a different soup from the soft shelled crab and that my saying I wanted the same soup -only with chicken - meant nothing to them, that others is far better than I did.

Honestly, if someone were about to throw up because I brought them spoiled fish, I don’t think I would charge ANYONE at the table for their dinner! But they did not think that was...

The general consensus on this place is that it’s so mid. But I just wanted a simple soup so I figured that it would be low risk.

Ordered soup w/ shrimp and brown rice. Somehow came to $30 but ok..

First attempt: they gave me the wrong soup, one I’m actually allergic to. No big deal, mistakes happen

Second attempt: I went back, clarified my order (with the prawns, please), and they confirmed it was the wrong soup. Got the right soup and left.

Third attempt: Halfway down the block, I check—no prawns. Back I go again to ask for the correct order.

I was met with SO MUCH ATTITUDE as if I had done something wrong. They literally made me open the soup and handed me a fork to “prove” that there actually wasn’t any shrimp. At this public shaming, I literally dug through this soup and there were a collective 2 shrimp. I asked if this was normal and they just rolled their eyes and went to the back.

So I basically ended up spending over 30+ minutes on a bowl of soup and feeling publicly shamed for their mistake.

Will...

This is such a cute restaurant in the city!! Definitely one of best Thai food spots I've been to in a while. The ambiance is visually beautiful and great for date nights or small gatherings. A little understaffed during busy dinner time, but we also came at the same time as many other tables.

Here's what I tried:

Panang Curry with Pork (5/5): SO GOOD! Great portions. If you love your curry with a strong coconut creaminess, this is THE DISH you need to try. Great flavor, not spicy at all - and the pork in this was amazing! Tender, flavorful, and sliced thinly. A must try!

Khao Mun Gai (2/5): Pretty disappointed by this one. The chicken thighs were SO DRY! Even with the sauce (which was great), the chicken was dry. Even the chicken rice was clumpy and not very flavorful either.

Aloha Fried Rice (5/5): No complaints here! A good balance between all the flavors. Pineapple wasn't too overpowering and the shrimp were huge! I liked the cashews and raisins surprisingly, and the presentation...