Green Mango in Hoi An opened in 2011 as part of a franchise of restaurants across Vietnam. The chain has won awards from the Miele Guide so is understandably towards the ‘higher end’ of the city’s restaurant selection.
Focusing on a French-style fusion cooking with some modern takes on both Western and Eastern classics, Green Mango lives in one of the Old Town’s beautiful, traditional wooden houses and offers cooking classes as well as an extensive menu. Read our full guide below.
Green Mango Overview
Green Mango has a gorgeous interior, with warm yellow walls, intricately carved wooden doors and pillars, plus opulent chairs in deep golds and magenta. It’s an ideal setting for a lingering lunch or romantic dinner. Chef Hai has honed his cooking skills to a fine art, with Green Mango restaurants across Vietnam, and this fusion-style eatery is very much at home in Hoi An’s Old Town.
Restaurant
The cuisine is a fusion of French cooking techniques and fresh local ingredients. There’s a Vietnamese influence in most of the dishes, with an extensive selection of spring rolls, seafood dishes and even banh mi. Think scallops with a fresh green salad and sweet beet jus, grapes wrapped with goats’ cheese, green tea smoked duck, or pork in a banana leaf salad…a marriage of East and West in every mouthful.
Diners are presented with bread baked fresh before service and there is a wide range of cocktails, spirits and wines. Top shelf single malts such as Laphroig and boutique beers such as Cooper’s are available. The restaurant also has a happy hour that runs between 12pm and 10pm so it’s an ideal place to stop off for a livener after an afternoon spent shopping!
Prices are of course towards the higher end for the region, but well worth it.
Cooking Class
Green Mango’s cooking classes are more original and creative than many others around. Choose your menu depending on your goals – whether you want to learn Vietnamese essentials, the best street eats or to wow your friends at a dinner party. Dishes include blue sticky rice with mango and Midori coconut sauce.
You can choose from five different menus – some classic dishes but others completely different to the usual fare proffered by dozens of other classes in Hoi An.
Review of Green Mango in Hoi An
Presentation matches flavor at Green Mango. The juicy chicken served with rice and a Malay-style curry sauce was surpassed only by the overall awesomeness of the bun bo nam (beef noodles from southern Vietnam). Fresh, light and totally addictive, it was a huge portion that still didn’t make us feel overstuffed afterwards. Which is often the joy of Vietnamese food.
Everything our friendly waitress, Hien, brought to our table was focused on simplicity, flavor and balance – again, which Vietnamese food does so very well. The menu also caters for all potential Western cravings. From braised lamb shank to blackened filet mignon and a full pizza menu, they’ve got plenty of international dishes to choose from. And they cater for dairy-free, gluten-free and veggie diets, too.
We finished our hugely enjoyable meal with steaming Lavazza coffee and a portion of sweet mango sticky rice. A great eating experience for anyone visiting Hoi An.
