More Mango Tree Action!

So I went to this restaurant called the Mango Tree. This was a few days ago now but I've been a little preoccupied so I haven't got around to writing about it yet. Until now. And let me tell you...it was fantastic. As I may have mentioned, it 's located on the 35th floor of the Marubiru in Otemachi (smack dab in the middle of Tokyo, across from the dreaded Tokyo station and within viewing distance of the Emperial Palace - is it emperial or imperial? ooo...I'm thinking imperial now that I'm really trying. whatever.) which is the swankiest of the swank Tokyo high rises. And yet they let me in. It was great!

Anyway, you already know about my elevator obsession (or if you don't you can always just skip on over to the post titled...wait for it..."elevator" and find out) so I won't bore you with it now. Suffice it to say...oooo. So yeah, 35th floor.

When you step out of the fabulous elevator (which really you may never want to leave) you are immediately confronted by an immense wall of glass which logic would say shouldn't really exist at that height but hey, who am I to consult logic really? It was fantastic. Of course I didn't actually go within say, 20 feet of the wall o' glass this time...I'm working my way up to it. Next time. I had people waiting for me! What do you want from me? Whatever.

The restaurant itself was beautiful. It wasn't kitschy or crazy or any of those theme type thingys (which are never a bad thing actually says the queen of the snow globes) it was just simple and dare I say...elegant. Okay, now it sounds boring. But it wasn't. It was done in sort of a posh loft style. The floors were a dark stained hardwood which was polished to a high gloss the like of which I've never seen before. I tried to take a picture but the flash prit near blinded me. What does prit mean? I don't actually know. Best not to dwell.

The restaurant also had an immense logic defying wall of glass which looked out over the city. We could see the Tokyo Tower and heaps of other impressive looking buildings that I should probably recognize but sadly didn't. It was sweet. The ceiling was all exposed metal rafters (do they call them rafters when they're made of metal?) and pipes and all the other lovely lofty type accoutrements that we've all come to know and love. Well, I've come to love them anyhow. Let me think...floor, windows, ceiling...what else? Oh! The walls (where there were walls - not much due to the terror inducing windows) were designed to resemble the sort of old fashioned New York office building converted to a swank flat in some 80s movie where the main characters all speak really quickly and do a lot of coke. Do you know what I mean?

And the food.

The food was wonderful. My favourite bit was this lovely warm curry. It was thick and coconutty and just spicy enough to make me happy. My tongue was a bit warm but I had no desire to bite it off to stop the burning. Which is good. There was also a really nice peanutty noodle dish that made me feel warm and tingly in my tummy. In a good way but not a goooood way. Because really it's only food. There were a whole lot of other delicious looking dishes but I didn't try all of them and I couldn't even begin to describe them even if I had. There was a dessert portion to the buffet, a noodle bar, a salad section (somewhat meager really but I'm not so keen on the salad anyhow) and the main entree area. I think there may have been soups as well. I really just had the curry and the peanutty noodley thingys and some chicken. It was good. Oh, and some cucumber but that was pretty much the same as it is anywhere.

I may not have mentioned it was a lunch buffet. Which it was. I also enjoyed a mango slushy which really wasn't up to the same standard as the rest of it. The Starbucks Mango Frap is far superior. It's true. It was a little on the pricey side (for a girl who went to art school anyway) but worth every penny. Yen. Especially since I didn't pay. Actually the lunch buffet wasn't all that expensive at all. I think it was 2,500 yen and the slushy was about 800 yen so there you go. Dinner apparently runs about 8,000 and up. I myself have decided that I particularly enjoy lunching. I could lunch more often.

And I'm spent.