I knew the name “Mangos a Go-Go” sounded familiar, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. It finally occurred to me that Mango a Go-Go is a Jamba Juice menu item.
I knew that Mangos a Go-Go was a drink place, as Yelp has it under “juice bar and smoothies,” so I assumed it was some sort of Jamba Juice smoothie copycat.
It turns out, I was wrong.
Mangos a Go-Go has Mexican street-style drinks and snacks. Paintings and lanterns were hanging from the ceiling, and overall, it had a very colorful aesthetic. Also, they were playing The Lion King, so of course that was enjoyable. It was a little busy, but I didn’t have to wait too long to get my food.
The items I ordered off the menu were the mild Mango a Go-Go, Mango-Ghetti, and Strawberry Fresca.
The Mango a Go-Go was a mango on a stick cut up to look like a flower, then dipped in lime juice and salt. To say the least, it was underwhelming.
Saying it was “cut like a flower” was a stretch. It looked more like it was crisscrossing. It was also really hard to eat, as it was just a mango on a stick. The taste wasn’t great either; the lime juice just made it taste sour, and the salt was nonexistent.
The Mango-Ghetti consisted of mangos cut up to look like spaghetti with chamoy, tajin, and lime juice. All of it was in a cup and eaten with a fork.
The creation looked unique; I don’t think I have seen anything like it. The sauces on top looked like spaghetti sauce, and the mango looked a lot like noodles, surprisingly. The taste was okay, but I’m not the biggest fan of spicy food, so I didn’t enjoy it too much.
It was hard to mix the sauce with the mango which left the top half full of the spices and the bottom half with nothing. Also, because it was in a cup, it was hard to mix until I had gotten halfway through it.
Finally, the Strawberry Fresca was shaved ice with a house-brewed strawberry syrup topped with strawberries, tajin, lime juice, and salt. It also came with a tamarind straw and a garnish of salt on the rim of the cup. However, they poorly executed the shaved ice. It was not fine enough, which left the juice and the ice as two separate components instead of one.
The juice itself was terrific. It was really sweet, and it would have benefitted from the extra ice had it been actually mixed with it. The strawberries would’ve been a good addition to the drink if they had they been mixed with the drink. However, the shaved ice created a barrier from the drink to the strawberries.
Overall, Mangos a Go-Go was alright. I know I am biased against it just because spicy food is not my favorite. However, there were still technical problems with the food, and I think all of it would have benefitted from a little more mixing.
[star rating=”2″]
