My curiosity in Gold Mango sparked when a friend of ours mentioned on a car ride to Mactan that it was always full and required reservations in order to be accommodated.  He shared his experience of purposely heading to Mactan on two occasions to sample the dishes at Gold Mango to no avail. I had only heard of Gold Mango that morning while we were headed to go diving/ boating and I honestly knew nothing about the food or the prices except that it was a Korean restaurant but a little voice in me told me that I had to try it. And so I did.

We made early reservations that afternoon and arrived at around 6 pm. I appreciated how the restaurant remained spic and span throughout our meal despite having quite a lot of guests come in. Interior wise,  Gold Mango is decorated with beautiful interiors so you probably wouldn’t want to go there with wet hair and in bikinis. There is also a parking area in the front which could be filled up pretty fast so it’s best to go early if you decide to come.

Truthfully, I was a bit scared going into Gold Mango because of what I had heard about it from the morning of- you had to make reservations in order to get in, it was always packed and it was Korean. Things like that intimidate me and I was scared that I couldn’t afford anything on the menu or that everything would be spicy. However, I was pleasantly surprised to find out that most of the items on the menu were pretty within my normal spending ranges of a little over 300 and below (except for certain dishes).

But that wasn’t the biggest shocker. What surprised me the most was to find out that it was a Korean owned Filipino restaurant and most of the items on the menu were Filipino and Italian dishes!

Crispy Sisig – P 195.00

Coconut Fried Shrimp – P 350.00

Sizzling Spicy Gambas – P 245.00

Caesar Salad – P 220.00

Gorgonzola Cheese Pizza – P 395.00

Baked Scallops – P 195.00

I have entitled this post Hit or Miss because although we did enjoy some of the dishes there such as the crispy sisig (which was spicy enough for me to tolerate), the blue crab rose pasta and the fried coconut shrimp, I would still prefer more traditional Filipino restaurants when it comes to the other dishes. Their interesting take on the scallops which used Mozzarella cheese instead of the typical cheddar cheese was definitely interesting but truth be told, it did not quite hit the spot for me. Same goes for their Caesar salad but their greens were so pretty, I wished that I loved it.

Their reasonable prices, interesting menu items and kept ambiance are definitely worth going back to. Plus, it’s a nice place to go to when in Mactan and you won’t come out smelling like you’ve been grilled. I am still a bit on the fence when it comes to their food though but I didn’t hate it so that’s still something.

Gold Mango is located at Maribago Lapu-lapu city, M.L. Quezon National Highway, Lapu-Lapu City, 6015 Cebu

Their opening hours are from 11:00 am – 10:00 pm

For reservations contact: 0915 330 8432

Follow them on Facebook for more updates!

This post made me crave for scallops,