Where To Have A Mango Moment This Summer

A mango moment is, according to us, an intense feeling of gratitude that occurs during (or immediately after) the consumption of a local mango, or a dish involving one. And this summer, those moments feel especially precious, because it’s been a pretty awful year for mango harvests around South Florida . But instead of staying home and writing an angry letter to Mother Earth, seek out the mango moments below. Appreciate these mango-fied versions of cookies, frozen margaritas, and gelato that much more. Because, as we learned this year, a mango moment is never a guarantee in life.

THE SPOTS

Michael's Genuine

You can find three refreshing mango dishes at Michael’s Genuine this year, and they all involve seafood. The first is a hamachi crudo. The hamachi and mango are hidden under puffed layers of crispy rice paper you can smash with a fork. The fish is covered in a spicy fermented chili sauce and surrounded by additional mango cubes. The second is a large grilled prawn sitting on a papaya salad with nuac chom, peanuts, and shredded mango. But our favorite is the MGFD ceviche with kimchi, avocado, sweet pepper, and mango. Ask for a spoon so you can get it all in one bite and it’ll wake you up with the intensity of three energy drinks.

Ghee Indian Kitchen

Ghee always has amazing mango dishes up its sleeve in the summer. But their mango options are a little pared down this year because of the bad harvest on the restaurant’s own farm. But mangoes currently make two appearances on the menu. There’s a mango and green papaya salad, which you can wash down with a thick mango lassi. Pair both with Ghee’s ghost pepper cheddar naan and add some spicy green mango pickles if you can withstand the heat. Hopefully, the mango gods bless Ghee's farm with a better mango summer next year so we can get back that mango cheesecake we ate last year.

ViceVersa

We can’t think of a better way to celebrate a scorching mango season than by churning the sacred fruit into a cold treat. ViceVersa takes a frozen silver chalice and fills it with three scoops of housemade mango gelato that’s sweet, silky, and finished with grated lime zest. Sit at the bar and pair it with a bittersweet negroni or share it with friends after inhaling the delicious mortadella pizza they also serve here.

Fruit & Spice Park

Fruit & Spice Park is not a restaurant. It’s a park in Homestead where the tree-curious can stroll through a stunning collection of fruit and spice trees. But here’s where it becomes a mango moment. The rule at Fruit & Spice is: any piece of fruit on the ground (that’s not rotten) is fair game to eat. And they have rows and rows of mango trees—so it’s essentially an all-you-can-eat buffet of ground mangoes. They even hand you a halved mango with a plastic spoon when you pay the $10 entrance fee. Just bring a tiny knife (or that friend who always carries one) to help you slice open the many varieties of mangoes you’ll find.

Tâm Tâm

Arrive early to take advantage of Tâm Tâm’s seasonal mango dessert of mango milk panna cotta, diced local mango, and ginger lemongrass granita. The kitchen is working with limited backyard mangoes borrowed from a kind neighbor. But even if they sell out, you can still expect the frozen mango thai basil margarita—a sweet, salty, and refreshing cocktail that’s our favorite frozen drink we’ve ever had here (and we’ve loved them all).

Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden

Mark your calendars, mango fiends: Fairchild is celebrating their annual mango festival this year on July 13 and 14. The weekend festival is a great time to try all sorts of mango varieties—like Florida sugarloafs or Indian alphonsos. You can even buy your very own baby tree to take home. Stop by the mango marketplace and pick up some mango scented incense and drink mango cocktails on the lawn. Fairchild (the botanist) was one of the first people to bring mangoes to Florida, and Fairchild (the garden) has been holding the mango festival for three decades, so they know this fruit better than anyone and can make the best out of any season.

Chug’s Diner

If you’re wondering where all the mangoes went this season, they’re on Chug’s dessert menu. The sweet lineup is one of the best we’ve seen for the king of fruit. It includes crumbly mango cream-filled cookies and flaky mango pastelitos. But the mango milkshake is the literal cherry on top. It’s served in a tall fountain glass, and topped with whipped cream and a bright red maraschino cherry. They're even topping arroz con leche blintzes with a mango compote for brunch. Give any of these mango treats to your nephews and watch them get toddler zoomies, or save some for yourself when you need a sugar rush after staring up sadly at your own barren mango tree.

Mr. Tutis Fruties

The mangonada—a frozen Mexican creation of mango, chamoy, and tajín—is a beautiful thing. And Mr. Tutis Fruties down in Florida City makes one of the best we’ve ever had. Plus, this place is a great casual Mexican restaurant (get a burrito). There are other mango moments besides the mangonada here, like mango flower fruit cups dusted with tajín, mango smoothies, and mango paletas. But please get the mangonada as well. It’ll make us sad if you don’t.

Zak The Baker

The Zak The Baker mango trade is back this year (we really hope this becomes an annual tradition). Running till July 31, the rules are thus: you can go to the Wynwood bakery and exchange five healthy mangoes (bigger than your fist, with no rot or open wounds) for one loaf of bread. Even if you don’t have five mangoes at your disposal, you can come here for a lovely slice of mango cheesecake and other rotating specials. If there’s nothing mango-related on the menu, don’t cry. There will probably be something delicious making use of local fruit, like the mamey cream concha that kind of made us want to create a guide to mamey moments.