Since 1997, the year I graduated high school, Flying Mango has been serving up some great food in Des Moines. The small restaurant, located at 4345 Hickman in Des Moines, Iowa since 2003, was always one of those special places I would try and get to for some good BBQ and Southern food.
In January of this year the original owner finally threw in the towel and passed the torch on to a new owner. The new owner took over Flying Mango from Mike Wedeking and set out to return from California to his Iowa roots, and serve some great food.
Now I remember the wonderful brisket I use to get there, the ribs were great, good sides and always some good dessert options too. In fact Guy Fieri came more than once to showcase Flying Mango on his show:
And for Guy to come to Des Moines more than once to a restaurant, says a little bit about how good the food is. But, the question now is, with a new owner, would the food still be good? Would it be pretty much the same? It has been years since I had tried Flying Mango, so I had to get a taste of what the new owner was doing there. This is what I found out.
So I have to be fair and share that I ordered the food to be picked up. Flying Mango is not a huge building and I was going to be eating during the busy hour on a Friday night. So it's a total food review and not about the environment. The environment in the past was always a cozy, smaller vibe that I liked. I am assuming, in a couple months, with a new owner, nothing has really changed. Anyways, just wanted to give full clarity. Here is what we ordered:
What Guy Had: Memphis-style loin back ribs, a catfish cake, our meaty red beans & rice plus some collard greens.
Chicken Dinner: Half of the entire smoked chicken, braised collard greens, grits of the day.
Cornbread with Cinnamon Honey Butter: The perfect sweet treat to end the meal.
What Guy Had of course was a nod to the food that Guy Fieri ate on Diners, Drive Ins and Dives, when he visited for his show. The ribs were pretty tasty and the catfish cake had a great flavor. The meaty red beans and rice didn't have much flavor and I found them to not be very good. Now, the worst part was the collard greens. I thought they would be pretty good from what I had in the past, but they had way too much of a vinegar taste. Not just a hint, it was like a spoonful of vinegar. Not good at all.
The Chicken Dinner seemed a little dry and was not good without any sauces. Which chicken can be good with BBQ sauce and other sauces, but it should be moist and flavorful on it's own. The grits of the day didn't have much flavor and of course, we had the collard greens with this meal as well, which was not tasty at all.
Then to the cornbread. Which I wanted to say was good, but...... I never received. Instead there were two pieces of garlic type bread. So they sent the wrong thing, even though my order clearly said CORNBREAD WITH CINNAMON HONEY BUTTER. So this was very disappointing. To pay for something you were excited for and get something totally different.
So after many years of always loving Flying Mango in the past, I can honestly say, I was not impressed. I don't know if the new ownership changed anything, but the flavors on much of the food seemed to be lacking or off. Would I go back here again? The honest answer is no. I wish I could say I would, but to spend a good amount of money on food that doesn't impress me, seems like a waste. Which is sad, because Flying Mango always use to be one of Des Moines great places to eat.
 |
| Find him on X @brogan78 | on Instagram | on Facebook | or on Youtube |