Mingle's Mango

My friend recommended this XLB place after discovering it one day. So we decided to come here together as a group of 4 to try out many XLBs! We came here on Sunday for lunch. There were about 2-3 other parties in the restaurant. The restaurant doesn't have a lot of tables or seats.

We ordered the following to share:
-Grandma Braised Pork Rice (5/5) - The braised pork was marinated well. It was very succulent and easy to chew.
-Red Oil Wonton (5/5) - This dish was really good. It reminded me of the red oil wonton from Din Ding Dumpling.
-Queen Crab XLB (5/5) - This was my favorite steamed XLB.
-Kurobuta Pork XLB (5/5) - Must order XLB.
-Kurobuta Pork Dragon Ball (5/5) - I love that it's pan-fried and there's soup!
-Pegasus of Fantasy (5/5) - Same as above, I love that it's pan-fried and there's soup!
-Hot Pot XLB (5/5) - I would recommend this for hot pot lovers because this XLB really tasted like hot pot haha.

The owner hand makes the dumplings/XLBs behind the counter, cooking the dumplings/XLBs, and also checking in on his customers. He is working all over the place haha. He has another worker in the kitchen who cooks the non-dumplings/XLBs. There's a robot server that will deliver the customer's dishes to their table. Still water is self-served at the back counter. The restaurant theme is anime/manga related. There's a table with anime figurines. Some of the dish plates have short manga phrases, I believe. The quality of the food is amazing and I can tell that the owner puts a lot of effort into his dumplings/XLBs.

This is now one of my favorite XLB spots in the Bay Area. I'll be back for more!

PS. there's plenty of parking since this restaurant is located in a plaza!

I have to agree with his sign that states he makes really good XLB. The NewBee pork and crawfish XLBs were quite good. But we were disappointed that for $7.99, you only get TWO of them. At DTF you get ten pork and shrimp for $20. At DZ in Cupertino, you get six pork and crab for $7.95. The XLB at Migle's Mango are a little overpriced. They are good, but not worth twice the price of the other comparable establishments. And who only eats two XLBs? I can eat a whole tray by myself :-)

We also had the California Wagyu Beef Noodle Soup, $23.99. This was really outstanding. At some restaurants they make beef noodle soup with a lot of tendons and gristly, fatty beef. Here, it was made with tender chunks of Wagyu. It's a nice twist on a very common dish. We liked it. 5 stars for the beef noodle soup!

On our visit, we also tried the Pork Dragon Ball, which was pretty good. It was crisp and had some good soup on the inside. We bought the combo, which had all of these items and added a free dessert, which was a small chocolate hazelnut bao.

Overall, this was a pretty good restaurant. If you're seeking XLB, this is a good offering. But be prepared that their price is high and they have a very tiny serving size. A good alternative for XLB in Fremont is SN on Stevenson.

A place that serves yummy quality food and does not cramp my style deserves nothing less than 5 stars from me. This is a review compiled from multiple visits -- it really passes my consistency test and even made it to my collection "Judy's Go To's" at https://www.yelp.com/collection/SxuJRgOZWGorE_fvGK_36w/Judy-s-Go-To-s

Between me and my sister Cindy, we have collected many photos from the restaurant (mostly food photos), so I am featuring only the best ones to share in this review.

I love how the owner is constantly testing new dishes and asking for feedback. One time he accidentally served us what he was preparing for himself and it was so delicious I think I better come back often so I don't miss any new creation! lol
Since I have not tried anything that didn't taste good here, I am super excited to see what breakfast tastes like -- yup, he recently added that too...wondering if he actually sleeps! Highly creative people don't often zzz much :)

The place is as creative as the dishes the owner serves -- unique manga collection everywhere and matches the huge murals on the walls. The music is pretty much everything I listen to daily too (we do have to shout when it is a bit on the loud side but that's part of the fun). It's as if he combined all his favorite things into one place and openly share it with his customers!!! I'm not sure if everyone can appreciate all that he does but if he has enough followers like me, I don't think he can get rid of us :)

If you're wondering, no, Mingle's Mango, isn't a mango themed restaurant! When I went I don't think there was even a mango item on the menu lol. However, even BETTER than a mango themed place, is that Mingle's Mango has ANIME THEMING GALORE.

I usually do a panel of my anime eating adventures at conventions and I WISH I knew about Mingle's Mango before doing my Fanime one since I would have LOVED to include it and since NorCal anime people are starving for more anime related events, places, etc that they are severely deprived of.

I am a HUGE fan of businesses where you can tell the owner is passionately dedicated to what they love and you can definitely see this here at Mingle's all the way from the décor, the menu, the food, and how friendly and welcoming the customer service is.

It's neat to see the anime figurines being put on display as well as the original art of many iconic scenes from series like Naruto, One Piece, and One Punch Man, but don't think that they're big 3 shonen only folk since I did see a Guilty Crown figurine AND they played the music from the Kanon OP. Definitely NOT casuals if you're looking at it from that perspective. They also have a small shop of shirts and other anime/pop culture themed items too and they also have one of those cute robot serving cats as well.

Their menu is for sure one of their biggest eye catchers as well. Mingle's main focus is on their XLB dumplings and they have a lot of much fancier, unique XLB that I have not seen at other establishments, but they do not only offer XLB with their diverse menu. There's other food items such as rice and noodle dishes, as well as both alcoholic and non-alcoholic themed beverages and desserts. With names referencing "Giorno's Golden Experience", "Pegasus of Fantasy", DBZ characters, One Piece, Gintama, Sailor Moon, Demon Slayer, God of War, etc. A majority of the menu is making a reference and it's really fun to read and see what some of them are. And to be honest, I even ordered some without knowing what it was just for the wild card thrill of it and I didn't regret it!

1. Kurobuta Pork Dragon Ball (4 piece):
-These are pan fried handmade Berkshire kurobuta pork soup dumplings served with sake white vinegar.
-Decently sized dumplings and the pan fried bottom added a slight crispiness to them.
-They do not skimp out on the soup or the filling and these come out super freshly made and hot!
-Very balanced and goes great with the sake white vinegar without being too salty or sour.

2. Green Onion Pancake:
-Very crispy and flaky, not too oily. Can't go wrong with this!

3. Spicy Dick:
-Seeing this name on the menu, we HAD to IMMEDIATELY order it.
-This is their crispy onion pancake with kurobuta pork sausage and chili, cumin inside
-Pretty dang good appetizer dish and the chili and cumin gives the pork sausage a spicy kick that we didn't expect at first. It comes with 2 pieces.

4. Tenshinhan:
-Satay flavored rice with shrimp, hazelnut, and kurobuta pork sausage
-This is named after the DBZ character and NOT the actual tenshinhan dish as it's not a crab omelet over rice, just an FYI haha.
-It's unique with the satay flavor and the inclusion of hazelnut. Rich and dense fried rice dish with a good amount of meat throughout.

5. Mashimaro:
-This is a dessert dish! I actually wanted to order the Sailor Moon (unsure of what it was) but sadly they were out, so I ordered this as a suggested alternative. It comes with 2 pieces.
-IT IS A XLB DESSERT. I REPEAT A XLB DESSERT. Nicely steamed dumplings and the inside tasted like vanilla ice cream/marshmallows.
-Very impressed by this and tasted really yummy! Unique and something that I have never had before.

6. Demon Slayer:
-This is one of their Mingelian sodas, I believe. Very interesting category and I was very confused until I realized that it was a reference to the restaurant's name itself LOL.
-It's more of a slush and I think it was berry flavored? Definitely not super sweet like the Grimace shake lol and it does come with whipped cream at the top. This was one of the things I ordered without knowing exactly what it was haha.

Another thing I would like to note is that they have REALLY fancy, complimentary alkaline water here. I don't think I've seen that before either so that was neat.

I really do enjoy the vibe here and the anime music playing the background. You can tell people working here love anime and manga, the food that they make, and what they do.

Will stop by again to try more of their menu and I recommend Mingle's Mango to all anime fans and foodies out there!

*LOCATION*
This little restaurant is located in the same plaza as the Ranch 99 supermarket. The grocery store side is usually pretty busy but there's plenty of parking on the CVS side.

*WAIT TIME*
There was no wait for our party of 2 on Sunday ~1:15pm. We were seated right next to the dumpling bar so we were able to see the chef make everything!

*FOOD*
-Red oil wontons: perfect ratio of dumpling skin to filling, looks really red and intimidating but it's not that spicy!
-Frieza XLB: not bad, lots of hot soup inside, skin was nice and chewy but on the slightly thicker side, comes w/ side of vinegar but no ginger
-Kurobuta pork dragon balls: crispy outside and v juicy inside, my fav!
-Spicy dick: the cumin flavor was good, lots of chili flakes/powder so has a nice kick to it

*SERVICE*
Nice waiters and decent service. They also have a little machine robot that delivers food!

*AMBIENCE*
The interior was uniquely decorated with lots of anime characters. They have some merch/shirts that look like they're for sale near the front. There also seems to be a gaming corner but it wasn't being used when we were there. My bf really liked all of the decorations! We might come back in the future to try some other dishes :)

I really wanted to like this place because of how much love seems to have gone into the store.

Mingle himself made time to come up and check on our table, and he was very friendly and nice. It was super charming how much effort they put into decorating the whole place. The wall art looked hand-drawn (and very well done). The lighting at each table is a little book that lights up when you open it. I was very chuffed to find that some dishes are served in Mugiwara (straw hat) bowls! Even the bathroom had some anime "tiling."

However, I was thrown off by some small things. There was a faint smell of urine at my table by the front window (probably coming in from the parking lot, so I'm not sure how much they could do about that). The bathroom itself was quite clean, but the lock was broken (the few minutes I was trying to use the toilet, I was freaked out someone would walk in on me).

The food was honestly just okay to me. I paid $100 for 3 noodle entrees and 3 appetizers. The beef noodle soup had decent flavor but the meat wasn't as soft and delicate as I like it and the noodles were just okay. The crispy tofu was super tiny pieces, came with dipping ketchup (I would have preferred an asian-style chili or garlic sauce) and not actually crispy. The coating was very soft and I felt like I could taste a bit of raw flour. We also had the Japanese street style chow mein, which was a small serving but also SUPER heavy between the oil and the mayonnaise topping. We didn't eat very much of it.

My favorite was the Pegasus XLB. Love me some crab roe and pork. I like to poke a hole in my XLB and pour the juice out, and the juice that came out was a rich yellow.

I think I may have simply ordered the wrong things. If I had focused only on trying their XLB, my experience may have been different (I also still am curious about their dessert XLB).

The restaurant was empty when we arrived at around 6pm on Sunday and a few diners trickled in. The owner was very kind and explained to us the menu and their specialty. He was hand making XLBs behind the counter, which was very nice to see, as many places order them frozen I think.

The xiao long bao are around 2x the size of what you get at other restaurants and the flavor is quite good. I think they are appropriately priced for what you get in quantity and quality, though the price tag is eye popping at first.

The noodles are hand made and fairly good. The soup flavor was fantastic and the pork was very, very good.

The tenshinhan was a bit on the greasy and garlicky side, and was a cut below the rest (imo, but I know that's based on personal preference alone, others will likely find it very good). Otherwise, again the flavor was good.

They give really big cups of water, I liked that. I would come here again, because it has a nice neighborhood-style vibe. The location is next to Ranch 99 and good dessert places, so can't complain about that either. I don't know too much about anime but that's the theme. There was a projector playing a show but other people sat right under it so I couldn't snap a photo XD

What a cool place to get some xiao long bao!!! I stumbled upon this place while grocery shopping in the area. Needed just a little snack and this place was perfect.

I tried the New Bee XLB (2 pcs) and these were HUGE! Packed with pork, crawfish, and juice!!! The broth was incredibly flavorful without being salty. They were very generous with the filling. Lots of crawfish and pork! Very unique and you can tell it's handmade. Chef Mingle was folding XLB right in front of me! Such a cool guy.

Trendy ambiance filled with anime decor. This is definitely a fun place to go on a date or bring a couple friends. Most tables are small, so probably not great for groups more than 4.

Cool anime themed dumpling place in the East Bay! My friend took me here and said it's better than some of the more popular dumpling restaurants in the Bay. The restaurant is decorated with a bunch of anime collectibles, the walls were also painted with characters and they played a lot of japanese rock music which fit the whole vibe.

The owner was so kind! We arrived a few minutes before opening and he let us in early. We were sat near the kitchen where he was making the dumplings and every time I looked at him, he was always smiling or jamming out the the music. Loved seeing him enjoy his work and it presents itself in the food!

Ordering is simple. You scan a QR code to place your order online and pay. A majority of their dumplings come in orders of 2 or 4 pieces. Below is what we ordered:

- Kurobuta Pork XLB (5/5): Their dumplings are bigger than the average dumpling at other spots! They're very generous with the filling and I was full after a few of them.

- Kurobuta Pork & Shrimp Dragon Ball (4/5): I expected these to be a little crispier because they're pan-fried dumplings but still good nonetheless.

- Red Oil Wonton (5/5): This was AMAZING!! At other restaurants, their spicy wontons usually have a little bit of sauce but this was in a soup. The red oil soup was the highlight of this dish! I couldn't get enough of it and dipped all the other dumplings in it because of how flavorful it is.

- Hardcore Panda (4/5): These were dessert dumplings with dark chocolate and hazelnut. Tasted good but a little pricey.

Overall, the dumplings here are flavorful, juicy, and delicious! I'll definitely be back when I'm craving dumplings again.

I don't know why this place is always empty because the food is very good and always consistent. Its an anime themed restaurant known for XLB and other dumplings. Check them out!

What we ordered:
Crispy tofu
Szechuan noodles
Red oil wontons
Pork Dragon ball