Unrated: This is a restaurant we want to re-visit before rating, or it’s a coffee shop, bar, or dessert shop. We only rate spots where you can eat a full meal.

Alphonso season always passes too fast. Your go-to shop with sindhri has gone quiet. Murmurings about fake Sainsbury’s in Clapton having chaunsa are proving unfounded. Enter Hackney’s Bake Street. Their summer-only mango sorbet is the fix you need. The cafe and brunch spot is only open until 4pm, and it’s not on every week. So check their socials and take it as the only sign you need to log off early on a Friday to avoid mango-induced heartbreak.

The best mango lassis will make you feel like you’re drinking your dessert. And the alphonso one at Ambassadors Clubhouse, a Punjabi restaurant in Mayfair, is thick, tangy, and just the right amount of sweet. We like to order one as soon as we sit down and a second when we’re almost done eating. A full circle mango moment.

There’s mango sticky rice, and there’s Koyn Thai’s mango sticky rice. Instead of actual slices of the fruit, there’s silky, always-in-season mango pannacotta, with gummy, sweetened rice, and a welcome scoop of coconut sorbet. Each spoonful from the Mayfair restaurant is a fruity, moreish bite.

One slice of cheesecake. Three family members who we’re willing to cut ties with for it. The alphonso mango cheesecake at this Indian restaurant in Fitzrovia has what feels like a whole summer’s supply of perfectly ripe, thinly sliced mango on top. That and the velvety cheesecake centre make this a dessert that we’ll go to any lengths to avoid sharing.

Don’t let this Japanese patisserie’s colourful mille crêpe counter distract you from its one true calling—London’s best mango mochi. In fact, the only time we’ve been more excited about a perfect spherical ball is when we decided to lean into mass Euros hysteria back in 2018, but these XXL orbs yield much more satisfying results. Fresh mango is carved into zesty bite-sized chunks and spooned into a thick, glutinous shell alongside plenty of rich cream. This Chinatown spot has a couple of tables but our gameplan would be to take the mochi on a romantic sunny stroll to Soho Square Gardens.

Hong Kong Restaurant on Upper Street is the kind of quick, casual Cantonese restaurant best reserved for trackies that have never seen the inside of a gym and some quality time with your social media algorithm. Just you, yourself, and a plate of crispy, light mango golden floss prawns. It’s Exhibit A in our long-standing campaign that sweet and salty things belong together and we have it on good authority that its subtle crunch factor still hits a few hours later if you take your leftovers to go.

Kolae’s kitchen throws up all kinds of exciting Thai combinations. Its grilled mussel skewers, smothered in a lively marinade and paired with a squeeze of calamansi, is one of the great food-on-sticks in London Bridge. So it should be no surprise that its house-pickled mango martini is also wonderful. The brine adds a “gorgeous, zippy, floral element” (to quote ourselves) and is the perfect tonic to the fiery dishes. Look out for sticky rice and mango combinations for dessert, too.

Sitting down in this Gujarati canteen for a thali is one of the most comforting meals you can have, not just in Wembley but in the entirety of London. Asher Africana’s rotis are a delight and the changing selection of vegetarian curries are all welcomely paired with their homemade mango lassi. It’s thick, sweet, and excellent preparation for a nap after several ghee-smothered roti.