I've found the key to the best dim sum in the twin cities. Go early. You see, I love Mandarin Kitchen's dim sum but I've often found it inconsistent (Not nearly as inconsistent as Jun Bo but still, not always up to par). It's always good but every once in awhile it's excellent. And this weekend it was excellent. Normally we go to dim sum are 11 or 12 but this weekend we were there at 9:50 - before it opened. A fluke (we never get out that early) but a happy one to be sure. We waited in line for the doors to open (The line was already long and full of people hungry for dim sum). When it opened we scrambled to sit down as the carts with steaming goodness started rolling around. Everything was fresh, hot, and delicious. No cold fried "footballs" (little fried dumplings with pork and what seems like a touch of cinnamon) today and I don't think I've ever had better shu mai or beef rolls. So to sum up: Mandarin Kitchen + Early = Hot, Fresh, Yummy Dim Sum. read more

1) Go there for dim sum on weekend, get there early, it start line up 40 minutes before door open 2) 2/3 of guest are Chinese, you know you are at the right place for real Chinese food 3) they have 2 version of the menu, a American version where you can find them at other so call Chinese restaurant, a other one written in Chinese with english tranlation, be aventure, 4) pay attention when they close your ticket, they will attempt to ring in extra item and add tip to the total (have the tip line cross off, to make it look like tip include in price), keep track of price as you order read more

I'll have to preface this review to say Mandarin Kitchen isn't the best dim sum I've had - but it's definitely the among the best in Minneapolis. If you're coming in on a Sunday morning, expect a minimum 30 minute wait. They do offer to let you share tables for smaller party sizes so ask for that if applicable. My primary metric for dim sum quality are their egg tarts and on this front Mandarin Kitchen really nails it. Perhaps we were lucky as the batch we received were molten hot and impeccably flaky (in the best sense of that word). Seeing how busy they are though, I would hazard to guess that this is a consistent quality across the normal dim sum hours. Selection of dishes were expansive. Our party got beef and shrimp cheong fun, siu mai, char siu bao, har gaw, chicken feet, wu gok, and clams. All were of reasonably high quality and and well proportioned. My only complaint would be their price - quite high for dim sum. But... I'm okay with that in the context of being in Minnesota. Service was reasonable - our tea pot was frequently refilled and all the carts swarm you upon seating. It really is the American dream - nowhere else can you get such instant gratification. They do ignore you after a while and you're sitting around looking for one more dish. read more

I always make a point of eating here best Chinese in TC friendly staff and large portions

Dim Sum review only: So clear disclaimer, I used to have dim sum nearly every single weekend back home in the Bay Area, so a little biased in that regard. We came here to try out some dim sum in the Twin Cities, and also because I was feeling a little nostalgic for home. The food and service were fine. Nothing extreme in both regards, neither on the good end or the bad end. I ordered all my usual favorites, and the first thing I noticed was how much meat (and lack of vegetables) is in all the fillings. There was an abundance of bacon/pork belly in everything, which is fine, but is definitely not authentically Chinese. Must be a Midwestern thing? read more

I ordered fried rice and it didn't taste right to me and I asked waiter if he can change to beef for me. He said no, so I left without eating my meal and they did that to me just because I'm black. Please avoid this place if your not Asian. Wish I ca give 0 starts for poor food quality and service read more

Saying it is the best dim sum in town isn't saying much. But this place also beats all the dim sum places in Seattle which has it's own Chinatown too and that's saying something. Their turnip cakes are the best I've ever had but they do all the classics right. Unfortuneatly, since they are the best, you'll deal with crowds. Service, may run light outside of the cart pushers but that's really all you need. If you need more tea, take the lid off of the pot, a runner will come. Otherwise sit back, this meal is mean to take at least an hour. All show up early, you'll have the widest selection and the shortest wait. (10:30 am....anytime after 11:30 you're in the weeds, by 12:30 the good stuff has run out, by 1:30, you're probably eating old stuff) Try the large or sea food dishes will be the most expensive and the little dumplings will be the least expensive. Tip is already included. read more

I've heard great reviews about this place from friends who frequent this place. So I decided to try it out! We went on a Sunday morning. My friend told me that Sundays are usually the busiest days so I should call ahead and put my name on the waiting list, because it takes about 30 minutes to an hour to be seated. So since I live about 30 minutes away from this place, I called about 20 minutes ahead. I gave them my name and the lady said she'll put me down. It was only me and my boyfriend. We got there and it was super packed. I went up to the front to let them know I was there and to see how long we had left to wait. When I got up there, my name wasn't even on the list! So we ended up waiting like the rest of the people. We were seated in a small table in between two other groups of people's tables. It was very annoying because the waiters/waitresses that were carrying and strolling the food around, kept going to the tables next to us, but kept skipping my bf and I. Like, really? Do we not exist? I waved my hand around multiple times and we were overlooked so many times. I was very frustrated. The people next to us could tell how frustrated we were. My bf wanted to just leave, but I insisted on staying because I wanted to try out the rest of the food. I do have to say that the food was amazing. I loved every entree and appetizer. Our bill came out to be VERY expensive for the amount of food we got. The tip was already included. For the price of this place, the wait, and service quality, I will not be going back anytime soon. But the food is definitely good, so maybe I'll go back once again in the future and maybe get a better experience. read more

I have been waiting three years to get Dim Sum at Mandarin Kitchen. Mostly because the boo mentioned its existence ages ago and never told me its location or name. To be honest, it was worth the wait. We showed up about 45 minutes before it opened a couple Sundays ago. We left to get coffee and came back to a 40-person deep line with 5 minutes to go before the doors opened. We were seated in the back room and immediately got tea. This was my first Dim Sum adventure so I got the pacing all kinds of wrong. We ordered shrimp dumplings, pork dumplings, and bao in the first 10 minutes of sitting down. They were delicious. Full of flavor and the exteriors were steamed to gooey, soft perfection. We also got these cute little sesame balls that were deep fried with sticky rice paste and mochi in the middle. What?! I loved it. We also got some tasty noodles before calling it a day within an hour. Tips: Show up early. Bring at least 4 folks if you want to try a few things. None of the dishes are priced so expect to spend like $40. Pace yourself. Enjoy. read more

I used to love Mandarin Kitchen. It was open late, they had great food and it was cheap. Then they remodeled, and it was as if everything changed. The prices went up, the food quality and the service seemed to go downhill. While the place looks great now, I just wish it hadn't changed pretty much everything else that I liked about it. You can get Chinese food just as good or better for less money at lots of other places. read more

Went with some friends for Dim Sum and it was super fun. the place is packed at 10am on a sunday but we didnt really have a wait for a table, because we had a small party The servers rush around with these carts and you pick and choose pots of dumplings and 'what nots' to try and share. We had a great time picking out things to try. the prices are higher but not unreasonable. Brunch was $20 a person for a table of 4. i had a shrimp ball which was 50% shrimp ball and 50% fried wontons and it was the size of a baseball! the dumplings are not fried they are steamed so they bring out the real flavor of the fillings. I'm a vegetarian and i'll eat fish/ shrimp sometimes, it was a little hard to find dumplings that were veggie or shrimp. most include pork. my boyfriend is a pork eater and he loved all the dumplings he had. The place was really fun but it was helpful to go with someone who has been there before or who has had Dim Sum. it might have been confusing otherwise. most servers spoke little english and couldnt always tell you what was in the dish. i'm planning on going back! read more

Was craving dim sum hardcore and was told by some Asian locals that Mandarin Kitchen was the best place to get it in the Twin Cities. I am grateful that there is even dim sum around. They even have the carts that are pushed around. The food is average at best. We got my favorite dishes: shu mai, fried taro, turnip cake among other dishes. I wasn't super impressed but it's not the worst I ever had. From other reviews, the dinner menu is worth checking out. I will definitely go back to check out the dinner but probably not the dim sum. I'll just wait until my next trip back to Texas and bring a cooler back. read more

I don't expect quality services at Chinese restaurants, but I've never experienced such a bad service that I decided to write a review. I understand that it was Chinese New Year, so having to wait for the food is tolerable. But an hour wait for four easy to make dishes is just too ridiculous, especially when you see the people next table ordered much later than you did but are already chowing down their food. What's worse is that they didn't care to apologize or explain why our orders were delayed. Instead, they gave us an attitude like we're annoying them by constantly asking where's our food. Okay, so no apologies or any sort of complimentary what's so ever, I can take that. But an automatic 15% gratuity.. after they screwed up? No thank you. So one of my friends went up to the register and asked for the gratuity to be taken off so we could tip based on their service. They pulled a trick on us and charged our cards with the tips included and told us, "Everywhere is like this on Chinese New Years." Eh.. no. Our Chinese New Year at Pagoda last year was great. Anyway, long story short, my friends ended up tipping them 1 cent only. If you're having the thought of trying this place, eat at your own risk. But seriously, even their dim sum is just okay. I'd suggest to just move out of MN if you want authentic Chinese food. read more

We were craving seafood but instead of spending an arm and a leg at a higher end place, we decided to eat here for dinner and also because it was closer to MOA. Ordered a bit much for just two people but I like variety and the place has a huge menu! We go here quite often but decided to try a few other things besides the usual. Peking duck one way where they spread a sweet sauce on these steamed pancakes (tastes like a tortilla) with the cut up duck and julienned scallions then wrap them up like a taco - skin is nice and crispy with a little too sweet of a sauce but not sure worth the $40+ price tag. Steamed lobster in ginger scallion sauce - would have been better fried or roasted for texture and was a tad bland. Pea tips in garlic sauce was perfect! Cooked just enough to be wilted with a slight crunch and aromatics.. got to get some greens! And a steamed walleye with more scallions and ginger - normally order fried but wanted to be healthy but pallet wise, steamed was not as delicious. The server was pretty attentive as well. Go here if you want a huge selection of seafood dishes as well as a selection of more traditional dishes. read more

Lady at front super rude and I am.pretty sure they over charged me! I paid 90 bucks for mediocre dim sum. Sui Mai is the indicator of how good the dim sum is. It was horrible. read more

My boyfriend and I wanted to get Dim Sum on a Sunday morning. Mandarin Kitchen came up on the Google search and I was super excited, but it turned out to be the worst dining experience of the year. My biggest complaint is the service. We were stuck in the corner and were for the most part ignored. We were put in a side room with a large table and two other small tables. The food carts would go to the large table first then to the other tables, then finally to us. So, all we could eat was everybody's rejects. I really do not want to pull the racial card, but we were the only non Asians in the room. After 45 minutes, we left only eating sticky rice, pork balls, and a couple fried items (still hungry). Second, the food was not very good. The sticky rice was loaded with MSG, and the random fried fish ball thing was soaked in grease (that was probably why everybody else turned it down). The sesame balls were good and that was the only thing I enjoyed. Please do yourself a favor and go somewhere else. Update*** Now that 2012 is here, I will say Mandarin Kitchen was the worst place I ate all year. read more

Visited Mandarin Kitchen on Nov 30, 2008 at 12:45pm. Lots and lots of people: people eating, people waiting to eat, and people leaving. At first glance, I took this as a sign of good things to come. I'm a big Dim Sum fan. I ate $40 of dim sum, wanting to try several dishes. I'm going to break from the pack here, and give Mandarin Kitchen a thumbs down. Balen's Review (1-5 point system, 5 the highest): Taste: 3.0 Scene: 2.0 Price: 1.0 Hot chicks: 0.5 Overall, I was disappointed and will just wait to have dim sum when I return to San Francisco. I was especially disappointed after a girl politely turned away from her companions at her table so she could sneeze on me. Also, worst Chinese broccoli I have ever had. How do you mess up Chinese broccoli? Don't get me wrong, the food is descent, but I just think it is overpriced for what you get. read more

Very disappointed this time. Let me just say that this is the ONLY place i rave about dim sum to my friends. Never had a bad experience here before this. That being said, I'm livid at the way i was treated this time. I came for dim sum around 1:45 pm. Just before they stop serving dim sum at 2 pm. I know i was taking a chance, but i live in Rochester, and I'm not in the CIties every day. I was seated and told that i could still order from the regular menu if i liked. There was still 15 minutes before dim sum service was officially over, but I understood. I ordered some turnip cakes from a cart, but they were cold and must have been sitting out for a while. I then waited for someone to take my order while everyone else in the restaurant - including the wait staff - ate their lunch. I sat there for 20 minutes and not one server came to me. I finally got up, and went to the counter to pay my bill (with only the turnip cakes on it ) and the manager looked at the bill, realized there was only one item on it, made a face, and then charged me $5 and didn't even ask me what happened. Bottom line: come for the food, but don't expect to be treated like a valuable customer. read more

Holy cow this place was delicious. Came here with my Chinese family of 7 and we were sat at a table with a lazy susan. Service was great, although I mostly attribute that to my cousin being really good friends with the server. We went all out in the menu and needless to say, all the food was great. Check out the photos. read more

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Just moved from Pittsburgh where there is NO DIM SUM, so we were so excited to end our misery when we moved here and headed straight to Mandarin Kitchen to fulfill a long desired craving. The food hit the spot and we have been back 3 times in the last two months. The place is packed on Saturday and Sundays. Having had dim sum in SF, NY, DC, and Chicago, in comparison this place is pretty good. There's a large selection of items and carts - my favorite item of course being chicken feet! On one visit I even spotted the Macau style egg tart which I love, but unfortunately doesn't seem like it's a regular item since I haven't seen it since. I had to bury my disappointment in pineapple buns, taro buns, char siu bao, congee, and numerous other yummy things. They also sell siu yuk (crispy pork belly) and roast duck to go. The siu yuk was a bit salty so we probably won't hit that up again. Haven't tried the peking duck yet but it looks very delicious (next time, I'll get you!). read more

Rating this for Sunday Dim Sum. It's hard for me to rate the quality of the dim sum here because frankly my palate and taste for dim sum is not that refined but I think this place is delicious and a pretty unique experience for Minnesota. I also feel that the fact that it is full every Sunday with 98% Chinese people is a good sign. First of all, dim sum at MK is PACKED. I've been a few times now and every time there has been a line of people waiting at the door for the place to open. If you don't get there right away, expect to wait for a bit. Nothing too crazy, but a wait nontheless You can chow down here like nobody's business. Duck, dumplings, pork, squid, shrimp... pick your poison. Be careful though, as many small dishes can really rack up your bill. That said, if you're hungover and looking for filling, heavy, savory food, this could be your paradise. I'm giving it 5 stars because I think the food is delicious and the experience is fairly unique in the TC. Worth the trip to Bloomington! read more

Dim Sum Saturday morning. Arrived bright and early and had no wait for a table. Requested "jasmine" tea while being sat and it arrived a minute later. Plenty of people with their carts coming by in a steady stream. Lots of beautiful looking things to select from. Tried several shrimp dumplings, some fried tofu and shrimp "skin", had a few steamed clams and some decked-out sticky rice. Loved the shrimp dumplings and fried tofu skin (with a plate of worcestershire sauce on the side to dip the "skins" into); thought the steamed clams were alright, but didn't care much for their version of sticky rice. I'm a fan of plain sticky rice. I understand the little cards the place at each table make it easy for the wait staff to mark off what they're serving you. I prefer to see how much each little plate costs at the time I choose to order it. read more

This place sucks the D and they vacuum while you eat. No dim sum at night so just don't go here at night... There's a tip for that ass read more

Mandarin Kitchen - Proof - Dim Sum Near Me - Minneapolis, Minnesota

My family and I have been going to Mandarin Kitchen for a very long time. Mandarin Kitchen is so much better than the restaurants in Chicago especially Chinatown. If you like duck, noodle soup, fried rice, dim sum, oysters, etc this is the place. To be honest I would eat at mandarin kitchen twice a week if I wanted too. read more

This place is definitely over rated, understaffed and I think some of their employees were rude but some of them were nice... We had a large group of 14, got sat in a private room in the back. We barely had any good food served . No one ever came by with the BBQ items so we were not satisfied with our meal. The foods that we ate were good but not full of variety. Very disappointing and will never come back. read more

"Oh my goodness, this place is so expensive." That's the thought that stuck with me the entire meal I spent there. Let's just say that if my grandmother hadn't been treating me, I may not have stayed. The fact that king crab cost over $100 was enough to keep my grandmother from ordering that as part of our meal. I've heard that Mandarin Kitchen has good dim sum, but my experience there was ordering off the menu. There is a very large selection of dishes you can get, anything from lamb to duck to sea cucumber. At $15+ a plate, even if you eat family-style the price of your dinner will skyrocket if you aren't careful. The service was just okay. The waiters weren't rude, but they seemed to be completely disinterested in you as a customer. I also sensed impatience when asking questions about certain dishes. I've never seen any waiter so relieved for us to finish ordering. I must admit, the food is very good. Being in rural Connecticut for much of the year, I get consistent cravings for authentic Chinese food. At the same time, I can't quite say that the food that I got was worth the price my poor (retired) grandmother had to pay. read more

I'm still a little bit peeved that my craving for dim sum hasn't been met, especially.... - after waiting an hour for a table (in the end, we shared a table with a couple other groups to just finally get some food). I guess your best bet is to get there right when it opens. - after getting up close and personal with about 20 different strangers. Memories of the rush hour subways in Japan came flooding back to me as I stood there (and many fun questions, such as, "whose hand is that? ちかん?!?"). Seriously, how hard is it to figure out a more effective/efficient waiting system, let alone some sort of order amidst the chaos of adding your name to the list/waiting for a table/paying your bill/leaving the restaurant? - after paying $42 for two people. HOW?!? We barely even got anything! Definitely more expensive than most places I've been to! - since the food we ate was lackluster/one-note and reaaalllyyy greasy. The spicy peanut dumplings and char siu baos were very tasty, but the rest all kind of tasted the same and not even all that fresh. Our (very small and bony) duck was also extremely salty and cold. Sad face. - since our table location, to some extent, ruined our experience. Can't help but think that were we got seated caused us to miss out on many of the food options. Lame. It's a shame, and again, I'm really disappointed and let down with our experience. All of the staff seemed very friendly and worked hard at accommodating such a large amount of people the best they could. And it must be good to some people, the place was packed! Many of the dishes we saw while waiting looked really good, and the hanging duck and pork nearby the register looked very tasty.... ...but I won't be back. After this mediocre experience, DEFINITELY not worth it. read more

All hail Mandarin Kitchen!! Wowwy wow wow. I've finally found a Chinese restaurant in Minnesota that has hanging ducks in the front window - the quintessential sign of an authentic Cantonese joint. And the food was as good as I hoped! The moo shu pork was stunningly flavorful, great big serving, and me - a rare strange food eater - even *loved* the crispy quail wings on the app menu. Srsly worth driving to no matter where you may be in the Twin Cities. Yay so happy I finally found a good Chinese place in MN. I now no longer have to say "There's no good Chinese places in MN." There is. MK, baby. read more

One word: overpriced. In my search for all that is dim sum in The Cities, the words "Mandarin Kitchen" and "Jun Bo" have dropped on my head from the Cloud. I have yet to try Jun Bo, but after going to Mandarin Kitchen I can say without a doubt I will not be back. I went there during the busy time that is dim sum, around 11am, and was prepared for a wait. I put my name on the list they have, and even told the hostess that I was more than willing to sit at a shared table (much like how they do in China itself). There isn't an estimated wait time, but after about 25 minutes I noticed that people in bigger parties (we had 2) who came in after us were being seated ahead of us. I *STILL* patiently waited for about another 10 minutes before I asked the hostess when we would be sat, to which she replied we'd be next - she came back and we were sat at a table for 2 by ourselves...I wonder how long I would've waited had I decided to passively wait there... The carts that passed by held your standard fare, of which I always make a point to try the spare ribs, shu mai, har gao, chicken feet, ginger steamed beef tripe, bbq pork and shrimp fun roll. The fare itself was decent - about what I'd expect, meaning nothing at all compared to dim sum in my native Texas or in Cali (Seafood Cove #2, anyone?). They also have waiters who walk around with normal Chinese dishes. I ended up getting one of them, the Clams in Black Bean Sauce, because I usually love it but it was cold to the touch...I wondered to myself whether they are just trying to get rid of extra dishes people ordered incorrectly. (We ended up taking it to go and a little reheating in the microwave proved to be all it needed - still...don't serve me cold food). The service is what you'd expect, with a refill or two of water. Our tea ended up being cold near the end, but I wasn't going to ask for an entire refill for two people. All in all, I thought the food was about a 3, decent. *HOWEVER*, when I went to go pay and the bill ended up totalling over $80 for TWO of us, I just couldn't understand it. Usually the prices are listed next to each size of dish, next to the tally, but at MK they aren't. Still, even when I've eaten my fill of dim sum, it has never gone over $30 per person. Maybe it was the jasmine tea, maybe it was my Diet Coke, maybe it was the extra dish of clams, but whatever it was, the amount and quality of food I ate was nowhere NEAR worth $80. If Jun Bo doesn't disappoint, it's an automatic winner for my dim sum craving. If it does, I guess I'll have to travel out of state just to get my dim sum fix...how sad. read more

If you really want to eat real Chinese Food, this is just another place to go in MN! On the weekends, they have Dim Sum. The foods are good! They have different fresh seafoods! Make sure to ask for price before ordering. Depending on what seafood you want to order, the price might scare you away! (Overprice) The three star is for the foods! Missing Stars is because of the bad service when you don't order fresh seafood at dinner time. It happened many times over the years to myself and others I've known. When you go their during dinner and while making orders, their waitress will recommend you to order some fresh seafoods. If you don't, you will received bad services from them. Ex: when your foods come to the table, they will throw your dish on your table and the waitress will mumble some mean words. For that reason, I don't go there anymore. read more

We love this place for dim sum. That said, just went for dinner (first time in about a year) and remembered why we don't get dinner here. We had several mediocre dishes including the eggplant hotpot and some stir-fried vermicelli noodles. The salt and pepper shrimp was good. When we got home, however, we experienced the following: self: had the runs sister: upset stomach wife: headache mom: headache which was likely the massive amounts of MSG in our food. We will continue to go for dim sum, but never the lunch or dinner. read more

Stopped at this place for dinner. Order few area food dishes. It was ok. Service SUCK. The guys are hanging around doing nothing. It took 20 min before we can place the order. Service suck these servers just hang around waiting for tip they don't know anything about service. Don't waste your time and money at this place. STAY AWAY.. read more

Dim sum. Yum. When we came in the place was busy, by the time we left it was a mad house. I recommend arriving early. The carts came by fast and furious each laden with new bite sized treats to taste. The shrimp dumplings, crab balls and steaming hot custard are not to be missed. The service was so good it seemed that our tea pot was magically refilling itself. This was my first trip to Mandarin Kitchen, it will not be the last. read more

This place CANNOT be beat in the Twin Cities for dim sum! Absolute best. The other items/service times is pretty good too! :) My only suggestion is to go EARLY (right around 10ish-11am). The wait is INSANE for dimsum. My waits have averaged 45 mins, ranging from 30 mins to over an hour. And yes, I have waited that long.... because it's worth it! :) read more

I cannot speak to every dish they make, what I have tried over several years have all been good but when it comes to Dim Sum it is the best I've had anywhere in the country and better then any I had in China. read more

Did telephone order for take out. The food still a little bit warm although I was 15 minutes late and smell good too.I ordered fried chicken with garlic sauce, a choice that actually I had no idea what it looked or tasted like, I just picked the name out of their website. And when I was home and opened it somehow it was familiar. Surely this meal I used to eat back home, just had a different name on it. For me though, this place if all of their menu like this, this is what I call Chinese food I used to know!! read more

Mandarin Kitchen - Fried chicken with garlic sauce - Dim Sum Near Me - Minneapolis, Minnesota

Best Chinese food in the city (as far as I know). I first learned about this from a person who spent 8 years in China studying chinese medicine...and when asked where do you go for good chinese food...here said Mandarin Kitchen. Lots of great food at a good price. Their lunch special is awesome. I get a seasame chicken, bowl of wonton soup, 1 egg roll, and 4 cream cheese wontons for around $8. read more

This is a great resturaunt-chinese or otherwise. The menu is unique in its variety and quality of offerings, especially the seafood. The prices while on the high end are a good value, but there's not much to compare against! There are two menus one for the tourists and one for people that know what chinese food is supposed to be. The problem (BIG) is the worst ever service. The wait staff is rude impatient and have no tolerance for customers' curiosity or indecisiveness. The management seems to tolerate their waiters behavior as though they can't hire anyone else who can act surly and walk away never to be seen again. I strongly reccomend that you avoid this place or if your craving becomes too much and you have to go- get drunk first. read more

They used to be the center of dim sum. The travel, wait times and cost have made me prefer cooking at home. Cost is high, service is low and quality is frozen garbage thawed in a microwave read more

Cold food and bad service are bad ingredients!! We went there for dim and sum and will never return. Our food was cold and selection was slim. read more