I got some takeout at Mandarin Bistro for my parents and I and overall it was good. 3.5 stars, but…read morerounding up to 4.
The menu items and combos are very similar to Asian Bistro on Metcalfe Street. I would describe Mandarin Bistro as Asian Bistro's less outwardly successful cousin, lol. Asian Bistro is really nicely decorated, while Mandarin Bistro looks a bit run down. However, they both have this combo for 1 for twenty-something bucks and it's enough to serve 2-3 people. That's what I got. Both places also always seem to have the same specials on UberEats. Once (and I missed out on it) they both had a special where you got free fried chicken with any purchase over $20. Anyway, I really suspect they are somehow connected.
I got the combo for 1 and it was $26.99 on UberEats ($44.99 if you buy directly from the restaurant). You get to choose from a list and you get an appetizer, a soup, a main, a rice or noodle, a dessert and a drink. So I got the curry fried chicken, egg and mushroom soup, crispy beef, Satay chicken fried noodles, taro with sago, and a lychee slush. My parents and I ate it for lunch and we had leftovers.
The curry fried chicken was essentially popcorn chicken. I didn't taste any curry flavour whatsoever, but it was still good. A bit greasy though and not as juicy or tender as at Asian Bistro. Similar to at Asian Bistro it came with deep-fried vermicelli as garnish.
The Crispy Beef was just deep-fried battered beef in a sweet and sticky sauce. No vegetables. It was really crispy! Too crispy for my liking, lol. I think I'll stick with General Tao Chicken next time.
The Satay Chicken fried noodles were good, although a bit greasy. It had a very generous amount of chicken in it (thigh meat), as well as broccoli, carrots, cabbage, onions, and baby Bok Choy. The noodles were like udon noodles.
The egg and mushroom soup was good too, not too salty. It had many types of mushrooms in it, including straw mushrooms (my favourite type of mushroom) and oyster mushrooms (my second favourite type of mushroom). It had eggs, carrots and peas as well.
I didn't have any of the dessert, but my mom said it was a bit bland and she thinks the taro is from frozen. She said it didn't taste like they used coconut milk. She said "why didn't you get the grass jelly with taro balls option?" Lol. She loves taro and this one comes with real taro chunks, so that's why I picked it, taro balls are mostly flour with taro flavour, oh well. I'll get that one next time, haha. Needless to say, she didn't like the taro with sago dessert :(
I didn't have any of the lychee slush either, but my mom liked it and said it wasn't too sweet.
I should note that you get one more option at Mandarin Bistro than you do at Asian Bistro. At Mandarin Bistro the combo for 1 gives you soup AND dessert, at Asian Bistro you get soup OR dessert. At Asian Bistro the combo for 1 is $28.99 and if you choose a slush for your drink (instead of a can of pop or bottle of water) you are charged an extra $1. So the combo is cheaper at Mandarin Bistro. You get a lot of food for the price at either place though.
So I picked up my order and pick up is not through the main restaurant entrance. It's at a side entrance that looks a bit dilapidated. You go down a flight of stairs that has seen better days, and you end up at the back of the kitchen. I was greeted by a nice little old lady who confirmed my order number and gave me my food. I felt ok because it was daylight, but I probably would have been a bit spooked if it was night time.
Anyway, the combo for 1 is a great deal for sure. I'm looking forward to trying other selections.
The restaurant is in Chinatown. There might be parking behind the restaurant, I'm not really sure. I parked on the street. Some streets are free, while some require that you pay at the meter. Check the signage so you don't get ticketed.