The food was top notch. The sauce for the crispy beef and the portion was good. Sad I was traveling and couldn't take much with me.

Sweet Mandarin is a Chinese restauraunt in Manchester's Northern Quarter, which is basically behind the Crowne Plaza of Rochdale Road and close to the Holiday Inn, owned by three sisters it has gained a lot of publicity on television which was the reason I wanted to try it. They were featured on Gordon Ramsay's The F Word and were also on UK business show Dragon's Den twice, advertising their ready meals in 2005 and more recently advertising the sauces they sell in supermarkets and use in restaurants - the story behind their products and the three sisters working together to produce "great quality Chinese food catering for allergies such as gluten-free" was appealing to me, however my high expectations were far from met, infact my experience here was so disappointing, it made me feel sick. The prices here are a little high, with mains generally between 10 and 20 pounds but the presentation for me is a little poor and sloppy, for example, I ordered a lemon chicken as my main, all it was was slices of chicken, it comes with nothing other than the chicken and sauce - no sides etc which were all extras. The "mains" are more like big sharing boards for groups, rather than mains for one person perhaps. For my starter, I ordered gluten-free spring rolls, is excited to try them have never tried them before, being quite a newbie to Chinese cuisine, I found out this was basically fried puff pastry containing vegetables and spring onions. For me, they were basically inedible, I found them to first be extremely hot and even after they had cooled, they were hard and the vegetables were too wet and stringy. My friend ordered seaweed as her starter, I found it to be far too salty but she appeared to enjoy it. For my main, I ordered the lemon chicken which was once again dreadful, the chicken was a little hard and bland but what made it worse was the big thick sauce, it looked like a thick discoloured bodily fluid rather than a nice, enjoyable sauce - the USP of this restauraunt and the brand as a whole is the sauces, and if they can't even get that right, I'm astonished and lost for words. It was basically a sickly and ugly mess. The rest of my party seemed to order the chow meins, one mixed meat, one just with chicken, a group of four people all complained about the chicken which was amongst the poorest quality of chicken I've had in a long time, the portion sizes again were huge - it is a real shame the waiter seemed more interested in what money they could get out of me, rather than offering ideas and warning us about what to expect with the portion sizes - knowing how big the plates were we could have ordered a variety of things, or less food. Even if the food was remotely pleasant, it still was far too large in size for a portion. I decided to order an extra side to go with my chicken, the salt and pepper chips which I found to be probably the only edible part of my meal, the chips were decent quality but it just was the vegetables which were not, they once again were thick, and also hard. The overall decor of this place seems a little cheap, it is slightly small as you walk in through cardboard barriers, and it just doesn't have the overall feel of a restauraunt. It's slightly strange and not the nicest of places that's for sure, it certainly doesn't give the high-end feel, infact the only thing about this place which is high-end are the prices. With tea being a huge export in China, I was pleased to see a huge and great selection of iced tea for just £4 each, I decided to opt for a pear iced tea but it was incredibly sweet and filled with sugar, it was a watery and sugary mess to the point those awful flavours basically made the tea hard to taste and the drink once again an abysmal mess. The opening hours are also slightly restrictive and they also appear to open after 5 only, and a lack of an online booking system makes it hard to arrange a table as you have to communicate with email, which I don't like and shows not only is Sweet Mandarin lacking with the competition in terms of pricing and food quality, but it also lacks behind in the technology form too, and the egotistical act of boasting of their own achievements seem to outweigh everything else, including making the experience better for the customer, I can't help but feel a sense of arrogance too, Sweet Mandarin might have won many awards years ago, I can't comment having not visited before today, but I feel these awards have added a sense of arrogance, making the owners slightly arrogant when really they're food was a dreadful, overpriced mess, which meant I'd leave the restauraunt hungry and feeling sick. When making a reservation via email I was told "We look forward to welcoming you to Sweet Mandarin for some delicious Chinese cuisine" but my experience was an insult to Chinese cuisine and is enough to put anyone off from ordering Chinese food, being a mess from start to finish so I sadly feel Sweet Mandarin is somewhere to Avoid at all costs! read more

See all

Visited Nov 4, 2012 I was sooo looking forward to eating here during my visit back to my hometown of Manchester. I had watched the F Word whilst in the USA and saw this place on the show as did most reviewers. I went with some family (about 5 of us) and we were the first customers of the night, oddly enough the place was completely dark and didn't look like it was going to be open at all. I was pleasantly surprised to meet one of the 2 sisters and she even let me take some photos with her and the F word trophy. That was the highlight of the visit. Ok now onto the important part.....THE FOOD. We ordered ALOT of food and wasn't impressed overall but I do believe it was not cooked by either of the sisters which may have been the main reason. Just because the chefs in the kitchen have the recipe doesn't mean they can cook it like it should be. Mabel's Claypot - Extremely overpowering ginger taste 4/10 Homemade Beijing Dumplings - Served cold??? not good 3/10 Salt & Pepper Ribs - Tasted good but very few pieces 7/10 Volcano Beef - Probably the best dish we ordered 9/10 Shrimp Chow Fun - Seemed more like a Pad Thai - 6/10 Aromatic Crispy Duck - Good, but not easy to screw this up lol 8/10 Soft Shell Crab - Waste of time, very few pieces and no meat 2/10 Unfortunately I'm sad to say the food was ok at best, I don't like writing these kind of reviews but hoping its the only way the owners see what they need to improve on. Food portions were small and prices were high. My party of 5 agreed that it wasn't good value. Its been a few years since Ramsay paid them a visit she told me, I think its time he goes again and point out their flaws. My recommendation, train the chefs better. Something isn't right, the sisters deserve the success but I think they need to start cooking the food before the restaurant goes down faster than the Titanic. read more

See all

Looking for great chinese food? Look no further. After having our dinner booking messed around by another restaurant, I suggested we try Sweet Mandarin - obviously we've all heard of it through Gordon, but it's also another NQ institution that I hadn't tried. Two birds one stone. We rang on a Saturday at around 3pm and were easily booked in for a table of 5 at 8.30. No fuss no muss. It was busy when we got there but were seated straight away. Now, the scenery isn't as cleanline as you might expect from somewhere that's been on your tellybox - the menu's were pretty sticky, two of the party had no cutlery, and my god it's SO hot. However, the food and service takes over completely and all is forgotten. It was one of our party's birthdays, so she got a lovely card from the sister's and a slice of cake at the end of the night with a candle - not that we had room for it! We all went for a banquet option at £20 a head with duck for an extra £5. This was ambitious to say the least. We started with prawn crackers, which we dipped in the sister's sweet chilli sauce - delicious - and their bbq sauce - not one for prawn crackers. Next up was a bowl of gorgeous chicken and sweetcorn soup, full of ingredients and with real texture. Then came the plate of appetisers; 2 pieces of prawn toast, 2 vegetable spring rolls, a chicken satay and seaweed EACH. Everything was delicious, full of flavour and such generous portions. By now, you're wishing you'd worn some stretchier pants - but the food keeps coming! Next up was the crispiest crispy duck I've ever had the pleasure of eating. Shredded at the table, it was gorgeous. Melty duck with pork crackling style sections in those tasty floury wraps, served with hoisin, cucumber and spring onion. Now it's time for your main course! I'm feeling full just thinking about it. Out of everything, the main was probably the most dissapointing - I went for the crispy beef, but there was nothing wow about it. The sauce was really tasty and, again, portion size was more than generous, but there was very little spice and even less beef taste. I had a taste of the jungle curry, which was lovely and lemony, and the sweet and sour chicken. We were able to take all our leftovers home and tucked in on Sunday evening, everything tasting just as good as the night before! read more

Sweet Mandarin - starter platter (2013) - Chinese Near Me - Manchester, XGM

After hearing much hype about this place I finally decided to get my dinner from Sweet Mandarin last night. It definitely looks very impressive from outside with the red curtains and Chinese lanterns and once you enter its equally well decorated and have a very romantic feel to it. They had a pretty big menu and that is one thing that always make me happy because you have so much to choose from. The Gordom Ramsey set menu was for 30 quid per person and seemed like a popular one (I always prefer to chose my own so never go for set menus). I ordered for Special Chow Mein, Dumplings, Sweet and Sour Prawns and Hot and sour soup and I must say I loved all of them. Their service was quick and the waitress was very friendly with a smile on her face all through even though it was quite late. My Verdict: Great ambience and good food, I say PERFECT for a quiet romantic date! :) read more

See all

Despite having lived round the corner from Sweet Mandarin for nearly 7 years (I cannot believe it's that long since I got a mortgage - eeek), I have never eaten in. I've been out for a Chinese at many places in Manchester but never booked a table here. I have, however, been here for takeaway many a time. Including a very sad New Years Eve (about 5 NYE's ago) where I was really ill and stayed in on my lonesome listening to everyone else partying (cue violins). My latest was Saturday just gone, when I was still recovering from a late and heavy Friday. The trouble with me and Chinese takeaways is I always like the idea more than the practice. Every Chinese takeaway I've had since moving up north never quite lives up to the takeaway we used to get when I was a kid. Maybe that particular takeaway was never that great, but my tastebuds are nostalgic about it (I'm the same with my mum's spaghetti bolognese, but no other food, weirdly). So my 3* review of this should be taken with this in mind. I rang up, they took my order and was told to wait 30 minutes. The usual wait is between 30-40 minutes, so I would only recommend placing the order if you have something else you can do for 30 minutes (maybe a walk up the road to chill in Ziferblat now?). I turned up after 33 minutes and my order was waiting for me, which was nice. In the past I've had a short wait, but never more than a few minutes. I got home, after having to walk past loads of glammed up people going out for the night, and as usual just dived straight in. I don't bother with plates when it's a takeaway for one. My order of choice was the salt and pepper squid (of F Word fame, though not these particular squid), sweet and sour chicken and egg fried rice. My childhood Chinese didn't do salt and pepper squid so that was all good, and I really enjoyed it. As per my comments above, sweet and sour with egg fried rice is the thing that never tastes the same. I do really like this one, which is why I keep doing back. If you see my photo, you will see there was quite a lot of food: I ate all the squid, all the chicken (see, it must be good if I still ate it) and two thirds of the rice. Quite a lot for a small person like me. And it was all only £12.50 which is pretty good value. I'd recommend the takeaway if you live in town. Not sure about delivery as I always collect. read more

Sweet Mandarin - Saturday night takeaway - Chinese Near Me - Manchester, XGM

I got takeaway so this review is based on takeaway tasting and service. The food was delicious however nothing stood out as amazing. The Cantonese fillet beef was very nice and was the highlight of my order. The spring rolls and seaweed were much better than your average Chinese takeaway from Chinatown. Staff were lovely and very helpful but although yelp and the resteraunt signage said they deliver they unfortunately said they were unable to. I'll definitely be back for takeaway and hopefully to eat in sometime soon. read more

Sweet Mandarin - Our takeaway - Chinese Near Me - Manchester, XGM

We got take out from this place and it was absolutely delicious! We ate so much we couldn't move for over an hour. One of us also has celiac disease and we've been finding it quite hard to find good food that is prepared gluten free but I think we have found the place! They even gave us some cutlery and hand wipes because we were on the go. Would definitely recommend this place. The Sweet and Sour Tofu was my favorite!!! read more

Sweet Mandarin is only open in the evenings (5.00 Tues to sun), meaning I don't get the opportunity to go on my work lunch explorations. So when a friend fancied going on a Friday night it was the ideal opportunity to give it a try. We turned up at 6 and were surprised at how quiet the restaurant was, there were only a few tables with people the entire time we were there - but we needn't have been apprehensive at the quiet because the food and service was superb. We started off with prawn toast and spring rolls, both good examples of their kind - the prawn plentiful and tender and the spring rolls had a lovely mix of flavours. We then both chose similar dishes - the volcano beef and chicken respectively. These were both a really fine meal, hot but not overpowering, juicy tender meat and plenty of it, slightly crisp veg - superb. A glass or two of the house rose rounded off the meal nicely! There's a lot of things on the menu a bit different from the standard Chinese fare so I'll definately be going back to try some of those, that said there's also a lot of the old favourites as well. Meal for two came to around £60 with drinks - our mains were slightly more expensive than the other options so we found that quite reasonable. We'll be back! read more

Famous more now for appearing on Gordon Ramsay's The F Word (I'm kind of preoccupied with him this week, can you tell?) than its Chinese food, we all know the Sweet Mandarin must be good if the G Man graced it with his acerbic, brutally honest presence and declared it one of the best restaurants in the UK. So what's so Sweet about this Mandarin? Basically, it's pretty darn delicious. The food is light and exquisite without a trace of MSG or grease. You can get dim sum in the form of tempuras, duck rolls, squid, crispy seaweed, crackers and the like, or handy appetiser combos. The prawn toasts are quite simply some of the most delightful I've ever tasted. The menus are separated out by various meats, specials or the 'Taste of China' option. The specials are very creative, such as the vegetarian claypot full of tofu, those gorgeous Chinese mushrooms you can get and cabbage, ginger, garlic and spring onion. Heaven. I'd also recommend the Tsing Tao Beer Fish from the Taste of China menu - fish pieces cooked in a Chinese beer infusion, who could ask for anything more? There are some great banquets on offer for groups and a fantastic seafood and veggie menu so it was satisfaction all round where we were concerned. And heck, there's even a cookery school so you can learn all the tricks of the trade. Well, not all of them. Then Mandarin might not have customers. The other big plus about Sweet Mandarin is its service. It couldn't have got onto The F Word with surly waitresses or grumpy maitre d's, and sure enough the staff are attentive, friendly and pleasant. So the only thing to ask really is why the heck didn't it win? Sweet Mandarin rocks! read more

This place recently made it to the finals of Gordan Ramsay's "The 'F' Word." My friends and I booked a table almost two months ago, this place is that popular at the moment. We were all really excited about how great this place was going to be. When we arrived the staff were all smiles, showing us to our table in a restaurant that has simple décor and a simple red and black colour. The menu looked incredible, there were lots of dishes that you don't see in other Chinese restaurants and every dish seemed to have a personal Sweet Mandarin touch or description. It was good to feel like we were eating somewhere a bit different to all the other same old Chinese restaurants. I love my Chinese soups so the Three Precious Soup looked perfect me. It was warming mix of pork, prawn and peas in a kind of broth. It was really, really good. My girlfriend went for the salt and pepper squid. I managed to nick a couple and they were INCREDIBLE. I was happy with my starter but I wish I'd made a different decision! For our main course, we shared some egg fried rice and I went for Maybel's Claypot Chicken. It was really tasty, and had nice chunks of ginger too. To be honest, the main meal wasn't quite as spectacular as I was expecting. The portions of rice, despite the fact that we were sharing, were not as big as you get in other Chinese restaurants. Our mains were without that layer of grease that you often get with Chinese, but then they weren't the most spectacular thing I had ever tasted, just really, really tasty. Sweet Mandarin is a really good place for Chinese food. It's well worth the visit, but don't build your hopes up quite as much I did, because you might be a tiny bit disappointed. That's the power of TV for you! read more

I have a strange obsession with Gordon Ramsey... so when I saw that he was in some way connected to this restaurant, I thought I'd have to give it a try. Me and two friends who came all the way from Georgia, visiting Manchester, wandered in looking for a quick dinner to chat and catch up with and I think we found a great place to do so. Staff were friendly and helpful and when a wrong dish arrived at our table, we even got offered it for free as well as our own food! I had the firecracker chicken which was a really nice floral dish that has a massive kick (as the name would suggest) it was delicious and something I'd go back for! My two friends had sweet and sour chicken and sweet chili chicken and both enjoyed it. Only slightly negative thing I would say is that the dining area was quite loud when we were there. A bit too loud to hear a normal volume conversation, but that was mostly down to other diners and I guess you can't do much about that. Great food, reasonably priced and friendly staff. I would take some more friends there! read more

I went here after trying to find a nice place for my anniversary. ..after doing some research this seemed quite promising after winning on Gordon Ramsey,`s F word and getting the attention of the dragons on dragons den with their tasty sauces.. The staff were very welcoming as soon as we stepped in and were kind enough to write us a happy anniversary card out.. The food was very fresh and tasty and the cocktail menu was quite interesting being named after the Chinese zodiac. .This place is easy to miss but once you've found it you will love the relaxed atmosphere, great food and service. I will be coming back here again. . read more

Great Chinese restaurant, staff polite and food lovely! Reasonably priced too. A+++ read more

I had a great experience dining here the other day. I chose this based on the other reviews, and wasn't disappointed. Compared to other restaurants I walked past on my way, the fact that it was half full was good for an early Tuesday evening. The menu is not as big as many Chinese restaurants. They have a few unique items and a few "themes" that carry across the beef/pork/poultry categories, but it was still hard to make a choice. I really was craving the chicken satay, but I decided against it - I was afraid if I got a lame "spicy peanut butter" version I wasn't going to be happy, so I went with the recommendations in the other reviews and ordered the item below it - the General Tze's Sweet & Sour chicken. I also ordered the dumplings, and found them to be plump, tender, and very tasty. The thought of dipping them in the vinegar sauce that accompanied them was a little off-putting, but I actually liked how the flavors worked together. I also tried the different sauces that were on my table, including the wonderful warm-but-not-too-hot sweet chili sauce and the BBQ sauce. This is where it gets funny - the waiter brought me the chicken satay. I told him that I thought I had ordered the sweet & sour, and he apologized and was about to correct it, but I caught a wonderful aroma coming from the chicken - it was clear this was not another "spicy peanut butter" version of satay, so I actually decided to keep it and forego the sweet & sour. I found the satay to be a very light peanut flavor, infused with ginger, green peppers, onion, and a little bit of garlic that combined into the tastiest chicken satay I can remember. There was just the right amount of sauce so that everything was covered, but the plate wasn't soupy when I finished. The spice was just right for my taste - a nice warmth that slowly builds, with no need to rush to the water. After I finished my meal, the owner of the restaurant stopped by to chat. She instantly recognized my American accent and asked me about my trip, where in the US I was from, did it get colder in Minnesota than in Manchester, how I heard about the restaurant, and more. She gave me a card and offered a discount the next time I was in town - and you can be sure that I'll be back. read more

We had reserved a table for 7pm on Friday but arrived a little earlier. We were seated straight away. We barely had time to look at the menu before being asked what we wanted to drink. We requested a couple of minutes, which was literally all they gave us before they came around again and then again. They are way too attentive in this place, perhaps to a fault. I was ordering off of their gluten free menu, which is refreshingly extensive. In the end I went for the BBQ ribs to start with and the sichuan crispy beef and rice noodles for mains. When they bring out the food they are very explicit in telling you which dishes are gf, which is reassuring. The ribs were coated in a thick sweet tangy sauce which was full of flavour. The ribs had quite a bit of meat on them. They could have done with being a little less chewy and a bit more tender, but to be honest when you've not had Chinese food in sooo long the flavour was enough to make me think I'd died and gone to heaven. This dish is good for sharing cause after a while the sweetness gets to be a little too much. To follow, my beef dish was amazing and you can't really fault it, it was just well cooked. The noodles on the other hand, whilst delicious, could have done with being a lot less salty cause these probably contained enough salt to make up my entire weekly allowance. Overall a great Chinese meal was had. My friends also enjoyed their meals. read more

Sweet Mandarin - Sichuan crispy beef, my most favourite dish from all that we ordered. - Chinese Near Me - Manchester, XGM

I've been to Sweet Mandarin a few times, and ate a full meal once. I enjoyed the soup, and the chicken dish I chose for the main course was cooked after the family recipe, and it was delicious. Sweet Mandarin was the first UK restaurant to fully embrace Social Media, and the lovely Tse sisters regularly update their followers on Twitter. They run Chinese cooking lessons, and often welcome Manchester Social Media aficionados and Flickr photographers. They always provide free food on these occasions, so one has really to admire sisters' hospitality and entrepreneurial qualities. To me, their only drawback is the location, and it may be one single factor that distracts from the overall experience. I would much rather see them draping the windows, to black out the rather dull street, and adding a bit more colour to the interior. read more

Sometimes, I think someone has stuck a bag over my head in the night and made me inhale superglue vapours in my sleep. Why? Well, my views on Sweet Mandarin seem to differ from the rest of the world in its entirety. Reviews of the Chinese restaurant have been fawning and more than positive. A recent stint on some Gordon Ramsey show only furthered the reputation of the place. This has left me utterly confused and bewildered because, although the space itself is very pleasant and the staff are astonishingly friendly, the food was up there with the most uninspiring and dull grub to ever pass these eager chops. Seriously. I went as part of a biggish group and I picked something of a favourite of mine and prodded and poked at it listlessly, dreaming of other times I've eaten superior meals. I'd assume that I'd caught the place on a bad night if it wasn't for everyone else punching the air and breathlessly talking about it being one of the best meals they'd ever had. I'm not a fussy eater and nor do I have exacting tastes... far from it in fact... which makes it all the more puzzling that I was so bored by what was served at Sweet Mandarin. So there you have it. Don't bother listening to me as I'll only spout off about the Emperor's new clothes and all that. Everyone likes this place so it must be doing something right. read more

Can't believe price .. sharing platter £7.95 and tiny spring roll, chewy chicken stick thing and dead toast. Main salty wet fried rice .. chip shop sweet n sour chicken. Perri perri chips masquerading as salt n pepper chips. Only thing got right was ribs n beer from a bottle! read more

My new Manchester takeaway obsession! They are really quick when you order takeaway and have a MASSIVE vegan menu. The black bean and sweet pepper tofu is divine and they give you decent sized portions. read more

13 of us arrived on Easter Saturday night for a birthday meal, after looking through the menu for a while we asked them for "waitress surprise". Although the pigeon dumplings were not to my taste, they were ok. The chicken satays and the prawns we had were brilliant. The salt & pepper ribs were a bit tough but others on the table said theirs were melt-in-the-mouth so maybe I got a wrong-un? Although there were a few mains, I put a bagsy on the sweet-and-sour chicken it was easily the best I've ever had! I tried the steak dish as well which was good also. They also gave our birthday girl a birthday card which was a nice touch. The price was very good and the service excellent. Well worth a visit! read more

After watching Sweet Mandarin wow audiences on Gordon Ramsay's F Word before Christmas, going on to be crowned Best Local Chinese Restaurant, I had been looking forward to sampling their wares for some time. I must say that I am wholeheartedly disappointed! I was very excited to try this restaurant, it being fully booked for two months after appearing on Television, where their chef's showcased one of my favourite Cantonese dishes, Salt & Chilli Squid. When done correctly, this is a wonderful preparation of squid and should be tender, crispy and well seasoned with salt, red chilli and onion. What I was presented with was tough and soggy; I'm sure quite dissimilar to what was offered to diners on the F Word. The crispy chilli beef was well cooked, but the sauce overly sweet and bland in flavour, with very little vegetables. Egg fried rice was dry, as if it had been kept warm for too long, perhaps since lunch time, as we dined quite early at around 6pm. In fact my only explanation for the poor quality of the food is that it had all been reheated, not cooked from fresh. I believe this is normal in the case of Crispy Chilli Beef the beef is prepared ahead of time then stir-fried with sauce and vegetables before serving but it is completely unacceptable to prepare Salt & Chilli Squid in this manner. The squid must be flash fried and served immediately to retain tenderness and crispiness. I urge you to try this dish in Tai Wu on Oxford Road. It is excellent. Running my own Deli, I can understand the desire to avoid wastage, but to present food in this condition is not good business and a false economy. This explanation does extend to the poor quality of the beef sauce, however and I think standards must have slipped considerably since Christmas. The food was so terrible it has inspired me to write my first review! After losing our appetites and leaving the vast majority of our food we were asked if everything was was ok to which I expressed my displeasure. The waitress disappeared with our plates and returned to inform me that that is how the chef prepares her food! This may have been a case of lost in translation but is still unacceptable. No other staff member approached us to address my complaint. Adding insult to injury, we had ordered a couple of interesting sounding cocktails at £6.95 each. These were exceptionally weak, with perhaps one measure of spirits in each! The sweetness of the juices was not balanced by an appropriate quantity of alcohol. They were very bad value. I think that sums up my experience. There is a wealth of Chinese restaurants in Manchester and being keen on my food I have tried a reasonable number of them. I am sad to say this is by far the worst. I can strongly recommend Tai Wu on Oxford Road for Cantonese cuisine. The food is exquisite. I have never been served an unpleasant dish. The Manager is rude and detestable, however. For Szechuan cooking, try Read & Hot in China Town. There they serve a wonderful array of lesser known dishes from the chilli province that never fail to disappoint. Very spicy! read more

After hearing so many good things about Sweet Mandarin, I knew it was definitely somewhere to try, so as soon as my friend suggested going for Chinese I jumped at the chance of going here - it didn't take much persuasion and I booked a table for us easily via email. Upon arrival we were warmly welcomed by happy and vibrant staff members - this was a very refreshing experience, especially for a restaurant as busy as this one. We were shown to our table straight away and were also talked through the menu. Neither of us had had lunch and we were starving, so we opted for the banquet meal at £20 per person and as we were feeling lavish, we added the crispy duck pancakes for an extra £5 each. We were initially given some prawn crackers and dip to start - the dip was their very own sweet chilli sauce (which is now being sold in Sainsbury according to the menu). Second on the menu was their chicken and sweet corn soup, I can confirm that I have eaten many versions of this soup previously, however this is without a doubt the best one by far. It had great flavour and plenty of chicken bits. Following the soup came the crispy duck pancakes, which were equally as good as the soup. I thought that the portion may have been a small one, however I was very wrong. I think we both managed to have at least three pancakes filled with duck, spring onion, cucumber and their very own version of hoi sin sauce. After letting the soup and duck settle, we were served with a very generous mixed started platter, this consisted of prawn toast, spring rolls, chicken satay skewers and seaweed. Everything was cooked to perfection and nothing was overly greasy. By this stage I was getting full, however I knew that there was still the final and main course to go!! I had the sweet and sour chicken and my friend had the crispy shredded beef. The sweet and sour was served in its very own crispy bowl, so I could pick off the sides and dip the crispy bits into the sauce. Each was served with a small portion of egg fried rice. The crispy beef had a good hit of chilli and the sweet and sour sauce flavours were balanced perfectly. I literally cannot fault any of the food, not even a little bit. Sweet Mandarin is definitely somewhere I would recommend to friends and family and I will most certainly be a returning customer - possibly next time I will wear less restrictive clothing so that my belly has freedom to expand after eating copious amounts of food! Mmm. read more

This restaurant is being featured on Gordon Ramsey's 'the 'F' word' as I speak! Testament to how brilliant this place is (and how packed it's going to be for the next few months). read more

On the recommendation of a dear friend from Manchester, I gave Sweet Mandarin a try. Something about the name seemed familiar and when I arrived for dinner I remembered why. Over the bar area is the famous red "f" from Gordon Ramsey's "f "word restaurant. I had viewed the episode only a month earlier. The very friendly staff welcomed us warmly as we entered and immediately offered up some rice puffs with their homemade dipping sauces. The sweet chili sauce is awesome! We decided on one of the four price fixed banquet options. For 20 quid each it was quite the bargain. We started off with a corn and chicken soup followed by individual plates containing an assortment of appetizers. We each got to choose one of the main course options served with chicken fried rice on the side and enjoyed a lovely cocktail named from the Chinese zodiac (I had the Horse). The meal could have served four persons easily and we had plenty of take-away to enjoy later at the hotel. This is a gem of the Northern Quarter, Manchester, and the whole of the U.K. read more

Really good food and decent atmosphere. Service was average but all round a decent place for a good quality Chinese.

Sweet Mandarin is situtated in Manchester and my friend told me about this place and boy was she right!! Me and my Partner tried the banquet B and loved the platter (the best salt and pepper ribs i've ever tasted). There was so much food for 2 people we couldn't eat it all. The waiter was kind enough to encourage us to doggy bag. The food was very tasty, fresh and plenty of it. I loved the decor of the restaurant - so trendy and modern. read more

Sweet Mandarin is definitely a place that I'd go back to again and again. I though the service was very friendly and its a lovely modern restaurant. Best spring rolls I've had and the Lily Kwok's curry was superb.Lovely little restaurant tucked away in the Northern Quarter (with lots of great bars right within the vicinity of Sweet Mandarin). If you want a change from Chinatown, try Sweet Mandarin. read more

Sweet Mandarin - Chinese Near Me - Manchester, XGM

I really like the food at Sweet Mandarin, there is a good choice on the menu for both meat-eaters and vegeratians. The restaurant is very stylish and has a good atmosphere and they have some lovely cocktails! My only complaint is that delivery is overpriced - the minumum order is £15.00 and then £2.50 delivery charge on top of that- its just a bit too pricey to become a regular thing, but aside from that I can't fault it. read more

We ordered take away based on good yelp reviews - pad thai, Kung pao chicken, wonton soup, and egg rolls. Everything was either flavorless or had a strange flavor. I will not be getting food here again. read more

The food was slightly better than a Chinese take-away in the provinces. When food was served in western style plates rather than bowls it already got the alarm bells ringing. The food tasted as if it had been made more palatable to the English palate of someone who is more used to egg and chips but decided to 'go' Chinese tonight.# I ate there before the Gordon Ramsey thing and the food was disappointing then. So I was amazed they did so well on the the programme. read more

I went to Sweet Mandarin for my first year aniversary, we were greeted with a smile and they also gave us a hand written card wishing us well in the future. I have to admit the food was good but perhaps just not as good as I had expected. I heard about this place through watching Gordon Ramseys best restaurant in which it came first, this probably why my expectations were higher than the level of food that was provided but would advise anyone to visit if they get the chance. read more

A lovely restaurant, great if you are going out for a meal with family or friends as their platters are amazing great value, lovely food and so much of it! There are many Chinese restaurants in Manchester, but few that are worth a second visit, this is definitely one of them and I have been back many times. The staff are lovely and friendly and the place is clean and tidy. I definitely recommend this restaurant to anyone in the area and all my friends that I have recommend it to have been back more than once. Therefore I give it a great big 5 stars! read more

A superb resterauant that sells chinese meals and lots more. Enjoy the fantastic scenery from the window or enjoy the beautiful origami (traditional japanese paper folding) mobiles hanging from the walls. The ideal place for a family day out or a romantic dinner with your loved one. read more

We wandered in here by accident, because it was around the corner from our hotel (more on the new Holiday Inn elsewhere!). Looked good, smelled good, unpretentious but a little upscale. My colleague is allergic to MSG, so that made it even more attractive. The salt and pepper ribs were fantastic. With vegans at the table, we chowed down on tofu and noodles, and I had the sizzling shrimp (which were indeed sizzling, though in a sauce, unexpectedly.) All in all, the meal was delicious, and reasonably priced. One thing I did not like was that the noodle with bean sprouts was mainly noodles, and they were stringy and somewhat tasteless. I'd like to have seen a stand-alone bean sprout dish instead. I'd also have liked to see Chinese mustard available; it was nowhere to be found. AND, if at all possible, a few of the more traditional "Chinese" dishes, like jellyfish salad in hot sauce. read more

The food was average and a little bland, but not bad. Our service was awful - one waitress was incredibly brusque and the food took a long time to come out of the kitchen (our mains came over an hour after ordering). Disappointing. read more

Fantastic food and staff - best in Manchester!

Tasty and passable, but errs towards grease and salt. Some of the vegetarian dishes are composed heavily of onions, demonstrating a lack of imagination. read more