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    The Mandarin

    4.0 (194 reviews)
    Closed 11:30 am - 2:30 pm, 5:00 PM - 9:30 PM
    Updated 1 month ago

    Order The Mandarin Takeout or Delivery

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    THE MANDARIN ATMOSPHERE

    What's the vibe?
    Romantic
    Upscale
    Good for groups

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    Recommended Reviews - The Mandarin

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    Alex M.

    Overall: F // 1 star The core problem with this restaurant is that the menu is clearly too large for the staff to handle; whoever came up with the menu clearly added some items for the sake of adding items, the kitchen is clearly not skilled enough to operate such a large menu at a quality that impresses for the price, and the floor is clearly overwhelmed by the full dining room when we visited on Lunar New Year. Fundamentally, every dish on this menu is marked up 20-50% above its competitor Chinese restaurants, but also tastes at least 20-50% worse, so there's no universe in which it makes sense to dine here -- there's nothing more to it, period. (Lychee Beef: F) - Oh man, this dish feels like a confused Chinese take on a confused American take on Chinese food; there are so many problems with this dish I don't even know where to begin. Lychee beef could work as a concept if the beef was battered, fried, and coated in a soy-lychee glaze. However, here the beef has the texture as if it was boiled, since its sitting in a pool of sauce -- the vegetables they chose don't help the cause as they add water to this. Further, who thought it was a good idea to add rice crackers into the mix? It's pure soggy blandless. I cannot imagine how someone conceived this dish, tried it, and thought other people would enjoy this. (Pea Shoots: F) - A reasonably cooked plate of pea shoots marked up to astronomical proportions. At $30, which is $10-$15 more than normally premium restaurants, I'm expecting each individual leaf to be blessed by a Feng Shui master or something, because any of the chef's expertise to make this a plate that tastes like it should be 2X higher in price was not tasted. (Chinese Smoked Tea Duck: C) - This is probably the most reasonable item on the menu, which just tastes like salted duck, there's nothing special; obviously, the tea flavor doesn't come through and the presentation looks like it came straight out of a butcher shop rather than a restaurant. (Hot and Sour Soup: C) - There's a nice spiciness, there's a nice acidity, thank god they can actually make a hot and sour soup, but also who can't? What I do know is the staff is sloppy with their service as the soup overflowing on the sides of the individual bowls. Food: -1 Presentation: E Price: -1 Atmosphere: E Service: -1 Menu: -2 Overall: 1 star Insta/Yelp/Beli/TikTok: @amei_eats

    Beef and green beans
    Ellen M.

    Was really hoping for good Chinese food while in town and picked this place cause of its location. Sadly, it was not great and was overpriced. It wasn't bad, just not anything memorable. The space is nice and there is upstairs seating. My sizzling rice soup came out tepid and the rice did not even sizzle. Broth was watered down too. Beef and string beans wasn't bad. The sauce was a bit unusual, but the beef was tender. Prawns and snowpeas leaned much more to the snowpeas. For the 3 dishes plus tip came to $110. Would have had a better meal at Panda Express tbh.

    Puff Pastry with Taro
    Jason F.

    First time here and it won't be my last. This restaurant had great service with delicious, wonderfully presented Asian dishes. Vast selection of menu items. Beautiful upstairs and downstairs dining room. Great for small or large parties. Bar seating with an extensive collection of wines and some beer. A little pricey, but that goes without saying if you're located in Menlo Park /Palo Alto Bay Area. Honestly, the food and service is worth the price though.

    Steamed rice / 白米饭 ($2.50/each)
    Monica O.

    I love this place! This is one of my go-to spots to take Chinese friends or people coming into town who like Chinese food! It's a nice fancy Chinese restaurant with really beautiful and tasty dishes. The dishes are on the pricier end ($20-$30) but they come out very beautiful and tasty so I would highly recommend. This time we got Spicy Beef Tendon, Salt and Pepper Tofu, Garlic snow pea leaves, Eggplant in Spicy Sauce, and Kung Pao chicken. Everything was delicious. The beef tendon dish looked especially nice. Service: We came on a Friday evening and there wasn't too many people so we were seated right away. The dishes came out one by one in a timely manner. They also box the leftovers for you, which I appreciate. They do start tip at 20% which is a bummer but not unexpected for a pricy place like this. Interior: The restaurant feels like a pretty fancy Chinese restaurant. There's lots of tables so there's plenty of seating. And there's a lot of tables with turntables on top, so great for family style dining. Parking: There's parking the back, behind the restaurant. There's also many parking lots in Menlo Park downtown, so it's not hard to find a spot.

    Mike M.

    Great service excellent food, Lots of parking I am very friendly environment!!!!!!!!!

    Fried Fish
    Jack B.

    I didn't get much to eat. We came right when they opened because we were jetlagged. Everything was alright. Service kind of forgot about us, probably because we were a small group that didn't get much. It was visually pleasing.

    Cathy V.

    Every friend I've taken here wants to come back. Excellent Szechuan dishes! This place is so good, a lot of China arrive in every day. My absolute favorites are cooked seafood, beef, or pork, but everything on the menu is wonderful. Among our friends, it is known as the House of Spicy Pain, and until you have ascended your endorphins you'll never know the sweet nuanced fragrance of the Szechuan peppercorn. Skip the white people pages and go direct to the specialties.

    Twice Twiced Cooked Pork
    Allen W.

    The inside is fancier than expected, and we were asked if we had a reservation. We did not, but they were very nice and led us to a table. The servers came by multiple times to fill up our water, and they checked in as well. It did take quite a while between us asking for the bill and for them to get it to us, but perhaps that's because they had a big event on the second floor. General atmosphere gives the vibe that it's good for big groups. Parking was a little sus - the lot is crowded for sure, but there's a lot across the street as well. The food itself was alright. The twice cooked pork was the best thing, followed by the green beans. The pan seared noodles and braised beef noodles were on the saltier side (everything was a little on the salty side), but ok. The kimchi-like veggies on the beef noodles were the best part of that dish. The pan seared noodles had way too much sauce.

    BBQ pork chow mein & Sauteed Mixed Mushrooms

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    3 months ago

    Excellent, everything was up to par n better, best potstickers and garlic prawns + do not bypass this place!! Nice ppl to boot!

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    7 months ago

    Food was delicious, great service they delivered to me. I would definitely recommend anyone to this place

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    1 year ago

    10/10 the hot and sour soup was the best one I've had. The water has orange slices in it.

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    1 year ago

    Food was delicious and beautifully presented. Service was wonderful. Restaurant was clean and very nice.

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    Page 1 of 5

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    Ask the Community - The Mandarin

    Are they really busy and is it ok to walk in? Need reservation?

    no reservation needed.

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