Really nice experience here with my family! Good - each dish was high quality - especially like the honey walnut prawns and the tomato egg noodles - very savory and crunchy - The portion sizes are large! Super full at the end - The waiters are really nice and friendly especially if you speak Chinese - super quiet and good for catching up here, modern ambiance Bad Pretty expensive overall Wait time was a bit more long Overall this was a really nice time and especially with a large group! read more

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For some time, I hesitated to write this review due to the circumstances surrounding how we ended up dining here. However, as the year comes to a close, I'm determined to complete all unfinished tasks--and this review happens to be one of them. From what little I know about the chef, he seems to carry himself with the grandeur of a top-tier culinary talent, but unfortunately, our dining experience fell far short of that. This conclusion is based on the service, price, and most disappointing of all - the food itself. I would not recommend this restaurant. read more

This place is amazing! Wonderful service, very clean, and the food was absolutely delicious. We came in right when they opened for dinner and at first the restaurant was empty so we were a little nervous but it quickly filled right up and as soon as we tried the food we knew we made the right choice! We had hot and sour soup and potstickers to start, then tea roasted duck, kung pao beef, chicken chow mein, sweet and sour pork and fried rice with chicken, beef, and shrimp. Seriously everything was so yummy and perfectly cooked. We over-ordered a little and couldn't finish everything but who doesn't love leftover Chinese food? We loved this dinner so much. Thank you, The Mandarin! We will definitely come back in next time we are in town!! Chef's kiss! read more

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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 read more

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Ordered 3 items to go: tea-smoked duck, sweet & sour mandarin whole fish, golden prawns. All were really well packaged and tasty. The duck was flavorful and tender. The shrimps were big. Fish was crispy and sauce was quite tasty. The only drawback is price. It wasn't that good to justify the price tag (compared to numerous high end chinese restaurants in NYC). read more

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. read more

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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. read more

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Tried only 2 dishes: beef noodle and pressed taro duck. The beef noodles were perfectly spiced (note the description does not say soup, however it is) the duck was a 2 star as it was mostly pressed fried taro--so like eating fried potato pancakes. Service was slow, however it was Lunar new year. Pricey. Will come back to try a few more dishes. read more

Seems good only for a group. We were completely ignored as a couple. The entire restsurant was occupied by a group celebrating a new baby and we had to sit at the bar. Food was disappointing. Remembering when it was the great Su hong. Thumbs way down. read more

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. read more

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

The Mandarin - Chinese Near Me - Menlo Park, California

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. read more

The Mandarin - Fried Fish - Chinese Near Me - Menlo Park, California

This was the perfect spot fo our birthday celebration. The staff was cheerful, kept the dishes coming out smoothly, and even surprised us with a dessert. We loved sharing plates of kung pao chicken, dumplings, and spring rolls. The bustling, festive atmosphere with traditional decorations made the whole night special. read more

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

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. read more

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The Mandarin is great for a large group! I reserved a table for 15 for a birthday dinner and Julie was extremely helpful. I was able to drop off the birthday cake beforehand and they held it in the fridge for me. Very kind and attentive service-- some of the guys in our group were watching a basketball game on their phone, and the server came over with a phone stand that's 10/10 service right there. They also helped cut and serve the birthday cake which I wasn't expecting but really appreciated!! Everything we ate was super tasty! The standout dishes were the spicy boiled fish and the whole fried fish. The portions were great for family style dinner and we left the dishes spotless. read more

Food was tasty - presented in attractive platters and Just enough left for my lunch the next day. The staff was kind and attentive - the sad part was - most people don't out for dinner on Tuesday evening. They present you with the daily specials + a wine list + a large regular menu. The hardest part is deciding what combination you might enjoy most. We had Egg Flower Soup, Chicken Salad, onion & beef rolled pancakes, honey walnut prawns enjoyed it. I'm in Menlo Park fairly often so I think this will be a regular choice. read more

We have dinner here several times a year and the quality is consistently good. We also had an event here for around 30 people in the main dining room which went very well. We pre-ordered our favorite dishes served family-style: spicy wontons in chili oil, potstickers, salt and pepper (fried) fish, dry braised green beans, eggplant in spicy sauce, combination noodles, sesame chicken, and rice. People loved the food, and it turned out to be good value. The best part was I didn't have to do a thing, other than pick the dishes! Julie is great with organizing and making sure everything is going well. There is an upstairs area if you want more privacy for your large group. I look forward to having more events at the Mandarin! read more

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. read more

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My mom, aunt and went to this restaurant for Lunar New Year and the food was delicious! The service was prompt and the ambiance was quiet as we went when it was not as busy! read more

I got delivery & it arrived piping hot. Servings were huge. I had BBQ pork chow mein & mixed mushroom sautée, which were delicious. Worth every penny! read more

The Mandarin - BBQ pork chow mein & Sauteed Mixed Mushrooms - Chinese Near Me - Menlo Park, California

Stopped by The Mandarin Chinese while hoping for some great Chinese food in town. The location was convenient, and the space itself is quite nice, with the added bonus of upstairs seating. Service was smooth--we came on a Friday evening, got seated right away, and dishes arrived in a steady flow. Unfortunately, the experience was a bit mixed. The sizzling rice soup was disappointing--it came out lukewarm and didn't sizzle at all, with a watered-down broth. Definitely underwhelming. That said, the rest of the meal was much better. We ordered Spicy Beef Tendon, Salt and Pepper Tofu, Garlic Snow Pea Leaves, Eggplant in Spicy Sauce, and Kung Pao Chicken. Every dish was flavorful, and the Szechuan-style seasoning really stood out. The beef tendon dish, in particular, looked and tasted great. Overall, while not everything hit the mark (and prices felt a bit high), the main dishes were strong enough to make it a solid option for Szechuan cravings--just maybe skip the soup. read more

Finally we tried the Sweet and Sour Fried Pork here, it's good but not as tasty as expected. The Chinese Tea Smoked Duck is way too salty. And the Golden Prawns taste a little bit weird. The second visit here is pretty disappointing. The price is very high, generally 30% higher than most other Chinese restaurants, but I don't think it's 30% better than others. read more

Certainly pricey for Asian food, but believe it was worth the $ - service was VERY attentive + friendly (water filled all the time) and ambiance felt clean. THE FOOD (most to least favorite) - tea smoked duck $33; good, very meaty - rice cakes with chicken $28: good, lots of wok flavor - broccoli chicken $20: good standard fare - braised beef soup $18: ok, not as flavorful as other broths - mango sago $10: eh, have had better - rice cake dessert $20: eh, too sweet but serves many Overall great dinner, would come back and try the plethora of other specialty dishes they have here including fresh fish and lots of soup/stews read more

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We came here as a party of 7 on Valentine' Day at 6:30pm. The restaurant was packed, and there were only 2 or 3 servers, so unfortunately service was quite slow and inattentive. Despite the overwhelmed staff though, we really enjoyed the authentic Chinese food and the clean, sophisticated ambience. We ordered the hot & sour soup, 8 entrees, and a desert, which was just about the right amount of food for a filling, celebratory meal for 7 with limited leftovers. The best dishes were... Mapo Tofu - delicious but SPICY. We love spicy food, and this dish was even a bit too much for us without lots and lots of rice Sweet and Sour Mandarin Whole Fish - unique, regional fried fish in a sweet and sour fish. I have never seen this dish available in a restaurant in the US, and it was really well seasoned and cooked Twice Cooked Pork - thinly sliced, juicy, crispy pieces of pork with leek that's just delicious We also ordered the golden prawns, snow peas with chicken, dry braised green beans, and tea-smoked duck. Everything was authentic and delicious. Overall, I would recommend this place for a celebratory Chinese dinner. Do expect slower service though. read more

large serving portions! place was pretty empty throughout meal service (~6pm), however service was great, with frequent water refills throughout & packing of our leftovers all the dishes we had were really nice. particularly like, the special taro & duck item we got. never had anything like it, so highly recommend. would recommend this place to others. read more

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

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

Yelp has this as $$ (meaning on the lower priced side). I guess I should have known that a restaurant in Menlo Park on El Camino Real would not be. Located in a relatively low traffic area for a Sunday evening, we were able to get reservations without using Open Table. That was charging a deposit to book so we called instead and were immediately given the ok, 5 minutes before arrival. The ambience is nice and it has plenty of seating (pondering why after the experience). There is a large area of seating downstairs and then has an upstairs level too that I assume could be overflow or private parties section. You walk in and you see waiters dressed in almost full tuxedos. You don't see this in $$ rated restaurants. Once you peruse the menu, you begin to wonder if the food is that good since the prices are so high. We went ahead and placed our order. The scallion pancakes were first to arrive. Two small pancakes cut into 4pcs each and served with.......(drum roll please.........), absolutely nothing! No soy sauce, no chili oil, no other dipping sauce. And we had to wait until the waiter came back to ask for chili sauce. The sauce we got was similar if not the new trendy Fly by Jing Sichuan sauce (which is a favorite of mine). We refilled this twice during our dinner. The next dish we had was the crispy spicy crinkle cut potatoes. Think of what is supposed to be deep friend fries served in chili oil, sesame seeds and lots of scallions. The potatoes were not friend enough, had no crisp and were slightly raw inside. The waiter almost refused to believe it when we told him but he did offer to tell the chef. The Mongolian chicken was good. The chicken pieces were thin squares/rectangles lightly friend and flavored with onions and green onions and peppers. This was the best dish of the night, but definitely not as spicy as I like. And once again, our go to Fly by Jing had to be added. The last dish was the veggie chow mein. Bland noodles and veggies served in a small portion with no taste without the added sauce. And for $20, I certainly think this was not a good deal. So, honestly, I rate this a 3 because the ambience is nice, but this could be a 2 star rating. $71 including tax for chow mein, mongolian chicken, 2 small pancakes and spicy french fries. Here is the kicker. When you get the bill, the tip suggestion starts at 20%. And here is where I get picky. When you suggest at tip, you suggest it on the price of the meal. Not the meal + tax. For the average patron, they may not notice this, but this restaurant is taking advantage of their upscale ambiance and suggestion a 20% tip on the 9.88% sales tax! It's hard enough to make money in this economy for most, and I agree that perhaps food prices are higher for restaurants, but come on. This place seems to be overhyped with a 4 star rating. read more

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Pretty good place. Decent food. Service was good but they were seriously understaffed. The staff that was there worked very hard, however. One major complaint: the geoduck dish. It's listed as market price, and foolishly I didn't ask. Turned out it was $148! It was OK but definitely not worth even half of that. Lesson learned. read more

The service at this place is really bad and you should avoid. I came to pick up my order and stood at the entrance for 15 mins being ignored. A ruthless waiter saw me and continued to ignore me once he learned that I was here to pick up food. He didn't even ask me my order number or check if the order was ready. I finally got served after 10 mins when I shouted at the waiter. He then brought my order to me immediately, so apparently it was ready for a while. I was angry and could clearly feel that they don't do first come first serve. I will never come to this place again and you should not come only if you want to pay a high end price to get low end aer read more

Was seeking for a meal that was not just delicious and also nourishes the soul and I am so happy we gave the mandarin a chance and came in. First our amazing server is Nee and he might be the manager as well and knows the menu like the back of his hand and was courteous and attentive to us. The whole steamed fish (black bass) he recommended brought me back to my childhood and it was so tender and delicious we finished it all in one seating. The smoked duck is delicious and a must try. But to be honest; everything was a pleasant surprise and I am looking forward to make a return visit soon! read more

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- Heart-Broken Noodles // The sauce was super spicy but tasted amazing! The noodles are supposed to be cold and combined with the sauce it was really refreshing! I will say the noodles were a little too soft. - Beef-Wrapped in Green Onion Pancake // The pancake was a little bit crispy (I thought it could be a little crispier) It still tasted great nonetheless especially with the sauce inside (hoisin sauce I believe) - Sichuan Dan-Dan Noodles // This was amazing! It was the perfect amount of spice/numbing and the noodles were cooked great. - Braised Beef Noodle Soup // The noodles were too soft and the beef was a bit dry. The soup was pretty good but I've definitely had much better beef noodle soup. - Beef Tendon // The beef tendon was not good at all. It was under cooked so it was very hard and hard to eat - - - I would also like to add that the service here was very mediocre. The server gave us a bunch of weird looks because we didn't go with his suggestion and got a little mad when we said we weren't ready to order yet. I would highly recommend this place if you like spicy food because the Heart-Broken Noodles and Sichuan Dan Dan Noodles were very tasty! read more

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Menu prices are not aligned and clear. I was overcharged for a takeout order and host provided different price than I was charged. Will never be returning here and do not recommend. Way too overpriced for the quality of food, not surprised that the restaurant was empty upon arrival. Would give 0 stars if possible. read more

It was my first time here and I really enjoyed all of the dishes I ordered. We came on a weekday and we were seated immediately. The interior is spacious with high ceilings. The half tea-smoked duck was delicious and savory. The beef noodle soup had tender meat and chewy noodles. The yelping Chongqing spicy chicken was beautifully presented and perfectly crispy. We ordered one of their specials which was great too. Service was surprisingly slow since there weren't many customers at the time, but everyone was friendly. I will definitely be back! read more

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I was genuinely impressed with the quality of the service and food here. Every dish I tried was expertly crafted--overall some of the best Chinese food I've ever had. I order the (amazing) potstickers, Mushu, and shrimp lo mein. All excellent! Also ordered something I can't find in many places: steamed cold ginger chicken. Guess they're not used to a white boy ordering it, as they asked if I had been to China (no, but my wife is Chinese). Even the manager came out to talk to me, amazed that I liked this particular dish that isn't always on the menu. And the presentation was world-class--an Asian guy at the next table saw it, stood up and came over, and exclaimed, "WOOOW!!" I saw many other dishes that looked fantastic. But be warned--they aren't cheap. You get what you pay for, but here it's one of those rare cases where it's totally worth it! read more

This place is nice. It used to be Black Pepper but the interior is basically the same as it was before. It has very high ceilings inside and feels very spacious. I would say it would make a good setting for a date or for a small to medium dinner party. When we came here for dinner, we saw a lot of Asian families and couples dining here. That is usually a good sign that the food here must be pretty legitimate. I liked the Sizzling Beef with Chili Grilled in Stone Bowl. The bowl came out and we saw the waiter pour the soup in. The dish overall had a nice Szechuan feel to it with the spicy and numbing soup. I've never seen this type of dish where the meat was basically swimming in soup but it wasn't quite a soup. The Shredded Pork in Garlic Sauce was decent. I generally find this dish to be a bit on the sweeter side and this was no exception. Service was good. The waiter spoke Mandarin to me even though I initially spoke in English because I'm lazy. I eventually switched to Mandarin because I was feeling awkward. I'm sure their English is fine though. read more

we went on christmas night and the restaurant was quite frankly overwhelmed. we had a 545 pm reservation and the next available at the time of booking was past 8 pm, so you get an idea of how busy the 6-730 pm area was gonna be. it did take an hour from being seated to get our first course, which was hot and sour soup. there was a long line of to-go orders via doordash/ubereats/grubhub and phone-in orders that was also complicating matters, but the staff should be credited with handling it with grace even though everything took much longer than what i imagine is usual. communication was pretty poor, to be fair, however, and that's the only reason i would ding them one star. they should have told us they were running behind and set expectations accordingly. they did not. that said, the food was fantastic. we had the orange chicken, mapo topu, some kind of prawn dish (they have several), the dry braised string beans, hot and sour soup and a mixed fried rice. everything was amazing in taste and the portions were very generous. price wasn't the cheapest, but they also as expensive as, say, tai pan in palo alto. food, however, is very comparable. i will be back and hopefully will get the amazing service i have read about in other reviews so i can revise the rating to what i expect to be five stars. read more

This review is based on take out. Ordering was very easy through YELP's GrubHub. Upon arrival, two hosts asked me for my name and pick up order. Once my name was clarified, my order was easy to pick up. Items were all packaged nicely though i did need to reheat both salt & pepper tofu and asparagus in the toaster oven to get crisp back into these particularly items. The chow mein had noodles the way i like it with adequate amount of vegetables. The food overall was good with base flavor. I'll look forward to trying other items at The Mandarin. read more

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