Mandarin

The food was OK but not very tasteful. Not a good price for quality Chinese restaurant

My favorite Chinese restaurant in London. I come here every time I visit. The food is fresh and delicious and Alex the owner is a tremendous host!

I have Chinese all over the world including some of the best in Beijing so I am most likely spoiled… however.
We ordered chicken wings for starter; wretched frozen micro waved at best, avoid at all cost.
King pao chicken was tolerable but the prawn fried rice was tasteless as was the Peking prawn. The food came out almost immediately which made me suspicious. Was it sitting in a buffet downstairs?
The best thing about this restaurant was the well heated plates, a nice touch but didn’t make up for the food.

I’ve been to London several times and have yet to find a Chinese restaurant that makes flavorful food (yes, that includes over-​hyped Chinatown).
The Mandarin had one table of actual customers and one table of friends of the owners when I walked in.
Seeing that the menu was mainly Northern Chinese cooking, I should have just walked out then, but the owners seemed nice enough so I decided to order. Bad decision.
I couldn’t decide between two chicken dishes, so asked the owner which she preferred and she chose the Shanghai-​style chicken cooked with ginger and eggs (7 GBP).
The ginger flavor was non existent as the overuse of green onions drowned out anything in the sauce — which wasn’t seasoned. The chicken was pounded paper thin and dipped in egg before steaming, but neither the meat nor the batter was seasoned before cooking. Combined with the sauce, it was a flavorless mess of food.
Other downers:
(1) Rice is 2 GBP extra — the owner tried to up sell to fried rice but I declined. I’m not adopted Asian you know.
(2) 10 GBP minimum to use credit or debit cards. Had to buy a can of soda I didn’t want to meet the min. amount.
Overall another dismal experience in the lackluster Asian food of Zone 1 London.

Sometimes I wonder how places stay open. Badly lit with bright fluorescent lights that allow you to see way too much of the old carpet, and way too much of the clientele. Food is average, but might taste better if you order takeaway and don’t have to see the actual restaurant!

One of the best Chinese meals ever tasted.
Service Price and Staff excellent
Four of us say please try it the restaurant was full (good sign)