We love Mandarin Kitchen. Â This is the best dim sum we've found in the Twin Cities by far. Â You can find equally good or possibly better dim sum in New York or San Francisco, but not here! Â Arrive a few minutes before 10:00 AM or plan to line up for a table. Â It's a large, bustling restaurant and the crowd is mostly Chinese -- this is happily not Chinese American cuisine. Â A friend and I were there last weekend, and it was as good as ever. Â It's the most fun to go with more than 2 people, though -- you get to try more things!
Review Source:We love this place for dim sum. That said, just went for dinner (first time in about a year) and remembered why we don't get dinner here. We had several mediocre dishes including the eggplant hotpot and some stir-fried vermicelli noodles. The salt and pepper shrimp was good.
When we got home, however, we experienced the following:
self: had the runs
sister: upset stomach
wife: headache
mom: headache
which was likely the massive amounts of MSG in our food. We will continue to go for dim sum, but never the lunch or dinner.
This one of my favorite restaurants in Bloomington and it has the most consistent/best chinese chefs all around when it comes to authentic chinese/s.e. asian dishes.
Yes, I love eating here. Â So why the 3 stars? Â I can't stand going in there because of the pushy service and the business practice doesn't go well with me.
As an asian person, I can see and understand some of the chatter going on in an Asian restaurant, especially this one. Â If my non-asian friends go with me, the service is just fine. Â When I tell the waiter to get us the menu and tell them we are NOT interest in Gem Sum, they follow our wishes.
On more than a few occassions when I arrive late, the staff bombarded my friends with the Gem Sum orders when my friends clearly indicated they were not interested and only interested in looking the menu  This bothers me tremendously. Â
Although, I am only 1/4 chinese, I am extremely embarrassed about this and can no longer invite my friends to this restaurant unless I am there.
In short, I usually only do carry out and watch the same shabby business practice of their bombardment on non-Asian customers with this !#$! service. Â If you have ever eaten Gem Sum restaurants, it can be very expensive in a hurry. Â Hence it pays to know what you are doing. Â
Again, this place have very good food - just do not let the staff overwhelm you and your party.
came here for dim sum and the place was packed for a sunday afternoon (i think we went around 1:30pm). we only waited ~10 minutes for a table for 2 but seeing how busy the restaurant was definitely gave us high hopes.
coming from LA, i have high expectations for dim sum so mandarin kitchen wasnt bad but not great either (for LA standards, this place was be 2 stars). i would probably go back and try more items.
also, i think the trick is knowing what to order...
to order:
- Lo Bak Goh (turnip cake)
okay:
- congee
- Har Gau (shrimp dumplings)
- egg tart
DONT order:
- sui mai
- cheong fun (rice noodle roll)
We had done dim sum in Denver before, and we remembered getting more options. Â This time, in Bloomington, we had a friend/translator with us, but it seemed like all he could find for us to eat were sweet, dessert-type treats. Â That's fine, but I was hoping for more. Â
If you don't know about dim sum, waiters push carts around the restaurant with various offerings on them, and you choose the ones you want, or want to try. Â It is a good idea to go with someone who speaks the language, even though many waiters and waitresses are semi bilingual. Â Speaking a language does not always mean a person understands it, or understands what is or is not vegetarian. Â Alone, you are always taking a chance with people who do not speak English as their native language. Â Even Pho is not vegetarian because the broth is almost always made with fish sauce. Â
Well, anyway, we tried some new, interesting foods, and enjoyed the cultural experience, but I would have preferred more of a meal, and less of dessert.
Meh...I've experienced better.
This place is so unorganized that it's amazing how they're still even open. When you first walk in, you have NO clue what to do because there's just people crowded everywhere without any direction. My friend and I came here for dimsum and it was just a mess. The chairs are uncomfortable, the staff is lost, and the food....
THE FOOD...was...awful. I was expecting much much better due to peoples' responses to this place. I am a huge fan of dim sum and this place disappointed me. The ONLY good thing on the dim sum carts was.....BBQ pork.
On a positive note, this place is open until 1AM to fuel your late night cravings!
Great Dim Sum, relative to where we are in the United States, as well as decent Chinese food (Cantonese style cooking). Being that we don't have a Chinatown in MN, nor do we have as many Chinese people here as New York City, Chicago, San Fran, Vancouver, etc. MN does what it can it regards to the Chinese food that we are able to produce.
Dinners here are pretty authentic, seafood is pretty good, and the Chinese deli serves and awesome soy sauce chicken. The chicken comes with a sauce consisting of minced ginger in oil and salt, very good.
This place has good authentic chinese dishes, its not the best but its prob as good as it gets in the Minneapolis area. They open pretty late on weekend which is def a plus. The dim sum here is worth the wait on weekend. the main complaint is the staff. The waiters are fine but the ladies that manage the front of the house could def use a little lesson in costumer service but they are chinese so i guess i'll let it slide and just enjoy the food..haha..
Review Source:They open until midnight!
I ordered for pick up. I ordered the beef with mixed vegetables but she neglected to include the beef. The duck was flavorless but the sauce made up for a small part. The fried wontons we ordered was dry in the middle but the shell was crunchy in perfection.
The building was located in a strip mall. Easy to find and good location. The decor was average Asian-isc and nothing fancy. Their koi pond was nice.
The employees looked half asleep as it was 11PM when we got there. I'll go back only if everywhere were closed and I felt like Asian again.
Best dim sum in town? Â
No. Stop overcharging for merely adequate food. Â This place is not bad if you're not too stingy about the quality of the food, but for the price you're really not getting a very good value. Â The servers are very nice and work hard at making rounds consistently throughout the restaurant during dim sum, but the quality of the food is not very inspirational or exciting. Â Honestly, for the money you might as well check out Wondrous Azian Kitchen for dim sum on the weekends. Â It's $20 per person for all you want, and the quality is by far superior to anything that you'll find at Mandarin Kitchen. Â The selection might be slightly smaller than Mandarin Kitchen, but the atmosphere is much nicer, and the staff is extremely friendly. Â At Mandarin Kitchen, the guy who came to refill water spilled all over my plate, and he noticed but didn't seem to mind all that much, at least not enough to apologize or even acknowledge it. Bleh, I'd rather go someplace else.
Waited for more than an hour but got only one dish...
People who had ordered after us all got their foods already.
Asking why our foods came so late, we were considered difficult customers and answered it was common to wait that long on holiday. They didn't even try to explain or apology for the situation.
What the... So why people around us all got their foods without waiting for that long time?
What's more ridiculous, when i asked them to exclude the tips from the check so that I could give the amount I thought they deserved, I was told by the waitress "I know you don't want to pay the tips, right?"
What the... How could they be that arrogant? Is it because they thought they got lots of customers so they didn't even care whether we would go again or not?
OK. I will not go again definitely. Foods there are so so.
It's not hard to find a restaurant with better foods than there.
But it's truly hard to find a restaurant with worse service than there.
I never expected quality services at a Chinese restaurant, but I've never experienced such a bad service that I decided to write a review.
I understand that it was Chinese New Years, so some waits on the food is tolerable. But an hour wait for four easy to make dishes is just too ridiculous, especially when you see the people next table ordered much later than you did but are already chowing down on their food. What's worse is that they didn't care to apologize or explain why our orders were delayed. Instead, they gave us an attitude like we're annoying them by constantly asking where's our food.
Okay, so no apologies or any sort of complimentary what's so ever, I can take that. But an automatic 15% gratuity.. after they screwed up? No thank you. So my friend went up to the registar and asked for the 15% gratuity to be taken off so we could tip based on their performance. They pulled a trick on us and charged our cards with the tips included and told us, "everywhere is like this on Chinese New Years." Eh.. no. Our Chinese New Year at Pagoda last year was great. Anyway, long story short, my friend ended up tipping them 1 cent only.
If you're having the thought of trying this place, eat at your own risk. But seriously, even their dim sum is just okay. I'd suggest you to just move out of MN if you want authentic Chinese food.
As a person came from west coast, their Dim Sum will consider average in west coast standard, but as far as Minnesota, I'll have to say they are the best we can find. Â Beside Dim Sum, must try their live shrimp dish, if you are craving from fresh seafood. Â Overall, I'll say it is the best Chinese food in Twin Cities.
Review Source:This was my second stop during my search for authentic dim-sum in the twin cities. Having been recommended here by another Chinese friend, I had high hopes for this place. I am sad to report that my search continued after Mandarin Kitchen.
This place definitely had a way bigger selection than Pagoda, but the quality of the food was barely decent. Maybe it was because I didn't have the best appetite that day, somehow I recall thinking that all the dumplings and shu mai's were kind of bland and not fresh tasting. The sweets/pastries were hardly satisfying. As it always happens, dim-sum is extremely expensive compared to other Chinese food because you keep ordering everything that looks good on the cart and end up with a $40/person bill.
Very disappointed this time. Let me just say that this is the ONLY place i rave about dim sum to my friends. Never had a bad experience here before this. That being said, I'm livid at the way i was treated this time.
I came for dim sum around 1:45 pm. Just before they stop serving dim sum at 2 pm. I know i was taking a chance, but i live in Rochester, and I'm not in the CIties every day. I was seated and told that i could still order from the regular menu if i liked. There was still 15 minutes before dim sum service was officially over, but I understood. Â I ordered some turnip cakes from a cart, but they were cold and must have been sitting out for a while. I then waited for someone to take my order while everyone else in the restaurant - including the wait staff - ate their lunch. I sat there for 20 minutes and not one server came to me. I finally got up, and went to the counter to pay my bill (with only the turnip cakes on it ) and the manager looked at the bill, realized there was only one item on it, made a face, and then charged me $5 and didn't even ask me what happened.
Bottom line: come for the food, but don't expect to be treated like a valuable customer.
I came to Mandarin Kitchen twice.. It was a Sunday Morning during my second visit... "the place is always good when there is a line..." that's what my friends and I said.. :)
Reached the place at 11.20am and there was already a long line.. We waited for almost an hour.. I do not have much patient but it's ok since I haven't had good dim sum ever since I came back from NYC.. I dislike the fact that they told me to wait for half an hour and it's almost an hour.. oh well.. at least I have my friends to accompany me.. :)
so when we got the table.. we just start ordering whenever the server push the cart to our table.. Xiu Mai, Ha gao, lo bak gou...... most of the traditional dim sum.. Their pork "cheong fun" tasted pretty good.. (Sorry I do not know how to translate all the dishes to English)..
I might be kinda bias.. I keep comparing to the dim sum that I had in NYC... it actually tasted pretty good but it was a little over price and they simply just charge you with the service fee... (I thought we are able to tip the amount that we like depends on the service???) I don't really like the "carrot cake" - - "loh bak gou" I mean... It tasted kinda weird.. but other than that, the dim sum is actually really good but they do not have a huge variety... I will probably give a 4 stars for their traditional dim sum since they have the best dim sum in Minneapolis..
My friends and I bought the pork belly and roasted pork for our roommates... They are famous for it... it tasted good but probably is not really a big deal for me.. I can only say you might not be able to find another restaurant that serves good pork belly and roasted pork in Minneapolis..
As I said.. I will probably give a 4 stars but I took 1 star away because I think is a little over price.. I guess they price it slightly higher since there isn't any Chinatown in Minneapolis..
Was craving dim sum hardcore and was told by some Asian locals that Mandarin Kitchen was the best place to get it in the Twin Cities. I am grateful that there is even dim sum around. They even have the carts that are pushed around.
The food is average at best. We got my favorite dishes: shu mai, fried taro, turnip cake among other dishes. I wasn't super impressed but it's not the worst I ever had.
From other reviews, the dinner menu is worth checking out. I will definitely go back to check out the dinner but probably not the dim sum. I'll just wait until my next trip back to Texas and bring a cooler back.
Saying it is the best dim sum in town isn't saying much. Â But this place also beats all the dim sum places in Seattle which has it's own Chinatown too and that's saying something. Â Their turnip cakes are the best I've ever had but they do all the classics right. Â Unfortuneatly, since they are the best, you'll deal with crowds. Â Service, may run light outside of the cart pushers but that's really all you need. Â If you need more tea, take the lid off of the pot, a runner will come. Â Otherwise sit back, this meal is mean to take at least an hour. Â All show up early, you'll have the widest selection and the shortest wait. Â (10:30 am....anytime after 11:30 you're in the weeds, by 12:30 the good stuff has run out, by 1:30, you're probably eating old stuff)
Try the large or sea food dishes will be the most expensive and the little dumplings will be the least expensive. Â Tip is already included.
When my boyfriend and I arrived at Mandarin, we could see the staff hard at work (it takes a lot of people to staff a busy restaurant this big). We waited to be seated for a little while and then realized no one was going to do that, so we just picked an empty table and went for it. It would be nice if there were a seat yourself sign or something, because it was awkward as a newbie.
As soon as we sat down, the service was fine and the barrage of stacked tin containers began. We ordered a couple kinds of dumplings, because they are the boy's favorite. Pretty tasty, along with the buns and this roast duck and tofu dish. We weren't impressed by the squid or the peanut-something dumplings, but most of the other dishes were quite alright.
Part of the fun of dim sum is asking about all the different items on the cart, but I also feel like maybe we missed out on a few of the tastier things. We're pretty adventurous eaters and I felt like maybe we were getting the gringo treatment.
The bill with dim sum is always a surprise since it's difficult to tell how much you are spending during the meal (check marks on a piece of paper don't easily translate into dollar amounts). For the two of us, it was a little over $40 (without any drinks), which is a lot more than we would spend on dinner at our favorite Chinese restaurant or a nice Sunday brunch somewhere. If I had been really impressed with Mandarin Kitchen, I wouldn't have thought twice about the price, but I wasn't wowed.
This is a great resturaunt-chinese or otherwise. The menu is unique in its variety and quality of offerings, especially the seafood.
The prices while on the high end are a good value, but there's not much to compare against!
There are two menus one for the tourists and one for people that know what chinese food is supposed to be.
The problem (BIG) is the worst ever service. The wait staff is rude impatient and have no tolerance for customers' curiosity or indecisiveness.
The management seems to tolerate their waiters behavior as though they can't hire anyone else who can act surly and walk away never to be seen again.
I strongly reccomend that you avoid this place or if your craving becomes too much and you have to go- get drunk first.
This is the place for good Chinese food hands down.
I have been here a few times a year for the past decade. Their food never disappoints. Servings are plentiful and I always have left overs. Partly because I can't just choose one thing! I would buy the whole menu!
Some of my favorites here:
-Beef Chow Fun w/ soy sauce ( I have tasted many from around the cities and they have the best)
- Spare Ribs Peaking Style ( Can you say to die for?)
- Sesame Chicken ( The perfect crisp with a perfect sauce)
Service is to be desired. They are attentive and quick but not very friendly. It has been like this for as long as I can remember. But, I am fine with it as long as they don't keep me waiting.
My boyfriend and I wanted to get Dim Sum on a Sunday morning. Mandarin Kitchen came up on the Google search and I was super excited, but it turned out to be the worst dining experience of the year.
My biggest complaint is the service. We were stuck in the corner and were for the most part ignored. We were put in a side room with a large table and two other small tables. The food carts would go to the large table first then to the other tables, then finally to us. So, all we could eat was everybody's rejects. I really do not want to pull the racial card, but we were the only non Asians in the room. After 45 minutes, we left only eating sticky rice, pork balls, and a couple fried items (still hungry).
Second, the food was not very good. The sticky rice was loaded with MSG, and the random fried fish ball thing was soaked in grease (that was probably why everybody else turned it down). The sesame balls were good and that was the only thing I enjoyed.
Please do yourself a favor and go somewhere else.
Update***
Now that 2012 is here, I will say Mandarin Kitchen was the worst place I ate all year.
Can't count how many times I've been here, because there really is no better place for Cantonese cuisine and dim sum in MN. period...Just went here for my  little brother's birthday and left satisfied once again. Yeah it's a little corny and over the top, with the servers wearing Aladdin vests and the venue's decor...but who really cares when the food is this good. Just be ready to pay for the freshness and epic...ness.
This time our faves were Hong Kong style spicy crab, roast pork, whole roast duck, pea tips in garlic sauce. I don't care who you are, there is no way you don't leave happy after that. The crab had a little kick, crispy enough to break the shells easily, and perfectly fried. Maybe I'm just a savage, but how can you not  bite off of the batter like its fried chicken skin. Roast pork had crispy skin, and the fat to meat ratio was perfect...50/50...great cut everytime...Roast duck was also cooked great and plenty of meat...I hate skinny ducks. Pea tips were also delish with the garlic and slight bitterness from the vegetable. And there menu never ends. Do it.
Dim Sum Saturday morning.
Arrived bright and early and had no wait for a table. Â Requested "jasmine" tea while being sat and it arrived a minute later.
Plenty of people with their carts coming by in a steady stream. Â Lots of beautiful looking things to select from. Â Tried several shrimp dumplings, some fried tofu and shrimp "skin", had a few steamed clams and some decked-out sticky rice.
Loved the shrimp dumplings and fried tofu skin (with a plate of worcestershire sauce on the side to dip the "skins" into); thought the steamed clams were alright, but didn't care much for their version of sticky rice. Â I'm a fan of plain sticky rice.
I understand the little cards the place at each table make it easy for the wait staff to mark off what they're serving you. Â I prefer to see how much each little plate costs at the time I choose to order it.
Just ate dim sum there with a big group. Location is standard past-prime strip mall, which boded well. Emphasis on food, not atmosphere. Didn't get off to a great start, but the experience improved when the food came.
We had a reservation, and when I asked the hostess where our group was seated, she just flung her arm toward the back of the restaurant and turned her attention elsewhere. I wandered around & couldn't find my group so I came back up front and bugged her some more. Turns out they had messed up and didn't have our table ready; an assertive woman in our group whose Chinese was better than mine finally straightened things out with them and we got seated about 15 minutes late.
I agree with other Yelpers that this is the best dim sum in the Twin Cities--which means it is still a notch or two below NYC and SF--but when you're out here on the frozen tundra, it's welcome and tasty. We had tripe, chicken feet, chive and cilantro steamed shrimp dumplings, fried taro dumplings, pork shao mai, Chinese broccoli with oyster sauce, sesame balls and GREAT barbeque pork buns (I guess that stands to reason since we are in the pork belt here in MN.) Also had a bowl of congee and some soft tofu in sweet syrup. The tofu was a little grainy but tasted good.
Will definitely be coming back here despite the rough start because the dim sum was so tasty.
Okay ... Asian here. Posting a review of an Asian restaurant.
Disclosure: Both my brother and I hosted our grooms dinner here - they're really good for large groups (about 100).
However, this review is not for the dinner. I am reviewing the dim sum. And in short, it's the best in the Twin Cities. No exceptions. It's nowhere near as good as what you can get in LA, San Fran, New York, DC, or even Chicago. But it IS the best you can get in the Twin Cities.
I am posting 3 stars because I took away one star for each of the following sins: They're not as good as what's standard in any other big city AND they put way too much MSG in their food.
Now ... here are some tips on how to get a better experience.
1. When you sit down, a waiter will bring you a pot of tea. Possibly two, if you have a large group. Especially if you're not Asian, it will likely be a cheap black tea. Ask them to bring you some Jasmine tea. It is far superior - but they won't bring it if you don't ask for it.
2. There's way too much MSG in the food. If you've never experiencced an MSG-overload, imagine being drunk, but without the happy. The only way to combat this is to drink lots and lots of tea. When you leave, if you still have that numb feeling in the back of your head or neck, go to a coffee shop and put down some espresso. I've heard it helps. Personally, drinking my weight in tea is all I've ever had to do.
3. Get there before 10:30am. Seriously, I hate telling you this. It's the secret. I usually meet my family there at 10am. There's no line and the food is hot and ready to go. If you get there at 10:45 or later, expect a wait of at least an hour. Basically, the restaurant filled up and all of us who got a table are going to take our sweet time eating everything that comes by and watching you stand there and try to entertain yourself by watching the fish.
4. Have you seen whatever they're offering served somewhere else in a non-dim sum environment? Don't order it. It's likely leftovers they reheated and they're trying to get you to pay even more money for it.
5. It's not a Chinese version of Fogo. Fogo de Chao is a Brazilian version of Dim Sum. Let's get it straight.
I've found the key to the best dim sum in the twin cities. Go early. You see, I love Mandarin Kitchen's dim sum but I've often found it inconsistent (Not nearly as inconsistent as Jun Bo but still, not always up to par). It's always good but every once in awhile it's excellent. And this weekend it was excellent. Normally we go to dim sum are 11 or 12 but this weekend we were there at 9:50 - before it opened. A fluke (we never get out that early) but a happy one to be sure. We waited in line for the doors to open (The line was already long and full of people hungry for dim sum).
When it opened we scrambled to sit down as the carts with steaming goodness started rolling around. Everything was fresh, hot, and delicious. No cold fried "footballs" (little fried dumplings with pork and what seems like a touch of cinnamon) today and I don't think I've ever had better shu mai or beef rolls.
So to sum up: Mandarin Kitchen + Early = Hot, Fresh, Yummy Dim Sum.
I'd forgotten this is a place I'd gone before many years ago. The management's changed a bit, but it's still about the same - slightly expensive and not all the selection I'd expect, but decent.
The place is on Lyndale, which was under construction off of I-494, but still accessible for the most part. In a strip mall you enter, and a koi pond to the left greets you (don't let the kids play in the water). Multiple racks of live fish and shrimp, and a small roast meat area, too.
Seating is regular black-metal padded chairs, and the tables can comfortably accommodate up to 10.
Dimsum is driven around on carts or on trays, and you can select almost all your basics (from the shumai to shrimp in rice noodle and chinese broccoli). Avoid the clams later in the hours, as they get cold. Seaweed salad (like the Japanese kind) isn't bad. The lotus seed buns were okay, and the slightly gingery tripe could be better. Chicken feet were a bit overcooked, but tasty. And the tea... one pot for a table of 9? Seriously?
The dishes are a bit more expensive than other places, but overall the quality isn't bad. The roast meats up front are useful for meals later, so you can get a whole soy chicken for only $10.
Overall, probably one of the few places in the MSP area to pick up dimsum. Far from the best, but this far from the coasts, you come not to expect too much.
Went with some friends for Dim Sum and it was super fun. Â the place is packed at 10am on a sunday but we didnt really have a wait for a table, because we had a small party
The servers rush around with these carts and you pick and choose pots of dumplings and 'what nots' to try and share. Â We had a great time picking out things to try. Â the prices are higher but not unreasonable. Â Brunch was $20 a person for a table of 4. Â
i had a shrimp ball which was 50% shrimp ball and 50% fried wontons and it was the size of a baseball! Â the dumplings are not fried they are steamed so they bring out the real flavor of the fillings. Â I'm a vegetarian and i'll eat fish/ shrimp sometimes, it was a little hard to find dumplings that were veggie or shrimp. Â most include pork. Â my boyfriend is a pork eater and he loved all the dumplings he had. Â
The place was really fun but it was helpful to go with someone who has been there before or who has had Dim Sum. Â it might have been confusing otherwise. Â most servers spoke little english and couldnt always tell you what was in the dish. Â i'm planning on going back!
Pretty much the place to get Dim Sum in the Twin Cities.
Not particularly special in the grand scheme of things, but definitely good enough to go back regularly.
I particularly like the baked BBQ Pork buns. Â Those are in fact some of the best I have ever had.
Jun Bo is close by, less crowded, and passable, but just not as good as Mandarin Kitchen.
Visited Mandarin Kitchen on Nov 30, 2008 at 12:45pm.
Lots and lots of people: people eating, people waiting to eat, and people leaving. At first glance, I took this as a sign of good things to come. I'm a big Dim Sum fan. I ate $40 of dim sum, wanting to try several dishes.
I'm going to break from the pack here, and give Mandarin Kitchen a thumbs down.
Balen's Review (1-5 point system, 5 the highest):
Taste: 3.0
Scene: 2.0
Price: 1.0
Hot chicks: 0.5
Overall, I was disappointed and will just wait to have dim sum when I return to San Francisco. I was especially disappointed after a girl politely turned away from her companions at her table so she could sneeze on me. Also, worst Chinese broccoli I have ever had. How do you mess up Chinese broccoli?
Don't get me wrong, the food is descent, but I just think it is overpriced for what you get.
The book laid out before me like the accounting records of AIG... Giant, impenetrable. However, this wasn't an economy busting insurance firm's fantasy oversight committee hearing that I was presiding over, but the menu at Mandarin Kitchen. I was both agog and perplexed by the breadth of the menu. I was stupefied! The waiters made it worse by asking if we were ready twice within the first 2 minutes!
Luckily, my girlfriend was there to reign the selection process in and make it happen in less than the 2 hours it would have taken me. She is, at my continued confusion, in love with bitter-melon. So, I relented to a beef and bitter-melon dish. We also chose the crab, scallion, and ginger, and, rice noodles with preserved mustard greens and duck. 3 dishes in all were sure to do the trick.
In no time flat, we had a veritable feast of, sweet-&-sour-pork-and-general-tso-free, very Chinese, food placed before us. I very quickly confirmed, for the 50th time, my extreme distaste for bitter-melon and moved on to the rest.
The crab dish tasted very good. There was not too much sauce and the ginger added to the flavor noticeably. For all of the lazy out there, you might get your panties in a bunch with this one because, all of the meat is still locked away in the shell. Â
The noodles were very good as well. No sauce was added and the greens and duck were a great compliment to each other.
The waitstaff were good about filling up our water which, in my experience, is all too often an afterthought at Asian restaurants. The decor appears to have been recently updated and is typical for a mid to upper priced Cantonese seafood banquet hall.
The menu would take 3 lifetimes to fully hash out so, without a qualm, I will have to return to get to work on that. And, I can now check "good Chinese restaurant" off of my "Things to Find in MSP" list.
Post review girlfriend notes:
1 - Had the bitter-melon and beef been sliced more thinly, the dish would have struck a finer balance; it was a bit oily, too, for her taste.
2 - The crab shell was pre-cracked in strategic places to ease access to the savory crab
3 - The gf wrinkled her nose a bit at the noodles because much of the duck was skin and fat, which, while it adds flavor, would have been preferable if accompanied with more duck meat.
Best Chinese food in the city (as far as I know). Â I first learned about this from a person who spent 8 years in China studying chinese medicine...and when asked where do you go for good chinese food...here said Mandarin Kitchen.
Lots of great food at a good price. Â Their lunch special is awesome. Â I get a seasame chicken, bowl of wonton soup, 1 egg roll, and 4 cream cheese wontons for around $8.
This place has the best best deal for a lunch special. For $8.25, you can get a choice of several chicken entrees (full plate, with white rice in a separate bowl) plus a choice of two of the following: egg roll (the best I've had in the cities), cream cheese wontons or 4 chicken wings. oh, and you also get a soup starter... wow.
and it is DECENT Chinese, not sub-par stuff!
I've only gone to the Mandarin Kitchen for their dim sum. It's one of only a few restaurants in town that offer it, but it's by far the best. It's still not as good as some of the restaurants in San Francisco or Chicago, but it's what you're gonna get when you're in the frozen Midwest. Especially when we have no Chinatown.
I live about 40 minutes away, so we've never been there for their "normal" fare. Â There are good Chinese restaurants closer to me. Â But no better dim sum restaurants. Â Which is why we make the special trip every few months.
Best Chinese in the U.S., Michelle? Â Really?
Best restaurant Chinese food I've ever had in the U.S., hands-down. Â I SO wish there were one of these in Austin (where I live).
The salt and pepper squid is to die for. Â One time, my husband, parents and I went here and ordered two orders of salt and pepper squid AND a couple of other dishes, and we STILL finished all the salt and pepper squid (and my parents don't eat very much).
They serve complimentary soup before dinner and a dessert soup after dinner, which vary. Â Both are always excellent...they have one dessert soup that involves tapioca that my dad is always asking the waiter for seconds for me on, because he knows how much I love it.
Mandarin Kitchen has several HUGE tables that are great for large groups, too. Â
I visit the Mpls area at least once a year, and I always make sure to fit in at least one trip to Mandarin Kitchen. Â The atmosphere/decor aren't fancy, and the service varies depending on which waitperson you draw, but the scrumptious food make Mandarin Kitchen worth a visit (or two, or three).
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