It had been 25 years since my last visit to the Mandarin Kitchen so I was keen to sample the food and ambience at one of my parents favourite haunts in the 80's. I always remember it being a busy place but as a child I wasn't a big fan of fish so I always pestered my parents to go to the "Good Earth" instead.
We walked in to the extremely busy restaurant on Thursday evening but were warmly greeted and the friendly chatty manageress found us a table straight away. I was pleased to see interior hadn't changed much with the 80's artex on the wall. The tables were very close together but I actually like that in a busy chinese. The clientele was a mixture of tourists, locals and large groups of chinese which is a good sign. We ordered a couple of starters: spring rolls (average) baked ribs (delicious and a huge portion) 2 mains ( prawns in chilli and garlic (delicious) smoked shredded chicken (tasty but needed a bit more finesse) and singapore noodles (lovely and moist). This was all washed down with plentiful tea.
All in all we had a great time. It may not be fine dining or starchy like "The Royal China" over the road but the staff here are friendly and they turn out great tasting food. We will definetly come back especially to try the house speciality of lobster and noodles.
Monday, July 20, 2009
Overall rating 
Food 8 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 8
Lovely to see an old favourite still going strong and based on my visit there to get a takeaway on Sunday still packing in the punters