Mandarin Restaurant

Visited on February 8, 2012 for a birthday lunch celebration. All the staff were were extremely friendly. I noticed that the wait staff worked very well together as a team which you do not see in all restaurants. There is a hot and cold buffet dinner buffet as well as a desert buffet. The food was very good - especially the torpedo shrimp and the spring rolls. Lots of variety!

friendly and great service

We have been to this restaurant many times over the years and always enjoyed the food and service. Great variety! Last April 2011 we went as a family and had an excellent meal. My teenage daughter somehow lost a cheque from work and had not realized it, it must have fallen on the floor. This busy restaurant actually found the time to find her address and mailed it to her personally. There are still kind and considerate people in this world. A big thank you!!!! This made her day!

The Mandarin is an overwhelming experience from the moment you walk in. Five different girls welcome you enthusiastically, which gets annoying after a while. I just want to shout "THANK YOU. You have made it abundantly clear we are welcome here!" This new location on Fairview is doing them large favors because the buffet area is much larger and easier to get around. And the dining room we were seated in has a beautiful cherry blossom tree hanging overhead. I left happy and well-fed, as usual.

Lots of Uninspiring Food

A group of us visited Mandarin recently. We had reservations and were seated promptly. Front staff and servers were fast and friendly. The place was full, mostly families with several celebrating birthdays. Not much room to maneuver between various tables. Rather noisy. We ate from the buffet. The range of different foods was impressive. I was at first tempted by the prime rib, but closer inspection revealed large, overcooked roasts lurking under the heat lamp. A shameful waste of what should have been succulent prime beef. Most of the other offerings tasted were underspiced and/or the victim of sitting in their warming stations too long. BBQed pork ribs were very tender, but bland. It was difficult to tell the meat was pork. The sauce was vividly red and sweet, but that was about it. Little flavour. Dessert ended the meal on a higher note. Creme caramel and creme brule both hit the spot. All-in-all, Mandarin is a shrine for those who seek copious amounts of eats, in a quasi-oriental atmosphere. We leave thinking it's not a place we'll come back to soon, but given enough time and the arrival of another celebration, Mandarin seems like a good idea once again. Either they're doing something right, or our memories are failing. Probably a little of both. (P.s., the day after my wife had her crab legs, mussels and shrimp from the buffet, she suffered some... errrr, unfortunate symptoms. Stuff happens.)

Wow! Never have I ever seen it like this before!

My boyfriend and I went on Friday July 30th 2010 at around 6-7:30. As soon as we walked in, we were greeted with...count them...7 people saying "Welcome to Mandarin!" . As we were promptly taken to our table through the buffet area, all cooks looked up and welcomed us in as well.. As we sat down, we waited no less than 10 seconds before our server came up and ordered our drinks. She recommened the Jacks Lemonade, so we thought we would try it. Very tastey and not too strong. She also recommened the Salmon and the Sushi, but she also told us, to my happiness that we walked in on a "Crab Legs Night." As a server myself, I know tricks of the trade (when and when not to be seen) , she got them down perfectly. She asked us how the food was turning out and if I would like a r"efill of Sprite, it's free" and it was brought promptly. This wouldn't be a big deal to most, but if you go to pubs and they don't have free refills, it's not a good thing not to know when you are thirsty. Other servers (2) were in the section and grabbed our plates just as we were setting them down, fast service. I have never been to the Mandarin when they had crab legs before and I will surely be back for them. The were very hot and there was a lot of meat inside unlike cheap lower grade crablegs in some stores with little meat inside. The Sushi never fails me. The salmon and cream cheese sushi is the best, also the caviar one. All the food we got that night, we had to let cool down it was piping hot. I'm not complaining, I would expect warm, but this was great! The New England Style Clam Chowder is possible the best clam chowder I have had yet, and I have had many. Again, had to let this one cool down as well lol. The sausages are spicy and hot along with the kung pao. The desserts, many to choose from was very hard. The watermelon was so fresh and sweet as well as the other fruits. Brownies were great. Lots of sugerfree options, so obviously I stayed away from those. The bill came after our hot towels were delivered to us, along with fortune cookies. The bill was around $65, but with one alcoholic drink, sprite and 2 meals on a crab leg night, I would say that was pretty well worth it. As we left, we were thanked by all the cooks again and also all of the bartenders and hostess. We were givin one last treat on our way out, a mint. Now to put it in "your" perspective. Many reviews on here are claiming that The Mandarin is not staying "true to its roots" by providing "real" asian food. This is because it's a chain restaurant and we live in Ontario. They make the food that way for our sake. Of course it's not real chinese, but thats how must people like it, including myself. If you want real Asian food, in Canada, go out to BC. You can hardly get "fake" chinese food out there. So if you choose to not follow my directions, don't complain about The Mandarin serving "fake" chinese, deal with it, it's so much better!