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Mandarin Kitchens
- Nearest Transit:
-
Bayswater (Circle, District)
Queensway (Central)
- Attire:
- Casual
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Price Range:
-
£££
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Good for Children:
- Yes
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Delivery:
- Yes
- Take Away:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Alcohol:
- Full Bar
4 reviews for Mandarin Kitchens
I'm glad that my friends from Sin took me to Mandarin Kitchens for dinner and is my first visit to Chinese Seafood Restaurant. I strongly recommended the Lobster Noodles, is the biggest lobster i've had in London, very tasty and the sauce was perfect !
After that, we had Almond Fruit Curd and Red Bean Pancakes as a dessert. The Red Bean Pancakes was just alright for me as i'm not a red bean fan. I love Almond Curd not too sweet just my taste.
Enter a realm of superior seafood, where lobster and other shellfish of exquisite freshness and expert preparation will boldly take you to worlds where no humans have gone before!
After 4+ miles of fun-filled sightseeing and urban hiking from the London Eye, we were so glad to see our destination: dinner! We love seafood and were like sweet-toothed kids in Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory! The heavenly and varied selection of crustaceans, bivalves, mollusks (sea cucumber, abalone), and fish made us uncharacteristically indecisive--but in a good way.
Our server recommended the lobster, and after seeing a neighboring couple savor it, we were sold! Normally, we enjoy our seafood as pure and simple as possible, so we were considering to have it raw or just steamed. Our server seemed a bit more than suggestive in getting us to order it with ginger, scallion, and noodles--a popular choice--which we were really glad we did :-D
To start, we had Phoenix Prawns with Chili and Scallions. At first, it was a sight to behold: each prawn was BIGGER than most lobster tails! The accompanying sauce appeared to be strong, but served to complement the incredibly flavorful crustacean.
Then, the lobster arrived and we were stunned by how incredibly flavorful it was: totally superior, cleaner, and more succulent than any of its Maine relatives served at $$$$+ restaurants!
The ginger and scallions complemented the meat incredibly well, and the noodles were just perfect texture and seasoning as a complementary component for the star crustacean.
Not only could you taste the pristine freshness, it was clearly visible as the meat was plump in every crevice right down to the tiny swimmerets. Another point that stuck was how easy it was to extract the meat from the shells.
When we asked our server how the lobster was so tasty and so fresh, he pointed out that they get them straight from the Scottish Sea and the chef is an expert in carving up the lobster so that all of the pieces cook perfectly and the patrons have an easy time eating their meal.
By that time, we were quite satisfied but curious to try dessert. Since our server was perfect so far, we asked him to select our dessert: a hearty and palate balancing red bean pancake.
All in all, this was a seafoodie's dream. I understand how the service can be perceived as brusque to efficient (the bus persons are a bit blunt), but showing an earnest interest in the restaurant and having a great server made for a wonderful evening of food and service.
When we stayed in London, the currency exchange rate was far more disadvantageous for Americans--everything seemed to cost double. The exceptions to the rule were with Starbucks (everything was half the quids as supposed dollars, and their sandwiches were amazing!) and Mandarin Kitchen, which proved to be a relative value for such a memorable experience (~47 quid for 3 amazing courses).
I just wish I could teleport to Mandarin Kitchen every now and then :-P
By the end of my three week trip to Europe I actually had a yearning for Chinese food. The only other Chinese meal I had in the previous three weeks was at Crispy Duck on my second night in London. So here I was back in London on my final night, and my cousin suggested Mandarin Kitchens.
I was told that Mandarin Kitchens is one of the higher end Chinese restuarants in London with its white tablecloths. I soon found out they charge pretty high end as well. For our party of three we had a Fish Soup, Steamed Seabass, and Lobster Noodles. The soup was flavorful yet pretty standard, the steamed seabass was good, and you'd be hard pressed to screw up a dish that's laced with a whole lobster. While I know we may have ordered some of the higher price items on the menu, I never would have thought three items would cost 65 bucks. Oh waaaait, it was 65 quid. And back then that equated to $130. So there ya go, $130 for a three item meal for three.
Delicious seafood, fresh soups, and perfectly cooked noodles are just a few of the pros about Mandarin Kitchen. The service is quick and efficient, but seems to be more of a team effort and it can become difficult to know exactly which one of the employees is your server. I feel like we had 10 different people bringing things to the table and such.
A good meal very close to the tube station.