Old Mandarin Restaurant
San Francisco, CA 94116-2739
Phone: (415) 564-3481
- Hours:
- Mon 11:30am-9:30pm, Tue 5:30pm-9:30pm, Thu 5:30pm-9:30pm, Fri-Sun 11:30am-9:30pm
Editorial Review for Old Mandarin Restaurant – by Gina Goff
In Short
A friendly "salaam" and walls adorned with messages written in Arabic calligraphy welcome diners to this clean but no-frills family-run eatery. The menu--entirely void of pork products and alcohol--focuses on dishes made with halal products. Entrees like the popular Mongolian beef, spiced lamb dumplings and kung pao chicken satisfy Westerners, while Mandarin-speaking customers and in-the-know regulars can order the secret Boiling Pot (hot pot), in which diners cook their own meats, tofu and veggies.
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Insider Tips
Know Before You GoThe Boiling Pot entree is not listed in English on the menu. Take a Mandarin speaker along or practice your pantomime in order to make your request.
User Reviews for Old Mandarin Restaurant
12/03/2007 Posted by chenyu768
Ok before, i would say this was the best hotpot place in the BAy Area, but with Little lamb opening up in San Mateo and Union City, i have to give the title to them. Old mandarin's food was good and sauce was great, but the selection was below par, and the also was the service, which was lacking of that of usual family operations. over all i still say if you live close by, its better than Coryia or HotPot City.
11/14/2006 Posted by cuisinenoi
This place serves up authentic Beijing food. Their speciality is the lamb hot-pot or warm-pot. Hot-pot is like Japanese shabu-shabu style where you cook the meat and other food yourself in a big-pot of broth. Afterwards, you dip the food in the sesame paste sauce. If you prefer not to cook it yourself, you can order the lamb warm-pot which is a claypot of lamb, tofu, pickled vegetables in soup. Other recommended dishes include the Mandarin lamb which is slices of lamb stir-fried in cumin and the Peking-style pancake which is a flat pancake filled with a thin layer of beef. I also like their dessert which is the lightly fried rice cake with the outside is mochi-like and filled with red bean paste and pinenuts. The service is like your typical rush-rush service in Chinese restaurants. The wait is notoriously long during peak hours, especially since they dont have a wait-list so you have to stand there by the doorway. The restaurant is quite small and with all the hot pots cooking in the restaurant, it can get quite warm in there.
Pros: authentic Beijing food
Cons: parking, crowded, little pricey
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