This place is nice. It used to be Black Pepper but the interior is basically the same as it was before. It has very high ceilings inside and feels very spacious. I would say it would make a good setting for a date or for a small to medium dinner party. When we came here for dinner, we saw a lot of Asian families and couples dining here. That is usually a good sign that the food here must be pretty legitimate. I liked the Sizzling Beef with Chili Grilled in Stone Bowl. The bowl came out and we saw the waiter pour the soup in. The dish overall had a nice Szechuan feel to it with the spicy and numbing soup. I've never seen this type of dish where the meat was basically swimming in soup but it wasn't quite a soup. The Shredded Pork in Garlic Sauce was decent. I generally find this dish to be a bit on the sweeter side and this was no exception. Service was good. The waiter spoke Mandarin to me even though I initially spoke in English because I'm lazy. I eventually switched to Mandarin because I was feeling awkward. I'm sure their English is fine though. read more

we went on christmas night and the restaurant was quite frankly overwhelmed. we had a 545 pm reservation and the next available at the time of booking was past 8 pm, so you get an idea of how busy the 6-730 pm area was gonna be. it did take an hour from being seated to get our first course, which was hot and sour soup. there was a long line of to-go orders via doordash/ubereats/grubhub and phone-in orders that was also complicating matters, but the staff should be credited with handling it with grace even though everything took much longer than what i imagine is usual. communication was pretty poor, to be fair, however, and that's the only reason i would ding them one star. they should have told us they were running behind and set expectations accordingly. they did not. that said, the food was fantastic. we had the orange chicken, mapo topu, some kind of prawn dish (they have several), the dry braised string beans, hot and sour soup and a mixed fried rice. everything was amazing in taste and the portions were very generous. price wasn't the cheapest, but they also as expensive as, say, tai pan in palo alto. food, however, is very comparable. i will be back and hopefully will get the amazing service i have read about in other reviews so i can revise the rating to what i expect to be five stars. read more

This review is based on take out. Ordering was very easy through YELP's GrubHub. Upon arrival, two hosts asked me for my name and pick up order. Once my name was clarified, my order was easy to pick up. Items were all packaged nicely though i did need to reheat both salt & pepper tofu and asparagus in the toaster oven to get crisp back into these particularly items. The chow mein had noodles the way i like it with adequate amount of vegetables. The food overall was good with base flavor. I'll look forward to trying other items at The Mandarin. read more

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Have you ever read a Yelp review that conveys reasonable information but has so many exclamation marks or capital letters that it distracts away from the words? The content is ruined because it is drowned out by overusing something that should have been used sparingly. That is the best analogy I have for this restaurant. My wife and I showed up at 7:15pm on a Friday night after deciding against another restaurant due to the crowd of people waiting for a table. When we arrived at The Mandarin, this restaurant had no wait and no crowd. Now, I know why. Eating the Ma Pao Tofu felt less like eating and more like stabbing myself in the gums with a steak knife. Look, I understand a lot of Asian foods are spicy. That's fine. But this was barely food. It was just a large puddle of hot oil with some tofu in it. If that sounds appetizing to you, then by all means give them a shot! read more

Thought it's American Chinese, or more southern Chinese style food, and it turned out to be a huge surprise!!!! What a gem! The inside was clean and quite spacious, the chongqing spicy chicken was so so good! The presentation of the dish was the same with what I got when I was back in China. The chicken was so crispy and crumbly outside, also well seasoned. The sesame pancake was so fluffy and layered, omg, getting homesick here. Overall I would strongly recommend you try this place. It also has really nice service! read more

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My friends and I ordered here for the first time and we loved it! Food was delivered fast and packaged well. No leaks or anything. Provided all the sauce needed as well. My friends ordered dishes such as chow mein, fried rice, and broccoli beef. It was actually really good. Not as greasy and it was done right! I ordered the sichuan dan-dan noodles and I loved it! I love they gave the chili oil on the side and was able to pour it in to mix it well. It was so delicious! I wish I was able to try their noodle soup or look into the menu more but ordered it last minute. I would definitely order other items from there though! read more

Excellent food! Great service. Centrally located so it's a good meeting spot for friends from various locales. Spicy, so be mindful. Clean! read more

Randomly stumbled upon this lovely restaurant. At first, assumed it was a not authentic Chinese restaurant, more on the westernized fusion taste. However, all the dishes were delicious and spot on with the authentic spices. Recommend eggplant spicy sauce! My favorite so far. Everything else is as good tbh. So try 'em out and you will not disappointed. Food 10/10 Service 10/10 read more

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One of the most authentic Chinese food in the area! Not many places you can get fresh sea food and delicious spicy dishes at the same time. Service is great, ask for Julie the manager if you have special request or large party to accommodate. Lastly, they have a great selection of wine as well!! Highly recommended! read more

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The best Ma Po Tofu I've ever had is here. Comes with plenty of sauce and flavor to share with other dishes. Honey walnut shrimp looks drastically different from other locations but is extra crispy. When asking for togo, they will package and bag your food for you. Overall, entire restaurant was very nice to sit in with modern furniture. read more

The Mandarin - Ma Pao Tofu - Chinese Near Me - Menlo Park, California

Food was delicious and beautifully presented. Service was wonderful. Restaurant was clean and very nice.

**3.5 Stars** For fans of Black Pepper in Menlo Park (from the owners of the popular Banana Leaf in Milpitas), the former space is now the newly opened The Mandarin. I stopped by for a visit to the "pan-Asian" restaurant after a write up in the SF Chronicle and Palo Alto online. I've always liked the large, two level space but it's a very large space to fill and the menu while emphasizing "pan-Asian" cuisine is very similar to Z&Y (SF) where the head chef is from. I like Sichuan so tried many of the restaurant recommendations including mouth watering chicken, tea smoked duck and boiled whole fish. Flavors are authentic and portion size is solid. Unfortunately, what may hurt the restaurant most is similar to what happened to Black Pepper; the elevated price point and "Peninsula tax." Whole Boiled fish at Z&Y is $42, here at The Mandarin it is $68, a 50% price premium. We also were recommended way too much food for two, but were trying to support a new business. Our order: Mouth Watering Chicken $16 Boiled Whole Fish $68 Chinese Tea Smoked Duck 1/2 $26 Garlic pea shoots $22 The Mandarin accepts credit cards including American Express. read more

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Wow, what an incredible find. The quality of food was superb. The textures and layers of flavor were outstanding. This is a place to definitely put on your go-to regularly list. Highly recommended. Julie, our server, was so kind to explain various dishes. She suggested a wonderful dessert that really complemented our meal and added so much to another wise tremendous dining experience. read more

Saw this place while in town. We got the rice noodle and scallion pancakes for appetizers, got 2 different types of crabs and sweet and sour for main dishes. I liked both of the appetizers we got and my favorite dish was the sweet and sour fish, it's a must! read more

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One of the main reason why I like to come here , is because of the hospitality. The waitress Christina was very attentive and so kind. The food quality is top tier, and tastes even better. Never disappoints, the ambiance was delightful. I would definitely recommend this place to friends and families. 10/10 for the service from Christina and 10 for the food as well read more

Saw this place on Yelp and wanted to give it a try, ordered to go. My husband called in our order, at first it was an answering machine then a worker picked up. Told us it would be take 25 mins and asked us for our phone number. What we ordered: Golden Prawns $22 Sichuan Beef Noodles $14 Woodear Mushrooms with Japanese Mountain Yam $22 We found street parking since another car just left. When we arrived we waited a few minutes before we were helped, since they were busy with a big table upstairs. I like the wall decorations, and it looked pretty spacious a few people were dining in. The worker was friendly and we told him our phone number for our order. He told us it would be a few more minutes they were packing it up. We waited a few more minutes, and then they asked us if we wanted any water while we waited. The to go bags are sturdy and they mentioned that they left the Golden Prawns half open so it wouldn't be soggy. They also mentioned that they threw in some free Egg Rolls normally it's $10. The Golden Prawns had really good flavor but we were a bit disappointed in the presentation and also that it was a bit difficult to get the shells off. The fruit that came with it had some sort of mayo sauce on it. Definitely would have stayed crunchy if it was dine in. The Sichuan Beef Noodles tasted fresh and spicy, the beef that came with it was good and tender. It came with sour veggie. The Woodear Mushrooms with Japanese Mountain Yam had good flavor and it was tender. Egg Rolls tasted alright but since it was to go they were not crunchy anymore. I liked the 2 sauces it came with the sweet and sour/spicy yellow mustard. Overall I would say the food tasted good and flavorful also the staff is very friendly but it's best to dine in to get the presentation and having the food that is suppose to be crunchy stay crunchy. Next time we will dine in instead! read more

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The best Chinese restaurant in Peninsula! And the only restaurant has truffles the entire year! The best ingredient possible, 琵琶鸭possibly the best dish in Chinese culture! cauliflower with cured pork, OMG, so fresh, so flavorful! Scramble egg with black truffle, possibly the best! read more

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Super delicious Chinese/Sichuan food, though it can take pretty long for food to get to the table. We ordered the hot & sour soup, heartbroken cold noodles, half duck, kung pao chicken, string beans and tofu with bok choy/mushrooms. Standout dishes: hot & soup - super peppery and flavorful; duck - sooo much meat and great smokey flavor; tofu - really well fried and the bok choy/mushrooms were a great complement! Service was generally really friendly and attentive but food was super slow to come out - we waited a solid 30 minutes for our last 4 dishes (after the cold dish/soup). Hoping it's just temporary from the general food worker shortage! Would come back again whenever I'm craving spicy Chinese food! read more

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Overpriced Chinese food. Nice place and staff. The food portions are small and the food we ordered was just okay read more

I won't recommend this place to anyone it's bcoz too expensive, i stop by for a quick chow mein combination to go and it cost me 61$ , yes I can't believe it I should have not take it and refuse it instead but ended up paying for it anyway,,, so I walk out w 61$ freaking chow mein it almost cost me more than Son and Garden for three people ( I spent 114$ for lunch on Son and Garden) on the same day yes go figure it out read more

The Mandarin - Chinese Near Me - Menlo Park, California

My go to restaurant for a great night out. Beautiful setting inside. The service is always amazing. The portions are set to feed atleast three. The must tries is the pork mushu, the surf clams with noodles and smoked duck read more

The Mandarin - Cute decor - Chinese Near Me - Menlo Park, California

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We had a big takeout order. WATCH OUT FOR THE SPICE! We ordered 3 dishes that were so chili-hot we couldn't eat them; Kung-Pao chicken, Ma Pao Tofu and Fish with Spicy Bean Sauce. (We were at least warned on the last one!). There is no indication on the menu about any degree of spiciness, and I definitely did not expect that from the Ma Po Tofu, although I now see a few Yelp reviews with the same warning for that dish. The non-spicy things were OK- B+. Dry Braised Green Beans were fine, and Mu Shu Shrimp was decent. And vegetable fried rice was standard fare. But we unfortunately had to leave 60% of the meal uneaten. If you need fire to get you going, then this is your place. And if you don't, probably asking about almost any dish with a chance of chili would enable them to tone it down or you to just avoid it. read more

This is the best Chinese ever. It is Mandarin with a touch szechuan. Extensive authentic Chinese dishes (rooster? Geo duck meat?) and Chinese American favorites. Prompt attentive service and attention to specific requests. Sweet and sour soup not to be missed. Modern and attractive decor. read more

Couple of my buddies and I tried this restaurant because we were craving for some Chinese food. We've never tried this place, but decided to stop in to see how it was. We were quite surprised at the great service and the tasty food. The Chinese food is very authentic as well and very spicy so if you're like me I usually ask for mild, which is fine. I love the quick and friendly service and even the owner of the restaurant, Ni, came by to say hello and talk with us. I definitely recommend this place and we will be going back again. They also have a big room upstairs if you want to have a private party. read more

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Unreliable way to feed your family for takeout. Placed order via DoorDash and after an hour the dasher is still getting the runaround and my calls do not go through. Don't think I'll do this again. read more

We recently had an event banquet with about 50 people at the Mandarin. The staff seemed overwhelmed despite advance planning and service started about 30 minutes late. There seemed to be some confusion regarding roles or service functions. When the courses did arrive, dishes were not removed promptly and piled up leading to near spills. Some food served warmish instead of hot. Food was just ok. The staff seemed more interested in getting us out the door to meet their 9:30PM closing time. Is this normal in Menlo Park? It was a Saturday night and almost everything was closed. I will skip this restaurant in the future read more

Love the food and great service here！ Don't forget to try their secret menu and ask what is their daily special. Highly recommend! read more

The Mandarin - Ginseng Origanic Chicken Soup - Chinese Near Me - Menlo Park, California

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This restaurant is by far my favorite Chinese place to eat. The ingredients are very fresh and the food is just amazingly tasty. I also highly recommend the wine from owner's winery. The service is also very good. read more

The Mandarin - Chinese Near Me - Menlo Park, California

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We have never had a negative experience here! The servers are always nice and willing to explain what items are. The owner has been around for most of our visits he's very kind and genuinely wants to know how your food is and remembers faces well which makes the service nicer too. As someone who doesn't love spicy food, before ordering something new I always ask about spice levels and the staffs ratings have always been helpful when ordering! The serving sizes make sharing easy and it reheats well too! We bring all our guests out to the mandarin and it's a hit every time! I only wish we lived closer. read more

Always excellent northern Chinese cuisine!! Especially great hot and sour soup!! Also amazing Mongolian beef and walnut prawns don't miss it 5 stars read more

I thought it was pricy until I saw the portions. They were huge! Totally forgot to take pictures. The service was great and the food was yummy! They are pretty much on the spicy side but we could not stop eating. The boiled fish in Sichuan style was so good!! read more

Expensive and taste are soooo sooooo. We ordered four dishes for four people. Bill came out to be 240$. read more

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We went back here again this weekend. Food is excellent. But I found their service poor and especially felt un-welcomed. It was similar to last time. The moment they saw us there was no hi nothing - as though we didnt exist.. Then they just said 2 mins and came back to ask if we were 3 of us. Soon after us there was a family and the same guy says - hi good afternoon and how are you. That didn't seem just. I dont want to call their behavior by any term. But it is not right read more

Amazing food! Fast service!! Hands down the best walnut shrimp I've ever had.. that we ever had. I didn't get before pictures of the Szechuan beef noodles because we got served that but it was incredible. Crab rangoons were delicious! we will definitely be back! read more

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Came here three times and each time we ordered different dishes. So far it's not disappointing at all! Services was very nice the first and second time there but not really for the last time (the manager wasn't present that time, but he usually would chat with the customer and seems really friendly). I'd recommend this place for ppl visiting this area who wanna try authentic Chinese cuisine! read more

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Amazing Chinese food I love it! The seafood is super fresh. Tastes are amazing. I'll go there very often! read more

Celebrated my birthday here. The owner/ waiter it's a truly gourmet person. Nee is passionate with food and wine... he's very creative with wine pairing too. Strongly recommend this restaurant for the best spicy Szechuan authentic cuisine!. read more

It took approximately 70 minutes from when we ordered to when we got our food, and even then each dish was served one at a time, each spaced about 5 minutes apart from the last. This is not a great way to eat Chinese food. It took waving down four different waiters to get rice. A couple dishes so oversalted I couldn't swallow, a couple just average, and one or two that had me nodding my head. All in all, meh. Service at Chinese restaurants is notoriously bad, comes with the territory. But then there's service that's subpar even for Chinese restaurants, the bottom of the barrel. Especially when you consider the price here, it's unforgivable. The owner or whoever came over at the end of the meal to apologize. Does it help? Sure. Is that gesture enough for me to ever step within 100 feet of this establishment again? No. Is it enough for me to recommend to anyone else? No. May god save this restaurant's soul. read more

This is an exceptionally good, authentic Sichuan place, and really goes above and beyond for large groups. I made a reservation for 8, called and said I might have 12 people coming, and in the end it was 14; they combined a smaller table onto their largest circular table to make it work. One of my guests was from China and ordered directly with the chef who proposed a bunch of off menu items; we ended up with a truly amazing feast. Will definitely go back and do group dinners here in the future. read more

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The service was exceptional. We had a family style kung pao shrimp as a meal and tofu as an appetizer. It eas fantastic.