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Business & Tech

Restaurant Review: Mandarin Kitchen

This week food writer Clara Park reviews Mandarin Kitchen in Havertown.

Restaurant:

Address: 1009 W. Chester Pk., Havertown, PA 19083
Rating: (3 out of 5 stars): ★★★
Style: Chinese take-out joint
Food: Decent Chinese staples like hot and sour soup, dumplings and General Tso’s chicken
Atmosphere: Bare bones take out joint
Parking: Metered lot
Service: Casual and friendly
Price Range: Inexpensive
Unique Feature: This place is open later than other places and has luncheon specials for about 5 dollars.

If you drive down West Chester Pike you’ll probably drive past without noticing it. I drove by it twice without seeing it and only knew that I had passed it because of the street numbers.

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Mandarin Kitchen is a bare bones take-out joint that is clean, inexpensive and efficient. I don’t mean bare bones to come off as negative. This establishment is simply no frills and there are no surprises. There is virtually no place to sit and eat, but rather a wide open space to wait for your order to come out. The staff is friendly but not chatty and the menu is vast.

As it was lunch time I took advantage of the numerous luncheon specials which never exceed $5.75 and include steamed rice and a spring roll. I had a hungry house to feed and opted for the General Tso’s chicken, pork with garlic sauce and bean curd with mixed vegetable. I waited patiently and could see the chef actually making my food. Instead of pre-made everything I saw the man add the different components of each dish to his wok and cook all my choices one at a time. I’ve never seen Chinese fast food cooked with such care.

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I took home the extra heavy bag of food and unloaded the goods. Each Styrofoam container was brimming with rice, meat, vegetables and rich sauces. The delicious General Tso’s chicken still managed to be somewhat crisp despite the long car ride and inevitable steam. I could see the whole dried chiles throughout the dish and the thick and glossy sauce was just the right amount of spicy and sweet. 

The pork with garlic sauce didn’t really pack a ton of heat as the red font and mini chili pepper icon would indicate but the dish itself was still tasty. Instead of shredded strips of pork this incarnation had bigger chunks of tender pork and tons of vegetables.

While it’s doubtful that all the vegetables were farm fresh and more likely previously frozen, it was still nice to have such a wide variety. There were bell peppers, bamboo shoots, onions and more. The sauce was well seasoned and packed with a rich and savory soy-based flavor.

Most surprising of all the choices was the bean curd with mixed vegetable. This saucy vegetarian friendly entrée choice was quite filling. The pieces of tofu were actually good and the medley of vegetables even more impressive than those that came in the pork dish. There was so much of the thick sauce that it leaked out of the container, into the bag and onto the table.

The spring rolls were run of the mill and nothing to get excited about. The steamed white rice was also what you would expect. All told, I fed three people for under twenty dollars and still had leftovers.

While it was hilarious that the cashier subtly greeted me in Mandarin under her breath because she thought I may be Chinese the food is straightforward, tasty and priced to move.  I encourage you to try this place out the next time you have a hankering for Chinese food but don’t want to spend a ton. You can say xie xie later!

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