House of Mandarin Bandra — Restaurant in Mumbai

Chinese cuisine is known for its strong flavours, vibrant colour and smell. This smell pulled us all the way to Bandra for lunch. Bandra is now home to the newly opened authentic chinese restaurant, House of Mandarin (HoM). HoM is a mid sized restaurant with two sections(both AC),the outer one more exposed to natural light and the other closed and compact with the bar. The bar has a huge collection of liquor arranged systematically. The walls here bear an essence of China with beautiful fans and paintings. Their menu has probably all the Chinese food we've come across and even more. It has abundance options to choose from and satiate your authentic Chinese food cravings.

We began with the mocktails as usual. Looking at the bar menu we were in a fix how to pronounce the names but the staff was kind enough to help us out with that and recommended us a few drinks. We had

Tian Suan Shuiguo A blend of Kala Khatta, mulberries, orange and grape. Looks really alluring and tastes lip smacking. The best part it also came in with a refill. A must have here.👍

Linghun Fizz This drink is a blend of kokam, chilli, coriander and lime. It kind of reminded us of the spicy Pani Puri . The freshness of coriander and spicy punch take the drink to the next level.👍

5/5 for both the mocktails out here,not only their taste but their price is also very reasonable.

Starters

Shredded chicken with Sichuan Pepper Crispy chicken tossed in Sichuan sauce and chilli. It's a mix of sweet and spiciness. A good starter👍

Prawn and Chive Dumpling Four tender steamed dumplings were served in a steamer . The perfect cooked prawns was given a chive flavoured covered . It tasted amazing with their chilli sauce.

Mains

Egg white and chicken fried rice Tastes just like any other fried rice. The rice was cooked perfectly and so was the chicken. It wasn't too dry.

Chicken in red chilli oil and spring onion This dish was kind of a let down. It was on the sweeter side kinda throwing the overall balance away. Also we found this dish a overpriced.

We ended on a high note with the Dessert

Seven texture Hazelnut & Chocolate A round Hazelnut cake comes in with hot chocolate sauce. When the chocolate sauce is poured on the cake,the tempered chocolate disk on top melts right away. It's not too sweet and we loved it till the last bite. Highly recommended! 👍👍

The service time is about 10-15 mins. The staff is really considerate and knows their menu well.They also maintain a high level of hygiene . We found a lot of ladies catching up with their friends at lunch and the room was filled in no time. Its a good place to go out with your family or partner.So Make sure you reserve a table before visiting.

👍 - something we highly recommend and would definitely go back for.

Have a great weekend!

The Food Fanatic

Food:4/5

service:5/4

value...

29th June was my sister in law’s birthday and her 2 sons treated us to a dinner here. Choice of restaurant was my son’s as he LOVES the Chinese food and personal attention here. He’s a frequent visitor here and knows a few of the staff by their names. AND my son is a foodie. Small appetite but with something to munch at regular intervals.

The food was good. The chicken and vegetables broth was bland as it should be. The other 2 soups hot and sour, and spicy crab meat soup were spicy and delicious. I was down with cold and cough, so the chicken broth minus the spice or corn slurry was good for me.

For starters, we had fried and crunchy spring rolls with crispy duck meat as filling. This was new for me and I liked it. Have been having their aromatic crispy duck with pancakes and vegetables juliennes served with their spicy sauce. The concept of naming your own rolls in itself is so relaxing and enjoyable.

Then we had sesame prawns toast. Although these were fried, it didn’t feel sticky or oily. And yes, they were tasty. I had these after a LONG time, so I guess I enjoyed them the most.

We also called for pan fried chicken noodles. Yet again, they were crispy and my son was served the best portion.

The portions of the food is good enough and most of us were pretty full also. So for the main course, we just ordered the beef tenderloin in black pepper sauce and egg fried rice to go with it.

You should try their Pan fried chicken gyoza dim-sums, and Truffle and Edamame dumplings too. Turnip cake is something else that you can try. No, they are not sweet. They are savoury and delicious.

By the end of the celebration, we were all stuffed with happiness and stomach full too.

The ambiance is good. Many restaurants and cafés have been here at some point of time in the past, but they have failed to get so successful. But this place has managed to sustain here for a long time now. Just proves that they are doing good in spite of the recent pandemic.

Ek trip toh...

As per my Zomato review updated 3 (Sept 2018) months ago

A very prominent location on Hill road Bandra which was running as - Sassy Spoon earlier. Parking is tough usually around these areas but you could manage a valet parking or around the by lanes.

The hostess did a good job by providing us a nice table and she was friendly. Staff is courteous and attentive. The interiors on the other side is clean however the color theme used was dingy and dark. I would prefer such restaurants to be more lively and bright with the use of artifacts.

We tried the following : Spicy crab meat soup - 4/ 5 Crispy Mushroom Lai Style - 3.5/ 5 Prawn and Chive Dumpling - 3/ 5 Chicken and Coriander Dumpling - 3/ 5 Chicken Firecracker Rice - 3/ 5 Veg Firecracker Rice - 3/ 5 Chefs Special Glazed Pork - 3/ 5

The soup was a stand out with a nice balance of crab meat and a kick of green freshness. The mushroom lai style had chunky portions glazed in sorted onions and garlic served dry as an appitizer.

The dumplings we're disappointing as the outer coating was thick although the filling was tasty. The rice (Veg and Non Veg) seemed to have a unique name and I expected a fiery ripper however in presentation it was more like a schewzan fried rice with shredded pieces of Chicken. Taste was likewise.

I personally am a big fan of Pork and try this where ever I can - India and Abroad. The name Chefs special Glazed Pork costing 610 + taxes elevated my expectations but the flavour was just about ordinary. Had the pricing been 350 or 400 it would have been a good dish with a simple flavour. Hence this.diah turned out to be an average.

Overall good place, decent food, expensive for sure - Lot more to choose from when it comes to...