Mandarin Palace — Restaurant in Howick

If you like a less busy venue, friendlier staff, and a not-so-cramped surrounding than your average yum cha place, then perhaps this is the place to go but there’s not much that impresses beyond these. Fifth visit here in probably as many years and this is one of those average yum cha places which you’d sooner forget about because there’s nothing that really stands out. Except that two things stood out today that made me feel as if we were taken for a ride: the chang fen has a texture similar to that of a guo tiao and rather than soaking in the aroma of the fillings and the sauce, it felt a little too rubbery and waterproof. The sauce felt bland and was perhaps overly watered down. Anyone care for guo tiao noodles soup? we did a doubletake when we unwrapped the nuo mi ji. Was it really glutinous rice or just plain rice mashed together to give a similar appearance to nuo mi? I’m sure some outlets have adulterated rice mixes but this was too obvious. Bruh… Other than that, the atmosphere was pleasant and friendly, with the service being above average, except for the cashier who always appears to be very stressed out. The price is reasonable ($20 to $30 per pax) although you could probably find more genuine offerings at similar prices elsewhere.

Oh, and do bring your big SUVs or 4WDs to traverse those pesky...

My friend and I went to Yum Cha a week ago. On arrival we were greeted by a lady who asked how many people in our group. We told her and she went away. We didn't see her again for 15 mins. Once seated we were left without guidance. Each time we asked for help from staff, who were serving other tables, we were grunted at , and they flicked their hands at us, as if to say " Go Away" Finally we approached another table of customers, who explained that we needed the menu print out, to order from, only then we would be served, but of course we couldn't get any ones attention. Finally we got a menu. We had by this time waited for about 30 mins. Plus the 15mins we waited on arrival. This meant we were in the restaurant for about 45mins, being ignored. The food, when it finally arrived was nice. When we went to pay, we were charged for something that we ordered, but hadn't received. An argument ensued, and the woman took $6 off the price. I have never been treated like this before. The service was appalling . In fact there was no service. We were made to feel like an inconvenience. We will never go there...

As 2 customers foreign to this type of restaurant, we felt as though they did a great job at making us feel welcome.

The food was clearly very authentic - some of it was unique to our pallets and took some leaning into to fully enjoy. However, when we did lean into it, the food was pleasant. We also really enjoyed the green tea presented on arrival.

As 2 non-mandarin speakers, there was a bit of a language barrier which was expected. However they did provide a picture menu that we were to able to interpret and order without further assistance. One waiter in particular was extremely pleasant and clearly cared for our experience.

Overall, was a good experience and definitely worth a try for people wanting to experience the...