Mandarin — Restaurant in Cedar City

Three of us went to the Mandarin restaurant, Saturday, June 22, 2024 for lunch. We each wanted the luncheon special that comes with choice of fried rice or white rice and choice of soup or egg roll. Instead of each of us getting the lunch entree, rice and soup we wanted, the waitress suggested getting a combination that we could share. We thought okay, and we thought it was an in-house luncheon special that wasn't on the menu. When the order came we ended up with 4 different entrees instead of 3, two of which had shrimp in it. None of us wanted shrimp, let alone 2 entrees that had shrimp, and we did not want the 'Happy Family' entree either, not only because of more shrimp, but because it had a combination of other meats in it, that none of us like. It also came with 'Lo Mein Noodles'. We thought the noodles were a side dish, not an actual entree. Somehow, this took the place of one of our entree choices of 'Chicken Chow Mein', that we wanted with crispy noodles. We did not get one entree that any of us really wanted, and we did not get the rice any of us wanted because we wanted fried rice, and none of us got soup. I wanted 'Chicken Chow Mein' with 'Crispy Noodles', one of us wanted 'Mongolian Pork', and another wanted 'Beef with Broccoli'. So, how did we end up getting 'Happy Family', 'Sweet and Sour Pork', 'Chicken Lo Mein' and plain 'Walnut Shrimp' - because the waitress pushed the idea of sharing all these entrees. To add insult to injury, we split the bill and the waitress acted funny about me paying the tip for everybody. I was hesitant about what to pay, and really didn't think she should get a tip at all. I handed her what I thought she should receive, and she acted like I should pay her more. What an awkward situation, when none of us felt she even deserved a tip. This was suppose to be a luncheon for 3 people, but it felt like we paid for dinner. If you add up the entrees we would have gotten, we would have paid $32.85. However, after adding up the entrees we did get with no soup or drinks, we paid double that amount plus an undeserved tip. And if that wasn't punishment enough, the next day, we all felt sick with upset stomach and diarrhea. We certainly will not be eating at the Mandarin restaurant in...

Came in for the Lunar New Year, and were delighted to see "Coming Soon: Sushi" at the service bar. Looking forward to the work of the sushi chef in about a month, for the Year of the Rabbit. And now, near the end of February, sushi is here! I had a sampling of two nigiri and two rolls: Tobiko (an absolutely gorgeous pair of nigiri sushi that I ate to fast to get a picture!), a Caterpillar Roll, and an unago/cucumber roll almost the same, but without avocado for my spouse to try, and a salmon-skin and cucumber roll that was truly scrumptious.

Christmas Sunday, 2022: We came for our "traditional" Christmas restaurant meal, and weren't disappointed - but we never are at Mandarin! I enjoyed half a serving of Mu Shu Chicken, and my spouse polished off an entire entrée of Sesame Chicken. No lunch specials on Sunday, but there's another whole meal for the two of us in the to-go box! Just the nourishment we needed before going home to watch some movies. Home Alone, Muppet Christmas Carol, and Die Hard, if you're asking....

ORIGINAL REVIEW: Mandarin just opened recently in Cedar City. As the name implies, this is Mandarin-style food. We tend to prefer spicier Chinese cuisine (Szechuan or Hunan), but the savoury/sweet Southern China dishes here were done to perfection. The heat of Szechaun-labeled choices was definitely lacking, however. In future, we'll let them know they can put more than two peppers in the Kung-Pao chicken, for example. The Hot-Sour soup was laden with mushrooms and had the perfect thick texture and mouth-feel, but was curiously bland. The server said they were still adjusting the recipe and will be making it tangier in future, so we'll give it another test when they have revised the soup.

The roomy dining area is on two levels, and beautifully decorated. Best news, they are open on Sunday afternoon/evening.

Lunch was generous for the price, which came in just over $20 for the two of us. We already have plans for a family meal from the dinner menu, featuring garlic broccoli, Mongolian beef, and steamed dumplings -- and leftovers! We look forward to many lovely meals...

The building is beautiful. It was an intimate setting with a fairly small dining room. The staff was nice. They were able to seat us right away. The waiter was very attentive and apologetic since our dinner took some time to come out. We ordered a dish that feeds two that came with several meats and veggies in a brown sauce. The veggies were cooked wonderfully, but the rest of the dish was lacking. The fried chicken on top looked like a sliced, frozen chicken patty, but it tasted okay. The pork and non fried chicken tasted like the meat was turning. It definitely was not fresh and I was a little worried about eating it. It also came with "crab" but it tasted like it was imitation crab, so I was not impressed. I'm sure the staff would have prepared us something else if we would have asked, but we had a taste of almost all of their meat, and it wasn't good. I don't think we will...