Old Mandarin Islamic Restaurant — Restaurant in San Francisco

Based on the reviews, it's hard to determine if Old Mandarin is among the best or the worst restaurants in SF. So I decided to check it out for myself.

From the outside, it has a simple vibe and is very up-front about being a Halal restaurant (which I appreciate as a Muslim). Stepping inside, I can admire the variety of decorations and artwork that cover the walls. My party is quickly guided to a table and provided with menus. The waiter wasn't particularly chatty, but he was friendly, professional, & prompt, which is all I look for. He collected our orders and within a few minutes, the food was ready.

For entrees, I shared the Cumin Lamb Stir-Fry and the Eggplant in Spicy Garlic Sauce, both of which were recommended in . The lamb was flavorful and satisfying, while the subtle sweetness of the eggplant was beautifully complemented by the sauce. A simple side of white rice was all else that was needed to complete my meal.

I will now touch on price, which seems to be a contentious point in many reviews.

Firstly, a few have called out the "hidden" fees that materialized on the receipt, like the gratuity. However, the menu was pretty upfront about what they included.. (Now you may have an opinion on the existence of those fees, but that's probably outside the scope of a review..)

Secondly, I am stumped as to why the prices are considered higher than expected. I have never considered SF a "cheap" place to eat, and there are far worse offenders that should be called out before Old Mandarin. My guess is that this is more expensive than other Chinese "hole-in-the-wall" restaurants, but I cannot classify this as "merely" hole-in-the-wall due to the quality and the exclusive usage of Halal ingredients. I was pretty satisfied with the portions, and the per-person cost was ~$30, hardly the worst for an occasional dine-in meal.

One point I will agree with is that they should offer free water in a glass, instead of assuming "water" == $2 bottled water. I suppose Europeans would be used to this..

Overall, I was happy with my meal at Old Mandarin and look forward to future visits. Maybe I will have to revise my review...

Food: First of all, the La-Si-Ni “spicy” chicken dish that everyone raves about is not spicy. It was very disappointing in spiciness, but it was fine to eat. The eggplant was pretty good and my friends enjoyed their dumplings.

Service: Horrible, predatory practices. We ordered 3 dishes and rice for 3 people, and the server kept pressuring us to order more. I said no 5 times in Mandarin, which the server spoke fluently, so it was not a communication issue but a matter of disrespect and refusal to listen. After saying no so many times, she still tried to stealthily add another dish to our order. She then gave us major attitude and was angry about it, which seemed quite unnecessary. I’m accustomed to “traditional” Chinese/Vietnamese service but this was far beyond that, this was just raging greed.

They also refuse to serve tap water and insist on you buying bottled water. Everything about this place felt scammy like they kept trying to drain us for more money, rather than simply be a normal restaurant. Also, restaurants in CA that serve alcohol - which they do- are required to provide water for free if asked.

Atmosphere: There was a rancid smell at our table, I’m guessing from the condiments that had probably been rotting there for a long time. Every few bites I caught a whiff of it and would lose my appetite.

Overall, the food is fine, but I wish we left immediately when the server tried to pressure us. It was not a pleasant experience at all; the spiciness of the dish was a let down, and they add a mandatory gratuity of 16% for parties of 3 OR LESS people. Never seen that before.

I wouldn’t recommend eating here and would...

07/30/25

Old Mandarin Islamic Restaurant was recommended to us by a friend, so we decided to give it a try!

Parking: For a quiet day in San Francisco, parking was okay, however it was a bit of trouble for a bigger vehicle. Thankfully, the parking spot we got was on the opposite side of the street and relatively close to the restaurant.

Seating: Once arriving to the restaurant, there were only two pairs of people who were seated, so there was no wait time to get a table for our big group.

Service: The staff were incredibly kind and were offering us suggestions on places to go during our visit (we were tourists)! We did not have to wait very long before our food came, which was surprising since we ordered six dishes.

Food: The food was fresh, served piping hot, and every dish had a different flavour. The shrimp was juicy, the beef was soft, the tofu’s sauce was exquisite, and so much more! To top it all off, we were offered a complimentary dessert which was DELICIOUS!

Dishes we ordered: Tofu with Double Mushrooms Sweet and Sour Shrimp Cold Beijing Noodle with sesame paste (vegan) Chicken jalapeños Combo chow mein and combo fried...