July 2001 Volume 82 Number 7 "serving the protectors"
Value and Variety at the Mandarin House
By Jason Squire

Western Chinese is a traditional favourite, and frequently you rely on “word of mouth” to find good restaurants. Our neighbours had been on to me for months to try the Mandarin House in Gouger Street because is was “fantastic”. With this recommendation, how could my wife and I go wrong? Our neighbours gleefully joined us and took us through many of their favourites as well as discovering a few new dishes.

The menu is not for the fainthearted. With 340 different dishes to choose from, it was good fortune that we were accompanied by a couple of old hands. A very important point to be aware of is that dishes are given chilli ratings - one is mild and four is “extremely hot”. A dish with a mere two-chilli rating had us grabbing for the water. So if you are adventurous enough to head into four-chilli territory, put the toilet paper in the freezer overnight.

Our neighbours chose some entrées for us, which included steamed and fried dumplings as well as beef satays with spicy peanut sauce. We added spring rolls and got stuck into the meal. The steamed dumplings were magnificent. I much prefer steamed food over deep-fried, because quite often the nuances of flavour are swamped by the mono-tasting oil used in the deep-frying process. The spring roles weren’t those pencil-thin, pre-frozen items which usually arrive at your table. Instead, these were big, fat and juicy.

As the lazy-susie did a few laps, we perused the menu in search of main course selections. Our neighbour’s son went for the Shanghai dumpling noodle soup, which turned out to be a massive dish which he couldn’t finish. It was jam-packed with noodles, chicken, dumplings, bok choy and an intensely flavoured broth. It would make an ideal lunch dish. As with most Chinese meals, a combination of dishes was chosen to try a few different flavours. We chose prawn, duck and chicken dishes, with a couple of different rices to balance things up. All were good and exploding with flavour.

In hindsight we chose too much, which is pretty standard. The dishes are huge and good value for money. Thankfully, doggie-bags are available. The duck with shredded pork and “picked” cabbage turned out to be a hit. The duck wasn’t fatty and was de-boned, which made eating it stress-free. I also saw, with a keen eye, that Beijing roast duck was available. It’s served in three courses, and you need to pre-order it. But if you want to experience a really good duck meal, try it some time. It is my favourite way to eat duck, and I’ll be going back for this.

It is noteworthy that the restaurant is genuinely BYO. You can bring beer, wine and soft drinks. Corkage ranges from $5 for wine, $1.10 for echoes, $2.20 for big bottles of beer, and the same for large and small soft drinks. The restaurant also has a large selection of beer and wine, which are well priced in any case.

The Mandarin House is a great place to have a “western-style” Chinese meal. We dined on a Wednesday night and the place was packed. It turned out to be lucky that our neighbours had booked a table. The banquets are reasonable priced and can cater for up to as many people as you like. The next time you are looking for a Chinese meal, head into Mandarin House and experience something special at a reasonable price.

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