Mandarin Chef

Lang!
Andy needs the Mongolian Chicken Recipe!!!
We can’t believe you’re closed!
No!!!

Sad that this place is closing down. Thanks gentrification. I’m sure the chain Panda Express and Panera Bread combo that takes over will be just super duper. Sigh. The owner/​hostess/​server was just a charm bomb that blew up. She was worth the visit on her own. The hand tossed noodles are delicious. The handmade meat dumplings were tasty. The dough wasn’t gummy and the filling had a lot of flavor. The spicy chicken wings were really good. We gnawed them down to dry bone. Good prices. Glad I got to check it out before it closed.

The food was okay… My dish and everyone else’s dishes were a lot spicer than expected. I ordered twice cooked pork with spicy level 3 out of 5 and it definitely felt more like a 4. Not bad per say but would not recommend to a friend. Would give a Unilocal score of 2.5 if possible.

The food seems pretty good for the most part. Wasn’t a fan of the meat pot-​stickers though. The reason for 3 stars is the LONG WAIT TIMES. My first time taking out it was pretty busy and I had to wait 20 minutes beyond the time they told me. The next time, even when I was only one of two people in the restaurant, I had to wait 10 minutes beyond what they said (15 min). If they could more accurately tell me when my food would be ready I would give them 4 stars easily.

The noodles were really good. A review said it is not authentic but I think the noodles are so authentic. I came from a town in middle of China and it is like my hometown style. I gave the noodles five stars. The dumplings are ok but I think they should have more fillings instead of flour. I gave the dumping three stars. The place was empty when I was there at 6:30 pm. I was surprised.

Really I didnt want this to be my first review.
A friend or ex, however you wanna call it, recommended it. I checked it out here then put on my hiking boots and went for a walk.
Get there and grab a table. I knew what I wanted. Wonton soup and some twice cooked pork. The broth was hip but the rest was just noodle. No flavor and one quarter inch piece of scallion. Honestly, that scallion was the bomb.
The pork blew. The oil was separating from that salty brown crap they used to flavor it. Veggies a had a fresh shape.
I want to like this place. I am going back. They might have had an off day. Maybe I picked the wrong thing.
I’m giving them 2 stars because I didn’t die.

When i showed up here I was skeptical. The place was empty and it was further down the strip than I usually go to eat. I went in an ordered General Tso chicken and bbq pork fried rice. My food came quickly and was DELICIOUS. I now love this place and will definitely return for more! We even ordered another dish to eat tomorrow. If you’re in the area, or even if you’re not, COME HERE!

Ordered the Mandarin Pork and 15 jiao-​zi. The Mandarin pork was fried with just enough breading and coated in a sweet sauce loaded with garlic and vinegar. It was not too heavy or greasy like similar types of dishes often are. The dumplings were juicy and satisfying. The little old lady who took my order was very nice and asked me how my day was. I would like to come by to try their hand-​shaved noodles.

This is one of my staples in Seattle. The dear old lady who serves almost everybody in the restaurant is very helpful and sweet. The food is awesome and the ambience is very relaxing.
I would trying the singapore noodles with the house-​made noodles — it is spot on in terms of spiceness (medium) and taste.

My friend and I had the lunch special which comes with your choice of soup, an egg roll, and an entrée. I chose the wonton soup and the chicken chow mein with homemade noodles. The wait for food took a while. The food itself was very bland; everything lacked flavor! Our meal wasn’t bad but we left feeling very underwhelmed and a little disappointed.
I would take the short trip down to International District if you want Chinese food, the Ave just doesn’t have any solid options.

Lovely sit down service, our server helped up pick out off menu items and paced our plates fabulously. Tasty and will defiantly come back, for the Mushu.

My beloved late aunt recommended this place a couple of years ago advising me to try the dumplings, warning me that the restaurant is slated to close once the row of restaurants along this strip of University Way are moved in order to a) breathe new life into the block or b) erect more filing cabinets for people to meet Seattle’s ever-​growing need for more space to hold them all. She told me I could either enjoy them so I could remember them fondly or avoid this place so I had no regrets.
A closed sign thwarted my last attempts to eat here despite the fact I visited during posted «Open» hours. This time, the door creaked open when pushed. There are perhaps a half dozen tables plus some window seats in an under-​dressed, unpretentious but clean dining room. They post the menu on a cafeteria sign above the cash register. The older lady of the couple mentioned in the many reviews for this place greeted and seated Mom and I to the soundtrack of noodles being created behind the curtain. After a few minutes, she took our order for 26 jao-​zi (meat), chicken chow mein and two cups of won ton soup.
Everything is definitely on-​point, with the jao-​zi on about the same level as the ones they serve at Judy Fu’s or Fu Man Dumpling House. They are good, but nothing extraordinary. Won ton soup contains a mild but tasty broth and solid won ton, but again, you can get a good bowl at many locations in WA. What sets Mandarin Chef apart is their chow mein. The sauce is not for the flavor hungry. It’s subtle with thin and wide homemade noodles that are luxurious on the tongue and something truly wonderful. For those noodles alone, which I plead with anyone to find elsewhere just like them, they command a minimum of 4 stars!

I“m not sure if it’s authentic Chinese food or not, but it sure does taste good! The Chow Mein is awesome, the wonton soup was excellent and the General Tso’s chicken was delicious. I’m happy to have found a good Chinese restaurant in U-​District.

I always question my sanity when I come here. Not that it’s a bad choice, but mainly because I have this weird twilight zone experience every time.
The…owner?/older woman who takes your order and works the register is a sweetheart, but I used to go in once a week for their dumplings, and every time we’d have the same conversation from scratch. Almost word for word. And not some brief comment either – I’m talking a series of long exchanges over the course of the evening, each taking place around the same point in time as my meal progressed. It probably didn’t help that I sat in the same seat too, but I definitely got a ‘groundhog day’ vibe from that place, like it was caught in some kinda time loop.
Anyway, the dumplings were written up in the Seattle Weekly a few times and won some sort of award, and although I don’t know if that has stood the test of time, they’re definitely good. Prefer vegetable over meat, plenty filling, and along side some soup, a great and delicious way to warm up on a rainy Seattle day.

It was ok food. Place is gonna be closed down in less than a year for development the owner lady told us (we asked upon leaving because all neighboring businesses have shuttered and relocated).
Not very much meat in the dishes; what glimpses I caught of the kitchen didn’t inspire confidence. Unfortunately, we also found her treatment of our table different than the only other table. Seattle is just not a city for Chinese food TBH.

Good stuff!
I ordered takeout for a specific time, came by, and it was ready when I got there, made small talk with the gal at the register, she’s real nice!
Had the general’s chicken, egg fried rice, and white rice, so good!
The chicken was pretty sinewy/​cheap, but the sauce was really good.

I have to write a review for this place to deter those who want an authentic Asian meal. This is NOT authentic tasting Chinese food and furthermore I don’t understand how this place has four stars. I can see how some people might like the hand made noodles because they have certain chewiness to them, but flavor is lacking and there isn’t much in the noodles (one broccoli flower and two pieces of chicken doesn’t really cut it). I also had the dumplings that were mostly noodle and barely any meat in them. Also, I’m new to Seattle and I know it’s cold and all but do your plates have to be so cold that it makes the food cold too?
I hate to be mean to small business owners, but I can’t help but feel guiled by the four stars.

I’ve pretty much tried every Asian restaurant on «The Ave», and because my favorites Kiku & Hawaiian BBQ were closed, I headed to check out Mandarin Chef. Despite the raving Unilocal reviews… it was a sad disappointment.
Mandarin Chef caters their food to the «American» taste. The food definitely was NOT authentic Chinese food. Panda Express can top off the food at this restaurant. Reading the reviews, I decided to try the hand made noodles. house chow mein, while my husband decided to get the hand made noodles with beef noodle soup. The waitress working there must be semi-​new, since she didn’t really know much about the menu, and had to go ask the owner if they made hand shaved noodles for the beef noodle.
Definitely not what we were expecting when the noodles came out. Not appetizing, and no flavor, the beef wasn’t even beef! It was made with mini pork gray balls or something. Also, my order of just the hand made noodles with veggies did not come. There was a mis-​communication in the kitchen with the waitress/​cook/​owner, therefore I was left without a meal, but was okay… maybe meant to be, because we couldn’t wait to get out! We ended up at the Korean restaurant a few restaurants down.

A good friend brought me here on a visit to Seattle and I was impressed by the owners, who seem to recognize all their regulars, as well as the delicious food. Every single thing was well prepared.
We had the green onion pancakes (yumm), sesame beef (crispy and extra yummy), sweet and sour pork (yum) and general tsao’s chicken (yummo).
Well, now I live in Seattle and have to eat here as often as possible. The last time we were we tried the combination dumplings, which were some of the tastiest dumplings we’ve ever tasted.
Bottom line: If you’re in the U District, you must try this gem. If you’re not in the U District you should probably make a special trip just to eat here.

— Good
— Chinese food in the University District
Pick one.
Or at least I thought I had to before coming to Mandarin Chef. Could it be that decent Chinese food actually exists on the Ave; it’s just that it’s too far up north for many people to notice? That seems to be the case. It’s also unusual in that it reminds me a bit of International District food. It appears to genuinely reflect what Chinese cuisine is really like, and it still keeps the prices low. I’m impressed, and how can I not call myself a fan?
I didn’t have such a wonderful impression of the place at first. It’s somewhat small and lifeless. The waitress seemed to be more interested in figuring out whether I could speak Mandarin than clearing the tables or refilling my water. Even something as simple as the hot and sour soup took a long time getting to my table. I honestly wonder what it was that kept them so busy, as there weren’t that many customers beside me.
On the plus side, they didn’t screw up on the food. The hot and sour soup was actually appropriately described by its two adjectives, and I’m surprised that happened for once. The homemade noodles that I ordered from the lunch menu arrived at the table in twelve minutes, and it was just about everything wrong with the Chinese food I’ve had on the Ave… but the opposite. Let’s see, the noodles were just shaved noodles and really good. They tasted a bit like the outer skin of wontons, and they occupied half the plate while the other half was filled with fried rice.
Doesn’t sound like much, but I could tell by tasting this food that the chef really put his heart into making it, or at least had some appreciable amount of talent. If this were just some average person trying to sell plain and uninspired food to make money, it wouldn’t taste like this. The fried rice obviously wasn’t a bland filler; it could pass as its own dish, yet the noodles also had such an eclectic mix of meat and vegetables that I’m surprised the whole dish only came to $ 7.25 on the menu.
I guess sometimes really great things are where you would least expect them to be. But is this restaurant worth visiting from the UW campus? I’d hate to say probably not. It’s too far out of the way, and the service does seem a little slow. Now if you order to go on the phone, that might reduce the problem a bit, but I never do that, so I wouldn’t know. If you’re on a quest to find good Chinese food on the Ave, definitely look here and breathe a sigh of relief when you get it.