Mandarin - Oshawa (Chinese/Canadian)

Mandarin is located at 1319 Airport Blvd., just south of Taunton Rd. in Oshawa's north. We went for weekday lunch. AYCD pop is available for $2.50. We visited in July, so special Canada Day items were available. Like other Mandarins, there were plenty of customers even for weekday lunch, and it has a very nice interior, well-decorated, bright and colourful.

Grilled sausage was delicious and smoky, better than I remember at other locations. Unfortunately there is no grilled steak on the lunch menu, only chicken (which was good and smoky) unlike at all the other Mandarins I have visited. Sushi BLT is the Canada Day offering and was OK. Soy sauce was fresh, flavorful and not too salty. Crab nigiri is accurately labeled "surimi" (as I have noticed outside of Toronto... probably local by-laws) and was quite good. Chicken teriyaki roll was also quite tasty and fresh, however vegetable roll's flavour was initially disagreeable and it did not seem fresh. Shrimp tempura rolls were delicious.

For the other Canada Day special offerings, Canadian cabbage roll wasn't bad though had a weird flavour in the cabbage. Canadian split pea soup was good with plenty of black pepper. Poutine was good about the same as other places. Canadian potato round was delicious with well-balanced toppings.

Hot and sour soup was good and also fresh which is important. Wonton soup not very flavorful and little savor, with watery broth and wontons doughy. Boston clam chowder was very good and fresh with plenty of savour. Chicken teriyaki was good and sauce not too sweet though muted. Tortiere was good with a sweetish shell but not much flavor in the filling. Golden fried fish was quite good even with nothing on it. Golden chicken wings good and fresh, even though last few on the tray as noted in Scarborough. Curry chicken quite good with plenty of flavor and not too hot. BBQ pork was alright but needed a little more BBQ flavour. Spicy chicken was OK but a little too sweet and not the Hakka chili chicken I was expecting. Black pepper beef was very good and well-seasoned. Swiss chicken salad was good and similar to other locations. Coleslaw was alright but tasted commercial rather than made on premises. Cottage cheese was good and fresh. Crispy chicken was good with a nice roast flavor.

For dessert, Blue Bubble Blast ice cream is my new favorite... my inner child will always love the children's flavors. Salted caramel was delicious and fresh, as was Canadian Algonquin Canoe and Ontario Peach frozen yogurt, banana fudge and orange pineapple ice creams... all were very fresh. Nanaimo bar delicious but very sweet. brownie very good with bitter chocolate notes. Canadian moose paws were tasty with cinnamon but were dried out. Rice Krispie squares were good and reminded me of our homemade ones. Butter tarts were very good and different from others elsewhere. Weekday lunch price is $18.99; Mandarin's prices are the same at every location in the chain. However I wasn't as enamored with this one due to a few iffy items and the very noticeable lack of grilled steak on the lunch menu. At least it's still among the better of the old-school steam tray buffets, and we did enjoy our lunch.

Rating: 7-7.5/10