Mandarin - Pickering (Chinese/Canadian)

Mandarin is located at 1725 Kingston Rd., near Brock Rd. and Hwy. 401, in a mall in Pickering, the municipality bordering Toronto’s east end. There are 27 locations in the Mandarin chain; this is the fifth distinct one we’ve been to and reviewed. As with other locations, this Mandarin has a well-decorated interior, especially the buffet area. As we’ve already been to many other Mandarins and they have a rather homogeneous menu, only concentrating on the differences and anything not mentioned can be assumed to be the same at other locations.

For starters, egg drop soup wasn't bad at all but its colour made is seem it should be spicier. Hot and sour soup was missing important flavor components and tasted floury. Wonton soup was good, although the wontons had a bit of floury flavour. New England clam chowder was delicious with a buttery flavor.

There was no grilled steak at first but then it started appearing and it was excellent; some Mandarin locations won’t put this out for lunch. Grilled sausage was very good, and grilled chicken better than at other places: more smoky and savoury. Grilled pineapple was quite good. Mishy loved the prime rib (another nice lunch bonus) and said it was worth coming for.. very tender and flavorful like steak. Teriyaki meatballs were very good. Mishy said the General Tao was very good but too sweet, moreso than spicy.

From the sushi area, the sweet soy sauce was alright but salty. Pickled ginger is dyed pink. Surimi, cucumber, chicken teriyaki sushi were good. Vegetable rolls tasted off; did not enjoy them.

Lemon chicken coating tasted like flour uncooked. Baked salmon was good, though I am not a fan of the sweet sauce it comes with, but other Mandarins may use the same. Bacon was, well, bacon, a bit stale but still good enough to enjoy.

For dessert, Chocolate mousse wasn't defrosted completely, and the chocolate fudge cake was stale as per Mishy. Frozen strawberry yogurt was excellent, especially with maraschino cherries and strawberry topping. Mango pudding was good although mildly flavored.

Weekend brunch was $24.99, which is quite good these days, but then somewhat damaged by $5 AYCD pop which is ridiculous; a human could drink only about a fifth this value of bulk fountain pop if they ate nothing. There were some suboptimal items but nothing really bad, the beef entrées were appreciated, and the price wasn’t bad.

Rating: 7.5 / 10