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Mandarin Plaza Restaurant
Rating Details »
Category: Restaurants [Edit]
Neighborhood: Midway3760 Sports Arena Blvd Ste 3
(at Hancock St)
San Diego, CA 92110
(619) 224-4222
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Takes Reservations:
- No
- Delivery:
- Yes
- Take-out:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Alcohol:
- Full Bar
6 reviews for Mandarin Plaza Restaurant
If you are really hard up for some Chinese buffet and in the area I would say give this place a try. If you are driving from any further then 5 min, you probably have something better in your neighborhood.
I've been here 2 times in the last 5 years. The last visit was due to us wanting BBQ and the line at Phil's just being way to long for our hungry belly's. We decided to just fill up here for a cheap price. Which it is, about $20 for 2 people, but you get what you pay for.
They have all the usual suspects you would expect to find at a buffet place like this So nothing really sticks out. One thing about the ambiance is that it felt like I was eating in an old Pay Less shoe store or some other strip mall type store.
In summary, I would suggest finding something a little better unless you are parked in the lot and hungry with all the other places close by completely packed.
Wow am I reviewing the same restaurant as you guys! Looking for somewhere reasonably close to Canes to get some Chinese and this place crops up.
Place was empty at 7 P.M. so initially a bit weird but we got settled in and grabbed a couple of beers. Wife had the salt and pepper chicken wings for starters and they were amazing. I had the deep fried wontons and they were excellent, nice dipping sauce and mustard to go with.
Mains were good too, Lemon chicken was tangy and gloopy enough to coat the batter and my mandarin kung pao was tasty too; could have done with being spicier but I like very hot food so maybe this was hot to normal people.
Toilets were clean, staff were friendly, all in all a nice little place. Would I go there for an anniversary meal? hell no, would I go there to get some god cheap Chinese food? hell yeah.
Okay, so before I go about documenting this terrible "dining" experience, let me say this.
When you open a restaurant, you are creating an establishment where people come to eat. Therefore the food should be edible. That's all I'm saying.
So it's Christmas Day. I KNEW it would be difficult finding a place open, but I can't fool my tastebuds. Why I didnt head straight down University Avenue or Convoy still amazes me; I took my ass down Sports Arena Blvd. Wow.
We chose Mandarin Plaza over the overpriced Thai Restaurant down the street and Bakers Square (no explanation needed). It had a buffet for $8.50, so it sounded perfect, until we walked in. We were greeted by a smell Pete and I still can't agree on: I say it was chemical-like, he thinks it was bad fish.
We stepped onto the buffet side and glanced at the buffet..... Everything there looked like it had been sitting for at least a few hours. Any entree in sauce was so saturated it was hard to tell what was what, and the seafood looked like a Health Code Violation waiting to happen. I went to scoop the mussels and saw that the "sauce" had formed a skin. No Thanks.
Instead of leaving (the buffet should have been our first warning), we decided to sit on the restaurant side and order something fresh. Yeah, about that....
They brought ice water, hot tea, and fried wonton strips. The tea was lukewarm and tasted dirty, but the wonton strips - OH the Wonton strips- tasted like they has been fried in used grease and left to sit for as long as the buffet. My boyfriend and I each ate one and stared at each other. I had to ask the waiter for a batch that didn't taste poisonous.
We ordered Won Ton Soup, Singapore Noodles, and Sweet & Sour Pork.
Pete was fascinated, as was I, at how clear the broth was. And tasteless. We had Water Won Ton Soup. Amazing.
The Singapore Noodles were actually good except that the shrimp were easily recognizable as the small frozen kind you get from the market, and the barbeque pork wasn't in slices, but rather teeny tiny strips. But I have no right to complain compared to what Pete went through. The Sweet and Sour Pork LOOKED normal, except when you bit into it. It was, no joke, 90% batter, with a teeny tinny BBQ Pork STRIP in it. And when I say tiny, I mean slightly thicker than a blade of grass. LITERALLY.
Rather that argue, complain, fight or be incredibly angry, we paid the bill and left. What the hell; it's Christmas.
I don't know what happened. Maybe someone else was in the kitchen tonight, but the food was inedible.
Soggy sweet & sour pork. Undercooked potstickers. The General Tso's chicken was just... gross. And the won ton soup tasted like water.
It will take a lot for me to go back, in spite of my fantastic experiences before. Bummer!
2 Previous Reviews: Show all »
-
8/23/2008
I was doing some Target shopping last night with my boy, and we decided to get some take out on the… Read more »
Don't go, Please. This dump doesnt deserve the one star
The sooner these Hacks go "Buns Up" the better.
Low Grade Dog food,
Better Food at The Ball park,
seriously, great wall express is far better, thats the old 99cent chinese place on texas street.
Everything on the horrible buffet was luke warm and tasteless.
Even the Tea was tepid.
panda express, rice king, & pik up stixs are fine cuisine compared to this dump.
I used to come to this Chinese buffet when I was younger. I think it has gone downhill. However, it's a decent value and they have really excellent fried wontons. They are superbly crunchy and stuffed. The rest of the food is ho-hum but those wontons almost make the trip worthwhile.
