Peking Mandarin Restaurant
| Address: | 3459 W Lawrence Ave, Chicago, IL 60625, USA |
| Phone: | +1 773-478-5338 |
| Rating: | 4.5 |
| Working: | 11AM–9:30PM 11AM–9:30PM 11AM–9:30PM 11AM–9:30PM 11AM–9:30PM 11AM–9:30PM 11AM–9:30PM |
Location
Photos 100
Reviews 8
HI
Hilary Buckley
I read the reviews on Yelp and Google and formed a favorable impression of the restaurant, so I decided to order from here because its close and my husband and I were dying for Chinese takeout. (I had looked at GrubHub and it seemed that all the Chinese restaurants on GrubHub were dreadful according to Yelpers and Googlers.) I read that the Mongolian beef at Peking Mandarin was fabulous, as well as the Korean dishes, but since I was in the mood for Chinese, I decided to skip the Korean dishes. I ordered over the phone with a menu I found on MenuPages and the woman on the phone at the restaurant was easy to talk to (not always the case with ordering Asian food over the phone). My order was ready and quite warm when I arrived (it stayed hot while I walked it into the grocery store for beer and then home through 20˚ weather) and the lady at the counter was very nice. All the food was well-wrapped... but this was where my joy with the place began to pale. When I got my food home, I discovered that the portions were generous. Thats good. What was not so good was that the eggrolls were the standard, probably previously frozen Chinese eggrolls, with that bubbly fried-then-frozen-then-refried gummy shell texture and dull cabbage innards, and the refrying had been overdone, so the eggrolls were burnt to black. Oh, and there was no mustard. The crab rangoons were better-fried (read: not burnt), but while they were well-filled with cream cheese, there wasnt any crab in them. My husband and I are both familiar with the sad but necessary tradition of trying to find at least crab texture in our rangoons, and I can state with confidence these did not have any crab in them. None. At. All. The hot and sour soup was unique and tasty. It had a seafood blend in it that was interesting, plus there was a good amount of tofu, and the soup did not have that typical, bland, vinegar-y hot and sour soup flavor and cornstarch-thickened texture that is so ubiquitous these days in Chinese restaurants. The Mongolian beef (which, according to Yelpers, is the best Chinese thing on the menu and is worth traveling all the way to Albany Park for) was pretty good, but not really worth the Yelpers adulation. It was a very large portion, very meaty, and subtly seasoned (none of that acrid vinegar nonsense here that one often finds with Chinese entrees). The green onions were fresh, and the steamed rice it came with was also fresh and perfectly textured... but I still wasnt wowed by the entree overall. Oh well. Perhaps the Korean there is really amazing, but the Chinese certainly wasnt. One really awesome thing about it is that while my husband and I have delicate digestive systems, Peking Mandarins food did not attack us in any way, which shows that the food we ate was probably cooked in a clean, well-kept kitchen and not filled with additives. In summary: their wonderful service and propinquity will bring me back happily for a lunch special, but I dont think theyre worth the dinner prices.
AZ
Azaan Ashraf
I went in for some shrimp noodles. They cost about $10 which is reasonable and I leave three dollar tip figured that would be enough for a take out order I decide to go back in my car and eat. When I open the container I saw shrimps which were maybe 3 to 4 millimeter big I am not kidding they were literally at most 5 to 6 millimeter big the biggest ones were that big I take the order back into the restaurant and ask for my money back the lady asked me why I replied that the shrimp are too tiny then she smart mouthedly tells me theyre not tiny and this is how the shrimps are in Chinese food.(right Im from the Amazon and never had Chinese before in my life right.. *sarcasm*) and I told her that its not the first time Im eating Chinese food she basically accused me of being cheap. And that if I were to spend $15 ($2 more) I would have been able to got bigger shrimps thats what she literally told me. There is no management no standard, sadly no respect for the customers she then proceeds to tell me that they have been open for 30 and there hasnt been a single complain about the 3milli meter sized shrimps.. compete B
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박장우
Comida coreana-china muy muy auténtico. Jajangmyun y Tangsuyook son los dos platos que se comen mucho en Corea, y los dos de este restaurante son no solo muy ricos sino que baratos. Very authentic Korean-Chinese food. It was better than what I eat back home in Seoul. Highly recommended. Jajangmyun and Tangsuyook are what Koreans eat on a daily basis. 한국에서 먹는 것보다 맛있었어요. 진짜 최고. 양도 많고 값도 싸고.
FE
Fernando Tito
My family and I are a bit picky about where we eat chinese food from. We find that this is the best spot. Weve been customers for 20+ years. Love the shrimp fried rice, Egg drop soup, and spicy chicken wings. Although the service has changed a bit. Its not bad but not good. They tend to mess up an order due to the fact that they "memorize" your order instead of writing it down. They also used to offer drinks, but now they just bring you water (which I dont mind much) . Whats the point in carrying straws if you dont serve em along with the drinks? But this shouldnt be enough to stop you from going right?
MI
Michael Shin
The interior hasnt changed probably since it opened 30+ years ago, but the draw is the food. Shandong cuisine at its best - delicious spicy chicken wings (kampongi), seafood black noodles (sam sun gun chajiangmyun), spicy seafood noodle soup, (sam sun cchamppong), and Mongolian beef are the stand outs. Its a neck-and-neck race between this places cuisine compared to Great Sea just up the street. I think the noodles/soups and Mongolian beef are better at Peking Mandarin. Great Sea has the edge on the wings. Honestly, you cannot go wrong at this place.
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A Private User
Peking Mandarin is sort of an amazing place. For starters the decor is straight out of a movie set...that is being switched from a old diner to a Chinese restaurant. Random lanterns, old booths, a counter and stools, the works. The food is PHENOMENAL. None of that shady goopy Chinese food here. Everything is top notch. (Try the Mongolian beef!) Peking Mandarin also slides in some Korean dishes concealed with Chinese names. Throw in the trilingual waitress and youve got an excellent evening out in Albany Park.
JO
Joshua Lee
This restaurant is a MUST for anyone looking for great Chinese/Korean food. The food was outstanding, and the overall setting has a true oriental feel to it. I can promise that you wont be disappointed eating here! The only small complaint I have is that the waitress would often talk so loud, almost obnoxiously with her regular customers (it was somewhat difficult to have a normal conversation with the people at my table). Other than that, great food!
JO
John Wilkie
The incredibly friendly waitstaff is the best part about this place. It just made the experience more enjoyable as a whole. The food is delicious too (I had the spicy noodle medley). They gave me an aweful lot for a decent price. You get an ENTIRE POT OF TEA compliments of the house. Well made tea too. The place also looks nice so you dont feel like you are eating at a dive. They can certainly expect more business from me.
