SEBASTIAN — During a recent visit to Mandarin Garden, we were comforted by classic preparations of our favorite Chinese dishes, and by a soup and an appetizer that were new to us.
Everything in this family-owned establishment is exactly what you would expect, from the extensive menu offering all the usual pass-around-the-table standard fare to the décor straight out of central casting.
The servers and cooks are all Chinese, as evidenced by your check, which is written in Chinese characters. The service is quick, friendly and helpful.
There are no obvious surprises here in the cuisine if you, as many of us do, choose to order the same dishes over and over again.
The egg foo yung tastes like egg foo yung and has tasty gravy. The beef and broccoli tastes like beef and broccoli. The meat in the bourbon chicken and cashew chicken is tender and moist and the sauces are well-seasoned.
The deep-fried selections are lightly breaded and not overly greasy. The ingredients are fresh.
Being creatures of habit, my son and I ordered our stand-by dishes, I the honey chicken ($9.25) and he the pork lo mein ($6.95).
I chose the wonton soup included with my entree, but he opted for the house specialty noodle soup ($4.50). It’s served in a large bowl and, with an egg roll or another appetizer, could be a meal in itself.
Feeling a bit adventurous and very hungry, we ordered the Pu Pu Platter for two for starters.
A basket of fried noodles and a pot of good, strong black tea was brought to our table and enjoyed, as the evening was a chilly one.
Our soups were served piping hot and both the wontons in mine and the noodles in his were tender and tasty.
The base of the house specialty soup was a clear, beef broth flavored with onion.
Our Pu Pu Platter ($9.50) was the right choice to start our meal. Festively served in a round, sectioned lazy-Susan dish with a flame in the center, it brought pleasant aromas and textures at every turn.
There were two of each item – egg rolls, chicken wings, barbecued spare ribs, tempura fried shrimp and beef teriyaki – plus two delicious morsels of something called paper-wrapped chicken.
The paper-wrapped chicken is actually a plump piece of chicken breast wrapped around a water chestnut, doused in teriyaki sauce, wrapped in foil and then quickly deep fried.
These are also served on their own as an appetizer ($3.95 for four pieces) and should not be missed, as the texture of the tender chicken and the crunchy water chestnut cooked in the sauce makes this appetizer a good bet.
Our entrees were served in the traditional way with stainless steel covers and both revealed steaming hot food, cooked to order.
The honey chicken is a good option for someone who likes the flavor and crispiness of sweet and sour chicken, but not the overpowering red sauce.
The honey sauce is much more delicate and Mandarin Garden’s honey chicken is among the best I’ve sampled.
It’s served with either fried or steamed rice.
I chose the steamed to complement this particular dish, but I’ve had Mandarin Gardens’ fried rice many times and it’s appetizing alone or under something more spicy like the Hunan beef.
Pork lo mein is a relatively simple dish, but so many Chinese restaurants seem to get it wrong. This one was done right with tender pieces of pork, not too salty and perfectly cooked noodles.
This dish tends to “grow” on the platter every time the silver cover is lifted, always providing enough to warm up for lunch or dinner the next day.
For dessert, we sipped on some more hot tea and cracked open our fortune cookies. Our dining experience totaled about $35, not including tip.
Though the restaurant was filled with families with young children and college kids home for the holidays, enjoying a meal together on the Sunday night we dined, Mandarin Garden is also a popular lunch spot.
Despite the many choices of eateries in the vicinity, Mandarin Garden’s predictably good quality and prompt service draws for workers from banks, retail stores and medical offices nearby.
The menu lists 36 different lunch specials which include soup and an egg roll for less than $6, served from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily and the good-natured quickly get to know the regulars and their orders.
During our meal, a steady stream of locals passed in and out of the restaurant picking up large paper bags of takeout food, as Mandarin Garden is well-known for serving probably the best Chinese food in the Sebastian River Area and getting take-out orders ready fast.
The matriarch of the Tseng family acts as hostess, cashier and expediter, making sure both the front and back of the house are running smoothly and that the customers are happy.
The family opened Mandarin Garden 22 years ago after moving to the Sebastian area from Taiwan.
Their daughters worked in the restaurant, graduated from Sebastian River High School and occasionally return from graduate school to help out in the family business.
The reviewer is a local resident who dines anonymously at restaurants at the expense of Sebastian River News.
