Mandarin Chef

Mandarin Chef is no fancy restaurant. But if you are looking for a small hole in the wall, family run cozy little restaurant, Mandarin Chef more than fit the bill. Lunch prices are especially well priced ($5-$6) with large portions. This little restaurant has been the regular hangout for my wife since she was attending UW 10 yrs ago. The owner will want to get to know the regulars and always love chatting with us about anything and everything. We love their homemade noodles and we always order a side of dumpling/potstickers with each visit (sometimes pork, sometimes veggie). We also tend to order the egg corn soup which is one of the best in town ($1.50/cup). We love their chicken with broccoli (medium spicy) to the point that even if they don't have it on their menu, they know to make it for us. They lean towards the more Szechuan dishes (spicy) vs the Cantonese type (Hong Kong hence not spicy). But they offer both options and we often wouldn't know which way we're going to lean til we sit down. Look for their specials on the wall next to the cash register. They always have yummy dish of the day. There aren't too many non-westernized Chinese restaurants around Seattle, outside of the International District. Mandarin Chef is the only one we visit regularly especially due to its location yet it's still more than a 15 min drive for us. It's a small yet cozy family run restaurant that is well priced with wonderful tasting dishes. Mandarin Chef keeps my wife and I happy between visits to Vancouver, B.C. more

Things I highly enjoy at Mandarin Chef: * crispy eggplant (oh my goodness this is good) * Mongolian beef * green onion pancakes * hot & sour soup * green beans with almonds I hear great things about the salt & pepper prawns. Not being a big prawn-eater, I wouldn't know. The dumplings are about average, pork being better than the vegetarian ones. Lunch is the best deal at Mandarin Chef. For about $8, you get soup, eggroll, entree with rice, drink and tip. (Sidenote: Those who dislike being served soda in a can will be disappointed.) The service, unfortunately, tends to be on the slow side. At lunch, there is generally only one server and (as far as I can tell) two people in the kitchen. The restaurateur is friendly bordering on spunky, though, and if you get to know her, you'll be privy to happy banter and oddball antics (like when she scooped up the baby of some long-time customers and nearly whisked it away into the kitchen without thinking twice--it was sweet). This may make up for any wait. The restaurant itself is small, on the colder side and pretty much the definition of hole-in-the-wall, save that it's cleaner than not and not extremely dark. I'm generally wary of Chinese restaurants not in the ID (not sure why), so I can't say much about neighboring establishments offering the same fare. I can say that if I'm not hitting Chinese up in the ID, I'm digging in here. more

Mandarin Chef is a great choice if you are looking for a well-prepared Chinese meal. They make their own noodles and also have excellent dumplings. The lunch menu is very reasonably priced (5-6 dollars) and comes with soup, rice (your choice of fried, white, or brown), and the main dish selection. For vegetarians, I'd recommend the Vegetables with Fried Tofu lunch special. The food here is especially good because it is non-greasy and has very little MSG. more

I have spent years living in China, particularly Beijing. When I am homesick for good northern style Chinese food I go to Mandarin Chef. The rest of the menu also lives up to what it promises. The ma po tofu (spicy tofu with pork or without for us vegetarians) is not a watered down version for non Chinese and the hand pulled noodles are a decent rendition of what you would eat in China. This is a great place to come for a decent, filling, home style Chinese meal. more

Mandarin Chef has much the same menu as Judy Fu’s Snappy Dragon in Maple Leaf, only Mandarin Chef does not do the dishes as well, the prices are higher, and the décor leaves much to be desired. The handmade noodles did not look very handmade to me, and most of dishes we tried (Mongolian Beef, Hunan pork, General Tso’s Chicken, Mushu) were unimpressive. more

I have been going to the Mandarin Chef ever since Shanghi Garden started to go down hill for me. I LOVE IT. They are the best Chinese food I have had since I moved to Seattle. The food is fresh and made on the spot. The woman that works there is great and is so wonderful to my toddler every time we come. The ambience could be better but the food makes up for it. Every time we go there we end up spending about $27 for three people and TONS of food. I suggest the Mongolian Chicken....YUMMO! more