Old Mandarin Islamic Restaurant

Ok before, i would say this was the best hotpot place in the BAy Area, but with Little lamb opening up in San Mateo and Union City, i have to give the title to them. Old mandarin's food was good and sauce was great, but the selection was below par, and the also was the service, which was lacking of that of usual family operations. over all i still say if you live close by, its better than Coryia or HotPot City. more

This place serves up authentic Beijing food. Their speciality is the lamb hot-pot or warm-pot. Hot-pot is like Japanese shabu-shabu style where you cook the meat and other food yourself in a big-pot of broth. Afterwards, you dip the food in the sesame paste sauce. If you prefer not to cook it yourself, you can order the lamb warm-pot which is a claypot of lamb, tofu, pickled vegetables in soup. Other recommended dishes include the Mandarin lamb which is slices of lamb stir-fried in cumin and the Peking-style pancake which is a flat pancake filled with a thin layer of beef. I also like their dessert which is the lightly fried rice cake with the outside is mochi-like and filled with red bean paste and pinenuts. The service is like your typical rush-rush service in Chinese restaurants. The wait is notoriously long during peak hours, especially since they dont have a wait-list so you have to stand there by the doorway. The restaurant is quite small and with all the hot pots cooking in the restaurant, it can get quite warm in there. Pros: authentic Beijing food Cons: parking, crowded, little pricey more

I'm one picky SOB when it comes to Chinese food. So it means a lot when I say the food is pretty fantastic. I recommend the beef pancake, any of the lamb dishes and the hot-p ot. It's pretty authentic so if you're from the mainland, you'll appreciate the cuisine. I've been coming to this place for a few years and the food is consistently good and the service is consistently bad. The place is always busy but that's an indicator of how good the food is. I'm not complaining about the service, I don't except good service at a cheap (price wise) chinese place. Pros: Consistently great food. Not your average chinese place. Cons: Crowded at peak hours. more

This is a small place in the outer Sunset district. The Hot Pot menu is in English. They do not serve any pork, and instead push the lamb. The green onion pancake is good, but the rest of the food including the Hot Pot menu and dumplings are just average. Service is poor and discourteous - you have to ask for everything. We dine in San Francisco very often, and there are many better chinese restaurants. Pros: Parking Cons: Service more

I can't say that this is the best hot pot I've ever had in SF, but it is a cozy hole in the wall neighborhood restaurant. The signage out had Islamic writing & there were a couple of Muslim families dining in this Chinese restaurant. For about $100 (with several sodas), we had 3 raw lamb & 1 beef dishes to throw into this lge hot pot with broth seasoned w/anise & dried anchovies. The meat was thinly sliced, but not large servings. You do get lge colanders of napa cabbage, a spinach-like vegt, sm plates of tofu, vermicelli to toss in as well. The meat pancake was far better than the green onion pancake which was doughy and thick. If you want white rice with it , you'd have to order it separately. They were busy that evening & we had to remind our waiter of our soda orders. Pros: neighborhood joint, different Cons: parking, crowded more

The most authentic northern Chinese style food ever had so far in US. Great Service. Space is quite small but also part of the authenticity of restaurants in China. Also, owner tells many interesting stories about Chinese food and more. Pros: Great Food, Great service Cons: A little hard to find more

My friends and I love this homey place because the food is authentic and the people are nice. If you ever miss Beijing, especially miss Beijing's hot pot, spiced lamb, or meat pancake, try Old Mandarin. Pros: Very good food Cons: , You might over eat more