Sweet Mandarin, Manchester

Sweet Mandarin
19 Copperas Street
Manchester, M4 1HS
www.sweetmandarin.com

Rating: 1 stars (out of 5) – oh dear.

After disappointingly finding that the Northern Quarter Bar and Grill was shut on a Sunday night, our hunger drove us to the nearest visible restaurant… the rather orange looking Sweet Mandarin. The six of us piled into the restaurant to be greeted by friendly staff. The menu consisted of dishes with names not dissimilar to those found in any average Chinese restaurant with typical south-east Asian influences.

I ordered the sesame prawn Fingers (£4.20) which sounded a little more interesting that what actually arrived on my plate, sesame prawn toast. Perhaps they should cut the pieces of toast into strips or soldiers… For mains, I had Firecracker Chicken (£9) – chicken cooked with fried chilli peppers, chive buds, and fried garlic (close enough to the traditional recipe which should also include Shaoxing wine in the marinade) and sprinkled with cashew nuts. This was accompanied by egg fried rice (£2.50). The chicken was unfortunately not tender enough and the egg rice pretty bland.

I didn’t have high expectations so wasn’t that disappointed, more disappointed with my first choice of restaurant being closed. The service was attentive, quick and friendly but not surprising consider the amount of alcohol we were ordering and unfortunately I have to say that the food I had ordered was well below average and uninspiring and I am certain you could find similar quality Chinese cooking for less in China Town.

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