Imperial Mandarin Reviews

My children and I have been going to Imperial Mandarin for many years. Although we like all of their food, we especially love their dim sum! The waitresses know my daughter so well that they automatically put the sticky rice in the lotus leaf in front her without us having to order it. My favorite is the shrimp dumpling. The prices are good and service is very friendly.

There is a large competition of asian restaurants down on Convoy. The dining room was clean and my family was able to be seated quickly. We came at the right time because after 30 minutes, there was a short wait at the door. Dim-sum is served with a cart pushed to each of the diner's table. The taste and quality of the food was good. I will be back here when I get a chance to visit San Diego.

The Imperial Mandarin is good for Chinese food (Southern Chinese or Hong Kong style). Our group had the Dim Sum on Sunday, and it was very good as well as the price being reasonable. The service is good and the waitresses are pleasant. In the past, I have had lunch there as well which was very good, too. They have luncheon specials so be on the watch for them.

They've got a special menu for just dumplings (dim sum) and can prepare almost anything from scratch in about 10 minutes. Prices are very reasonable. Eat in or carry out. This was our final stop in the quest for dumplings on a Monday and we'll be back.

I've been to this restaurant numerous times and have always been impressed by both the excellent food and the friendly and fast service. It is a great family run restaurant, not at all pretentious and family friendly. Recommend it to anyone.

We had dim sum lunch (on a separate menu for those who don't know) I believe they push carts on the weekends which is always better. The items we ordered were very tasty and generously sized. The restroom was the best & cleanest I've ever seen in a Chinese eatery!

So last time i wasnt too thrilled. However they make a really tasty duck...it was a bit red on the bottom though. And the shrimp was fresh and tasty as well. Not much to say about the rest of it.

This restaurant has very good authentic Chinese dishes. We ordered a variety of dishes and were pleased with everything we ordered. So much so that we ordered Dim Sum the next day to go with the left overs. Very Good and Authentic!

This restaurant was renovated, probably in recent years...not sure when? We ate here several times in the past 10 years but noticed food did not taste as good as before and the service was poor. We ordered Sauteed Fish with Vegetables; Crispy Tofu; Crispy chicken (More like cornish hen); Pan fried noodles with meat and vegetables; Shrimp with vegetables; Seafood Soup; Sauteed Beef slices. The waitresses were rude. We asked the first waitress to give us little time to look over menu and decide what to order. She walked away unhappily and never came back to our table. We waited for a while and the kids got hungry. They wanted the chips with dip that the restaurant usually serves before food was served. However, our table did not get that. So I waved at another waitress and asked her for the chips. She yelled at me and said that was to be served with soup. We were all perplexed and did not understand what she was saying. Finally, I waved for another waitress and she yelled at me and said if that was what we wanted, just asked and she would bring it to us. I tried to explain that the other waitress refused to bring the kids the chips and said it had to come with soup. Imagine, I spoke in Chinese and still was not able to communicate adequately with these waitresses ! It was their attitude! None of them had smile on their faces. Finally, when time came to pay for the bill, my son and I both tried to wave and get attention of the waitress to take our credit card. No one seemed to notice. Then we thought the first waitress saw us and walked toward our table, but instead, she turned to the table next to us to talk to the people who did not even wave at her to come. It took sometime before the lady at the register who must be the manager saw us waving the little tray w/the bill and credit card and acknowledged us. The good things about this place were: the good price. It was certainly cheaper than other Chinese restaurants and the place being renovated,which looks cleaner and brighter. For these, I would give 3 stars. But to consider returning to this place? I very much doubt it.

This was one of my worst dining experience ever. We had dined there many times before but, each time, the visit was not very pleasant...clearing lacking in customer service...and no smiles from the waitresses. We ordered hot n sour soup at the last visit, and it came out lukewarm. As I love my food to be piping hot, I naturally asked them to reheat the soup. It took a long time to get their attention even though the place was not busy at all. And, there was no apology from anyone about the soup. They didn't even bothered to present the soup better because the spills were dripping down the sides of the bowl. Also, we suspected that they served us leftover soup from when???...The FDA or the appropriate govt body should step in to check on the restaurant industry regarding re-serving "old" food. There are many other better restaurants around in the Convoy area that we can go to,,,but, for sure, We will not visit this restaurant again!

My friend and I ordered a variety of 9 Dim Sum; two dishes were especially outstanding, so I recommend (1) shrimp toast, and (2) egg drop soup with the 1000-day old egg - ! Our waitress speaks a Mandarin dialect from south-central China, as does my friend, so that added more authenticity to our experience at this spacious and attractive restaurant. Will definitely return.

Im not a fan of oriental food but my wife is. She said it was good. I thought it was just ok but she eats it more often and is a better judge of quality. The portions were large. The service was not quite as good. The waitress had food in her mouth when she took our order. Never said hello or anything while taking the order. Dropped the plates off and still didn't say anything. She was talking to other tables though. I though maybe it was because we were white and she didn't know English but I heard her talking english to another table. A different waitress came at the end and boxes our food. She was nice and spoke to us. But, we go to eat, not talk. And the eating was good.

This was a deal with family...wifes mommy took us here and ordered for us....lots of things i dont eat...complete fish, cold rubbery chicken, corn starch soup, breaded bones with pork meat attached, the bok choy which was good. And beverage was green leaves with water. Maybe thats yummy for some. Not me.

I'm really surprised that Imperial Mandarin wasn't already up on Trip Advisor. I didn't see it so I had to request Trip Advisor add it to their website. I've been to a few Chinese restaurants since moving to San Diego but so far most haven't been too memorable. This is the exception. My wife was craving some truly authentic Chinese food so we did some research and found tons of great reviews on other websites for Imperial Mandarin. You know it's a good sign when all the employees are all Chinese, all the cooks and especially all the customers. We went in on a weekend and everyone in the place was Chinese which has always been a good sign. Even the menu was in Chinese (with English translation). We ordered a few appetizers and two entrees and the portions are generous. I had the beef with Broccoli and it was yummy. The restaurant is pretty good sized with plenty of parking. It's in a strip mall type of place but the actual restaurant was pretty good sized. There are many Chinese and Asian restaurants in the area so we look forward to checking out a few of them and seeing how they stack up. But we had an excellent meal here and would recommend it to people looking for an authentic meal.

We looked in the restaurant window and saw three large family tables with three large local families. We concluded that if they thought the food was good, then it surely was. Perhaps, we got different menus and different treatment because it was a big disappointment. Once our food was delivered to the table, the server never once returned. We had to flag her down to get the check. We waited in vain for a refill of our tea pot. I ordered the Peking duck. The pieces were dry and fatty with little to no meat and resembled the last hackings off an old piece of duck. The orange chicken was sweet and indifferent - the chicken dry.

11 of us came for a banquat style meal. The place is easy to find, not crowded and clean. The service is good. The food is tasty and very close to what you can get in Hong Kong. The price is reasonable. The chicken with ginger sauce and the stuffed tofu are the best.

I came here with my husband for dim sum on the weekend at the time it opens (11AM). We were the first ones there so we were seated immediately and brought some Jasmine tea. After about 10 minutes the food cart started coming out. All the food was hot and fresh and if you don't see what you want, you can special request it. The har gow (shrimp dumpling) is not so great, wrapper was very sticky and the inside was kind of dry, so do not recommend that dish. We also had the siu mai (pork dumpling), chicken feet, bbq pork buns, beef meatballs, and fried sesame balls as well which were all very tasty. Overall would come back, especially with friends!

Went in this restaurant and noticed most all the patrons were Chinese so that must mean it's pretty authentic. Looks to be family run for the most part. Service was quick and pleasant. We ordered the Salt and Pepper Shrimp, Salt and Pepper Chicken Wings and Shrimp Fried Rice for the 3 of us. The portions were more than adequate and the food was very tasty and not too greasy. We were able to bring some home to enjoy again later that night. Doesn't everyone like left over Chinese food, that's part the experience. I would recommend this place if you're looking for some good Chinese food.

Stopped here to pick up food to go. Although chop suey was not on the menu, the cooks were willing and able to whip up something for me upon special request. For three of us I ordered the following: - Imperial Shrimp which was absolutely delicious - Shrimp Fried rice - yes, having another shrimp dish is a bit redudant, but it is goooood stuff. - Chop Suey with beef - Kung Pao Chicken - Steamed Rice came with the meal. All of these dishes were fresh and fantastic. Not too salty and no MSG. I highly recommend this great place. Mmmmm, mmmmm....