Monday, March 14, 2011

Mandarin in Reading

And so another begins another Monday. On the bright side, it's my last full week and then back to DC!

The highlight of my weekend was Saturday night with my blog buddies at Mandarin Restaurant in Reading.
















Right inside the restaurant they have a large fish tank, which excited me! I had a little chat with the fishies and they let me take their picture.

















We had a reservation so were seated right away, and of course because we are all bloggers, immediately busted out our cameras for photo fun. The waitress was kind enough to take a photo of our whole table. From left to right: Emily, me, Di, Rhea, and Melissa.















Of course drinks were ordered promptly. For my first drink I went with a glass of Riesling.

























It was delicious and went down like water. I realized it was almost gone in two gulps so I had to slow down and pace myself a bit. No need to get sloppy before dinner is even served (not that I've ever done that before...or at least recently). For my entree I ordered the Tropical Taste Chicken, which included pineapple and peppers.

















The chicken tasted amazing, but the menu doesn't mention onions and there were a TON of onions in my dish, and only about 3 or 4 pieces of pepper. I would've liked it a lot better if there were only a few onions and a ton of peppers. Almost everyone else ordered fish...which I don't eat, so I avoided even looking at their dishes (no offense girls).

Obviously we were at an asian restaurant, so what meal would be complete without fortune cookies? Instead of the regular vanilla fortune cookies, we were served chocolate fortune cookies.

















Oh yes. I absolutely loved it (it's chocolate, so naturally I would like it). Some of the other girls didn't care for it so I nicely offered to eat theirs. I have no self control whatsoever around sweets and I'm ok with that. My fortune, however, was kind of blah.

















It certainly fit the occasion, but I was hoping for something along the lines of "you will win the lottery tomorrow." Oh well. For "dessert" we all ordered another round of drinks, and I decided to go with something a little stronger this time. I ordered a grapefruit martini. It was perfect.

















We had an absolutely fabulous time and ended up staying until the restaurant closed (to the irritation of our waitress). There were lots of fun conversations, like how to take the perfect nude picture to text your boyfriend and whether underwear was necessary with certain clothing. You know, typical girl things.

I would definitely recommend Mandarin to anyone. The bill ended up coming out to about $31 a person, with everyone ordering an entree and two drinks. The floor plan of the restaurant was broken up to reduce noise and the tables were an adequate distance away that you weren't listening to other people's conversations (something I really hate). The service was good, and oh did I mention they have a great buffet? If you are ever venturing north of the city or live there, definitely give Mandarin a try.

14 comments:

  1. that place looks so neat!

    thanks for entering my giveaway! :)

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  2. So glad that you had a good time! It was great to see you, as usual. :)

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  3. I love your picture of the fishes! And your pink martini was too pretty.
    I am going to heed your advice and try to blog more on the regular. Still trying to get it right (for me) :)
    Thanks again for the ride home-- IOU 1 cootie catcher!!!!!

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  4. What a fun night! I love when you meet people and you instantly click! :) And the place looks fabulous - hook me up with a martini please!

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  5. chocolate fortune cookie & a grapefruit martini?! sign me up! looks like a fun place to dine out -- especially with new friends :)

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  6. Your post made me so hungry :) Looks like a fun spot!

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  7. That is a lame fortune! But kudos to the restaurant for serving *chocolate* fortune cookies.

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  8. I had a great time. We need to do it more often! Oh and I forgot about the underwear convo. Too funny!

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  9. Mandarin looks really good! It's very cool that they had chocolate fortune cookies.

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  10. Chocolate fortune cookies!?!?! I've never seen those before! Where am I living????

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  11. I am hardcore into citrus right now- that grapefruit martini sounds amazing.

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  12. That place looks great and I love the chocolate fortune cookie-I've never heard of that.

    I feel like I always get lame fortunes. I just want one good one thats actually true for once.

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  13. ahhh see you were in my neck of the woods :-)

    how is the new layout there?? they just did the entire restaurant over in the past year or so....love those fishies too :-)

    the food is definitely awesome and a great price!! 1/3 times I get sick from Chinese food, but never from there!

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  14. Looks like you ladies had a fun time! Grapefruit is my favorite food right now.. I have to try a grapefruit martini!

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