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.