Mandarin Cove Chinese Rstrnt

I have eaten many times at this excellent restaurant and tried several entrees. All of the food is of high quality and great quantity. The service is fabulous-- the wait staff is courteous and quietly provides all your needs without having to ask. The dining area is spacious yet warm with great window views of the tree-lined street. Much of the ceiling is glass with plants everywhere. You can park for free in the parking garage of the bank adjoining the restaurant with a stamp from the restaurant. If you are enjoying dinner before or after a nearby show or opera, don't worry since the restaurant is accustomed to catering to opera goers and you can park for free the entire time you are eating and attending the opera less than a block away. Pros: Great food,service, free parking more

i invited my grandparents in for labor day weekend and i wanted a classy restaruant to take them to i called them and asked what they would prefer they said chinese since i am not really tech savvy i asked my friend to wade throught the millions of choices on the internet and he came up with a stunner mandarin cove impressed me from the get go they seated my party promptly they were very attentive the server refilled my glass five times the food was incredible i had the moo goo gai pan it was delish and it was incredibly affordable i paid for everything and i paid 45 dollars i fed myself my grandparents and i had more then enough leftover to eat the following day. bottom line if you want to go to a nice place and bring some friends and you are not interested in spending a lot of money mandarin cove should be a primetime choice on your list. Pros: everything. great price, awesome food, and very enthusiastic servers. Cons: the takeout doesnt taste as good the day after more

we recently moved to Portland, and have had amazing dining experiences thus far; we haven't eaten at a bad place yet. well, until last night at the Mandarin Cove. we have been craving chinese food for a while, so we turned to citysearch. after reading several 5 star write-ups, boasting the best chinese in town, we headed on over. we read about a happy hour, so thought we'd partake in that. upon entering the happy hour section, we were flooded with cigarette smoke, coupled with a cafeteria style ambiance. card tables were topped with cheap, shoddy looking vinyl tableclothes. it was so poorly lit, we couldn't see where the menus were located. my partner asked the girl working the bar where they were located, and she snapped that the happy hour food was over in the corner. we looked over to where she was pointing, and only saw a bowl of eggrolls, some peanuts and what appeared to be sweet and sour chicken under a heatlamp. again, it was so dark, it was hard to tell. the cigarette smoke was unbearable, so we headed over to the regular dining area. i have to say, it wasn't much better appearance-wise. the space is nice, it's sort of like a greenhouse, but the old faded floral pattern vinyl tablecloths and pepto bismol pink napkins didn't exactly create a nice atmosphere. we ended up ordering the appetizer platter and the sesame beef, after reading a review raving about how fantastic it is. the food came out quickly, but it was inedible. the appetizers were cold and tasted like that of frozen pre-made food. the sesame beef was absolutely disgusting. rubbery, overly sweet, and just odd. it must be a very low grade of beef, because it was just sickening. while we were sitting there, feeling sick to our stomachs, we started noticing how dirty the restaurant was. the carpets were filthy. here was something growing on the understide of our tablecloth (mold?). it's not cheap price-wise, we shelled out $40. i wouldn't take my worst enemy to this place. i still am cringing. Pros: greenhouse style building Cons: a health code violation waiting to happen; filthy, gross, food inedible. more

BEST CHINESE FOOD IN PORTLAND BY FAR FAR FAR...\r I discovered mandarin cove about 9 years ago and have been there at least 8 times a year since. I am a very picky person with food and crave perfectly made meals. Mandarin Cove by far is the best Chinese place in Portland. If you want a fantastic meal order the Sesame Beef and the hot and Sour Soup. No one in Portland makes hot and sour soup like them; it is devine. I have taken many, many people to Mandarin cove and they have all agreed with me on their perfection of taste. I have been searching for some other restaurant that is comparable to this and found one that is very different and very authentic, but also very good. I was taken there by a chinese friend... who also loves Mandarin Cove. The person who gave an earlier review of ""bad food"" must have been talking about some other resturant, or must be used to those horrible chinese/american food restaurants. You know the ones I am talking about - the ones that sell cheese burgers. Never trust those restaurants. Also he/she talked about it being cheap, it is absolutely the most expensive Chinese restaurant in Portland I have been to yet. The dish that I love is Sesame Beef, which is 15.95 - not cheap. Other Chinese restaurants sell plates for just 8.99. For two people you cant leave there without spending a good $40 bill. Which is not expensive, but by no means cheap for chinese food in Portland. Yes, that previous bad review must have been a mistake. I RECOMMEND MANDARIN COVE WITH A 10 Pros: Great Taste, Great Service (most of the time), Excellent Quality Cons: Its a little difficult to get to in downtown Portland. more

I got there a little before they closed but by no means did they rush us out. I was pleasantly surprised by how polite and helpful they were five minutes before closing. Our meal was good also Pros: customer service Cons: have to pay extra for steamed rice more

All of you who said this place is bad THEN YOU ARE WRONG BECAUSE THIS IS THE BEST GOD DAMN PLACE ON THE EARTH YOU ALL ARE ON CRAZY PILLS.\r \r BEST FREAKING FOOD EVER.\r \r I recommend the Kung Pao Shrimp. :) Pros: EVERYTHING Cons: THE BAD REVIEW PEOPLE WHO ARE IDIOTS! more

Friday night the best.\r Potstickers, egg rools and spicy chicken dish.\r Good well drinks at only $2.50.\r Get there early. Pros: Great happy hour and take out lunch more

On a warm summer day, consider grabbing the special take-out from Mandarin Cove. It is one low price (I think just $5), and you can grab it and go. I believe that they may have 2 or 3 options each day, but it's pretty streamlined. It's a great way to grab a good chinese lunch to take back to the office, or down to the waterfront a few blocks away to enjoy people-watching. more

I have no idea why the rating is as high as it is (Citysearch slider rating tool stinks). I think the only reason this place is still in business is the location...and that it attracts mostly one-time customers (aka tourists).\r \r I tried this place several times, and have been disappointed repeatedly. I work in the office building above so I kept giving Mandarin Cove the benefit of the doubt. NOT AGAIN.\r \r Poor food, poor atmosphere, about the only good thing is it is cheap. However, you get what you pay for....the orange chicken at Panda Express is 10x better than this garbage! And the word 'chicken' should be used looselymine was more bone/gristle than anything else. One piece of chicken I had there was skin that had been breadedabsolutely disgusting. Also, their rice is terribledry and bland.\r \r Boycott this place so it will go out of business and we can get a good restaurant in this spot~!!!!!\r \r Save yourself the disappointment and go to the Bento place just north along 1st Street... Pros: None other than being cheap...but you get what you pay for Cons: FOOD, FOOD, RICE more

Our group of 7 had a reservation at 430 PM the night of a show. The staff placed us at a small table. We asked for a table for eight (complete with a center turn table so dishes could be passed easily). Staff refused even though the restaurant was empty. Because the table was so small, we did not have enough room for the dishes that were brought out... By the time we left, larger tables were still available. Our request was simple and not that big of a deal - until they made it a big deal. We won't go back. Pros: Near Keller, food okay, parking nearby Cons: Service lacking, food okay, expensive for ok more

The restaurant is nice, but the food is terrible. You'd get better food at Panda Express Pros: nice location Cons: expensive, parking more

We discovered Mandarin Cove tonight via ""Delivered Dish"" delivery service. I am picky about chinese food, particularly the quality of meat used. I was happily surprised by Mandarin Cove's food! The dishes we ordered (Tangy Chicken, House Fried Rice, Snow Peas with Water Chestnuts) were flavorful, the meat good quality, the water chestnuts lavish. The only thing we didn't enjoy were the egg rolls. However, the quality of the other dishes still won us over. I would eat there again and soon! We will have to go there sometime to experience the food in its ""natural habitat"". more

The food here is fabulous. A refreshing break from nasty American-Chinese food. Dinner for 2 is reasonably priced, and they're willing to make substitutions for you if you don't eat certain things. The food came VERY quickly, but water glasses were neglected. Pros: prompt seating, great food, reasonably priced Cons: , slow service at times more

A rock solid excellent performer. I have eaten here multiple times over the past 2 years and have yet to be dissapointed by any dish. The dishes will appeal to those who are familiar with real Chinese food, not bland Americanized Chinese food. Pros: Authentic Dishes, Good Parking more

Not the best Chinese food, but the food was good. The fried lobster covered in sweet sauce and sauteed green beans is an excellent choice. Although I wasn't to fond of the moo shu pork. Their variety of alcoholic and virgin beverages are plus, prices are o.k. considering they offer generous portions. The service was good, although we weren't seated right away, we had to wait for 10 minutes, even after making reservations and no was barely dining there. Overall it was pretty good. Pros: lobster dish, service, parking Cons: mu shoo pork more

The chicken used here is unrecognizable. The sweet and sour pork super doughy and greasy. I do not recommend this restaurant. more

Dinner is not bad. Prefer for lunch. Portions large. Fresh. Shrim and Scallops with brocolli very good. Soup is served hot. Most times service is good. Pros: fresh, pleasant, clean more

I have eaten at Mandarin Cove several times and frequently recommend it as an excellent place to go out for Chinese with guests. The prices are reasonable and the atmosphere is great. The only downside is that we have shown up to eat at Mandarin Cove several times and the restaurant has been closed. So, make sure you check the hours before dining here and that you don't plan on eating between the typical lunch and dinner hours. It is worth the effort though. Pros: Great Food, Atmosphere, Prices Cons: Hours of Business more