Sweet Mandarin is an award winning restaurant, having won many coveted prizes including the AA Rosette, the F word which is a Gordon Ramsay Local Chinese Restaurant competition, and the chefs, sisters, also served the Prime Minister and Premier Li. They have published a cooking book and is sold in their restaurant here in Manchester and also on Amazon.
Their journey is shown on their website and also in their memoirs which is also available to be bought online. The restaurant is located in northern quarter between the many bars and restaurants. Northern Quarter in Manchester is known for being where the young will venture to. It's abundance of cafes, bars and restaurants make it a busy hub of interesting cuisine, merchandise and services.
Sweet Mandarin was right across from a Mexican themed bar. It was a rainy day, a day when we were celebrating our friend's birthday. It wasn't so bad as we got to hail a cab for the journey down to the northern quarter. We were meant to go to this pizza joint, but it was closed for renovation and we had to look about in the rain to find another place to eat, and we stumbled upon Sweet Mandarin.
It wasn't very big place but the atmosphere was warm with lanterns hanging above and oriental screens planted about. The waiters were friendly people and we greeted immediately at the door. The place didn't need a reservation and we were placed to a table.
I discovered halfway through the meal that one of the people who served us was actually one of the sisters, the very owners of the restaurant. I was surprised to find her face on the menus before us, with her sister behind the bar making drinks.
We ordered a platter of dishes, my friend being a vegetarian and I myself loving tofu, had some vegetarian dishes, and the birthday girl also ordered
some other meals as well. She loves meat. We decided on vegetarian fried rice, vegetarian appetizers, braised tofu and mixed vegetables, lemon chicken, and a creative new dish that puts a spin on the classic peking duck.
The peking duck, which is called crispy aromatic duck on the menu. It was exactly as named. Crispy, with the duck dried to the bone, along with the skin, which had been marinated for a whole day with a blend of spices. It was served with pancakes, thinly sliced cucumbers and spring onions, and sweet bean sauce. This is all wrapped neatly into a roll and eaten by hand. It was crispy and though dry, you could still savor the taste of the spices left in the duck.
My friend who has never tried the peking duck found it to be delicious and ate most of the duck, to my amusement.
The lemon chicken had crispy skin and the lemon sauce has all the elements of a lemon sauce, not sweet like most chinese restaurants would do it but enough to complement the dish.
We also had drinks with the meal. A bunch of cocktails which were named after the zodiac. I had one in the year of the pig, which I was born in and my friends decided on monkey. Mine was lychee infused vodka, lychee juice, fresh lemon and a splash of ginger juice. The monkey was spicy ginger infused beer, lime and vodka. They were both delicious and best of all hid the taste of the alcohol.
I really recommend this place for those seeking chinese cuisine in Manchester but it is fairly pricey. The whole meal had a higher price than expected but I think it was worth it.
Location:
19 Copperas St,
Manchester, M4 1HS,
United Kingdom
Phone:+44 161 832 8848
Opening hours:
Sunday
12:00 - 14:30
16:00 - 23:00
Monday
12:00 - 23:00
Wednesday
12:00 - 14:30
16:00 - 23:00
Thursday
12:00 - 14:30
16:00 - 23:00
Friday
12:00 - 14:30
16:00 - 23:00
Saturday
12:00 - 14:30
16:00 - 23:00
For more information go to this website:http://www.sweetmandarin.com/
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This is Sharon signing off on this week's episode. Tune in next week for more.
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