The Mandarin

I live in San Marcos and make the drive out to this place several times a month, or whenever the Chinese food craving hits. Their portions are on point and the price is even better. I’m a vegetarian so the fact that they have a «vegetable only» entrée is awesome. But before i would always get their orange chicken & beef w/​broccoli which are both soooo good. They have made some major upgrades since I first started coming a few years back, but prices have always stayed the same. I will continue to come here because i haven’t come across anything better in all of North County. If you can ignore the hole in the wall weird people in the area vibe then your in for a treat. LOL

It looks like a hole in the wall. Which is fine they have amazing prices along with the amount food you get

I have never been disappointed here. The food is so cheap and they literally fill up the box to the top. It never takes more then ten minutes despite the fact that they always look busy! I always recommend this place to my friends! Good food, good prices and they are fast!

When you search out a place for being cheap and disgusting, you really can’t be surprised when the food turns out to be cheap and disgusting.
The woman I love has been pining for a certain kind of Chinese food ever since coming to San Diego. It’s a simple enough yearning, something that reminds her of a few places back home, light on the wallet, heavy on the … well, everything else. I’ve made numerous attempts to fit the bill, with some of my usual haunts being too pricey and the cheaper places not living up to her ‘disgusting’ expectations. Apparently, they seem to focus primarily on Beef w/​Broccoli and Crab Rangoons. So, while making the rounds on Unilocal,hunting through other Elites and friends, I saw a 3-​star stand out with a single dollar sign, a few grimy pictures, and a common theme of «so much food for only $ 6!»
Well, that was all I needed to try and test those disgusting waters.
The place is a shack, a hollow shell painted baby blue at the deep end of a strip mall, next to a competing Panda Express and not enough parking. It’s dirty, small, and pretty much the kind of place you’d expect that sells everything for $ 5.00 a plate and spends what little they get on rent somewhere else worthwhile.
We started with Cream Cheese Wontons and Egg Rolls. The egg rolls obviously came out of a frozen pack, fried to order, but they were a good brand and fried well. The wontons probably followed the same path, and they were a bit chewy, but they still tasted pretty good. Imagine grabbing a box of these things at Costco and frying them up by the handful. That’s pretty much what you can expect from these appetizers.
I had the lunch combo with Fried Rice, Orange Chicken, and Sesame Chicken. The fried rice looked and tasted like white rice soaked in a little soy sauce and smoke flavoring. Every once in a while, a bit of egg might pop up, but it was pretty uniformly simple throughout; a big mound of slightly salty starch. The orange chicken was fried up nicely, the sauce wasn’t too sticky or sickly sweet. The accompanying sesame chicken was, I highly suspect, just that same orange chicken, but with sesame seeds sprinkled on top. Not great, but not really bad either.
My better half had their Beef w/​Broccoli and some Orange Chicken of her own. The broccoli was alright, heated well without being mushy, and the beef had enough sweet sauce to make the whole of it taste alright. Our son enjoyed our chicken, ate an egg roll of his own, and loved the packaged Fortune Cookie afterward. All the while, all of us at the table dipped everything into a jar of Sweet and Sour; the kind that is that thick, dark pink flavor.
So, again, cheap and disgusting. Exactly what we set out for and exactly what we got. Two lunch combos, two large appetizers, and a couple of drinks, everything overflowing with food, enough for three people to share and still have enough leftover for a dinner, for less than $ 20. Cheap and disgusting. I really can’t wait to try it again if I’m in the area.

A real mom and pop operation, the food is alright and the prices are outstanding. The dining room is a pretty nice size and the employees are pretty helpful.
I didn’t even know this place existed until my boss told me about it. So I called in an order and she said 15 minutes so I left right away. When I got there she was bagging up my order so I’m glad I didn’t have to wait.
The food wasn’t as good as Panda but it was affordable and it was a mom and pop. So would I come here again? Yeah probably because I’m cheap and I like to support the locals.

So this place manages to survive with a Panda Express right outside its window.
Think about that.
The prices here are cheaper and the portions are bigger.
a SMALL Broccoli beef without rice is under $ 5 but the portion is an INSANE AMOUNT to be considered «small». A small here is considered as a LARGE entrée at Panda Express.
FOR UNDER $ 5 (without rice).
Let that sink in.
But does it taste good? Yes! I’m not really a fan of their Schezwan Chicken as the celery over powers everything. But just about half of the menu i would say is better than most Chinese take out places i’ve been too.
Ps. Your meal will be ready within 3 minutes or less

Great food, great prices and unbelievable portions. We had it delivered with in 20 min during dinner time. Hot and fresh. Best Chinese I’ve had in awhile.

We’ve ordered from here a handful of times now. The food is pretty good and they are not stingy with it at all. My favorite thing though is that they deliver on base. (We live behind the main exchange.)
I will be ordering plenty more from here as the next couple years go by!

I was totally impressed with this restaurant. It was sort of hard to locate at first, but really close to everything once I discovered it! Not a lot of «ambiance», but great food, huge proportions and friendly staff! Haven’t tried the delivery service yet, but most certainly will. I will certainly frequent this establishment often!

Hands down! The best Chinese food in Oceanside! Amazing flavor and it’s a lot of food. I never get to eat the big portions, I always get small. Price is good and make sure you call to order, otherwise you’re gonna wait a few minutes. I hate the wait but that’s what you get when you have a small restaurant with great food.
Not complaining at all, just a suggestion. :)

Trying to order food tonight and they put me on hold 3 times mid order to answer other calls. After getting food delivered I opened everything only to find that I had someone else’s order, which honestly wasn’t the problem, mix ups happen. Upon calling them and explaining the situation to a manager who then wanted us to just switch food after it was confirmed that the other house had our food — unacceptable and unprofessional! They took the wrong order of food upon delivery only to (I assume) deliver to the other people.

By far my favorite place to get Chinese food! This place kicks Panda’s butt. Taste of food is great, price is unbeatable, and the workers are super friendly. Plus, you get a huge portion of food so you can split it for leftovers or share! Highly recommended.

I live in San Diego, but whenever I visit Oceanside, The Mandarin is my go to place for delicious, affordable food. Generous portions! Great service.

Wow much improvedl! Last visit left much to be desired. It seems like a different place. Great food. Fast friendly service!

Very low prices but you get a ton of food! It’s really good and I’m picky as my grandparents are from China. The place is a hole in the wall with no restrooms and their drinks are over priced but the food is fantastic. I’ve had it takeout, delivered and dine in and have never had an issue. This is a local joint so you won’t see tourist frequent this place… try and keep it that way.

Having just moved here from another state I was initially disappointed that I had to drive to Oceanside from Carlsbad village for some take out Chinese! I’m so glad I came here! The combos are cheap cheap cheap! Food is excellent! Downside about the combo is that they don’t have a lot of meat choices.
The cheap combo price draws you in, however quality and quantity come when you order al la carte! General Tso chicken was hot, fresh and soft. The sauce was so good. Tasted just like back home in NY.
The customer service we received from Gerald was out of this world. He was the cook who came out and answered questions, showed us the food before packing up & made small talk.

Cheap Chinese food made to order. Not like Panda Express. It’s a small hole in the wall place but the food itself is not bad for what you pay. The quantity of food is definitely well worth your money.
Definitely a place I will go if I am craving some fast food Chinese or if I am in the area.

I typically don’t write reviews for restaurants or any other businesses but for this one I will! I am known for being picky and difficult, especially when it comes to my taste in food. I can tell you the Mandarin is L.E.G.I.T (LEGIT!) coming from a CHINA MAN reviewing on Chinese food. This isn’t you typical Panda express or Mr. Chau where where they hire an Asian lady in the front register and the cooks are all of the above… It is a family own and I can hear the cooks screaming in Chinese right when I pay! Ohh yeah! (Yes it may sound like Ching chong ling long ting tong to someone that don’t speak our language –_​-​)
Now lets talk bout the food! I ordered the Orange Chicken and the Stir Fry Pepper Steak! Man was the food on point! The Orange Chicken was not overly fried and dry like most places. The meat still soft and contains the juice from the chicken breast/​chicken tenderloin that they use. But one thing that really cut it from a 4 star to a 5 star restaurant is their beef! (I don’t usually give 5 stars, mostly 4’s) but the beef really got me! At most Chinese food places if you notice, the beef would usually not taste like beef and the TEXTURE would feel like a sponge! The reason for that is because they would use powder meat tenderizer/​baking soda to tenderize the meat before they stir fry it ! BUT here at the Mandarin. They keep that processing and chemical things to the bare minimal ! At the same time the meat still tender and contains that beefy flavor! So good!
The portions are HUGE! plus they give you an extra Egg roll on the side. I paid less then 6 bucks for all of that! 2 sides, white rice, and a normal size egg roll! Will stop by again for sure when I am working in the Oceanside area!!!

LOVE this place! Huge portions, amazing food, even better prices! They deliver on base which is perfect, there is a minimum of $ 25 dollar purchase for delivery and it takes an hour which they tell you when you call. Food is still hot when it gets delivered though. Cream cheese wontons are an absolute must try!

I’ve driven by this shopping center numerous times and did not know this was back in the corner! I mean, you of course spot the Panda Express driving past first. So yesterday, for a quick meal, Tim and I decided to swing by here. He’d been here a few times and said he was a fan of the place, so I figured I’d keep on open mind to the place.
We ordered:
— gyoza
— 2 item combo
— orange chicken, almond chicken, and pepper beef
— cheaper than Panda Express and they serve you way more food here
— I think it was like $ 5.00 for a 2 item combo
It’s definitely not authentic or the best Chinese food ever. It’s Americanized Chinese fast food. But it’s the best bang for your buck. I definitely would pick this place over Panda Express.