Amazing food including salad 🥗, soups, fresh carved & grilled meats, rice, veg, a variety of desserts 🍨 ..the list goes on. Tons of seating for big gatherings. Staff are so friendly and helpful. Always decorated for the seasons. Highly recommend.
Chen Deng
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December 30, 2025
Mandarin Restaurant is a well-known buffet restaurant, and overall I would rate my experience here as four stars. The food quality is definitely the strongest part of the restaurant and the main reason it deserves a positive rating. There is a wide variety of dishes, including both Chinese and Western options, and most of the items are fresh, flavorful, and well prepared. The dessert and fruit sections are also plentiful, which makes it a very enjoyable place for families or groups with different tastes. From a purely dining perspective, the food selection and consistency are impressive and worth recommending.
However, the main reason I did not give a full five-star rating is the service experience. Compared with the quality of the food, the service level clearly has room for improvement. Some of the staff appeared impatient or indifferent, and the communication felt mechanical rather than welcoming. At times, it seemed like they were rushing through their tasks without much attention to the guests’ dining experience. Simple requests were handled in a somewhat cold or dismissive manner, which created an atmosphere that didn’t match the otherwise pleasant dining environment. For a restaurant of this scale and price level, I believe service should feel warmer, friendlier, and more attentive.
The atmosphere of the restaurant is comfortable but not particularly outstanding. The dining hall is spacious and clean, and the seating arrangement works well for families and large groups. However, it can get quite busy and noisy during peak hours, which makes the experience feel more functional than relaxing. It still serves its purpose as a casual buffet restaurant, but it doesn’t quite deliver a refined or carefully curated dining ambience. That being said, the environment is acceptable and suitable for gatherings, celebrations, or casual meals.
To summarize, Mandarin Restaurant delivers strong value in terms of food variety and taste, which remains its biggest attraction. It is a good choice if you are mainly coming for the buffet selection and the amount of food available. However, the service staff’s attitude and professionalism significantly affect the overall dining experience. If the management could strengthen staff training, improve communication, and encourage a more customer-oriented approach, this restaurant would easily move closer to a five-star standard.
Overall, I would still recommend Mandarin Restaurant for its food, but I also hope to see meaningful improvement in service quality in the future.
Dain Vossar (Galaxy Wanderer)
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July 12, 2025
Mandarin Restaurant – A Feast Worthy of the Council
Strong in the buffet, this one is.
A vast spread of fresh, hot dishes—Chinese classics and what the locals here in Canada still dare call “American” fare. From maple-glazed salmon to BBQ ribs fit for a Wookiee, and chili tofu that dances like Yoda with a lightsaber—much to savor, there is (photos, you must see).
Dessert station? Overflowing with waffles, pastries, and toppings enough to tempt even a Jedi’s discipline.
Service? Swift and mindful. Empty plates vanish like Sith in the shadows, and your chalice is never dry.
Value great, selection greater. The Force is strong with this one.
Astrid Mejia
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December 29, 2025
Leslie!
I had a fantastic time at Mandarine. The food was delicious, the atmosphere was warm, and everything felt thoughtfully prepared. But the highlight of my visit was the service — Leslie was absolutely incredible. Attentive, friendly, and genuinely caring, she made the whole experience even better.
It’s rare to find service this good. I’ll definitely be coming back, and I highly recommend asking for Leslie if you can. She’s the best!
Family from Colombia.
Elorm Airan
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September 20, 2025
I love dinning in Mandarin until I started ordering for lunch online. The online food is GROSS , probably left over. Shrimp rice noodles used to come with nice veggies and full of shrimps. Now it comes in a bowl full of noodles and onions and five tiny pieces of shrimps with a very blunt taste. Where are the shrimps and veggies??????
Also ordered shrimp combo a couple of times and the rice was rotten and watery , obviously left over rice. I’ll never ORDER ONLINE AGAIN. What you get is not what you DINE IN! Look at the pic , I’m just searching for shrimps
Our Address
1508 Upper James St, Hamilton, ON L9B 1K3, Canada
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Amazing food including salad 🥗, soups, fresh carved & grilled meats, rice, veg, a variety of desserts 🍨 ..the list goes on. Tons of seating for big gatherings. Staff are so friendly and helpful. Always decorated for the seasons. Highly recommend.
Mandarin Restaurant is a well-known buffet restaurant, and overall I would rate my experience here as four stars. The food quality is definitely the strongest part of the restaurant and the main reason it deserves a positive rating. There is a wide variety of dishes, including both Chinese and Western options, and most of the items are fresh, flavorful, and well prepared. The dessert and fruit sections are also plentiful, which makes it a very enjoyable place for families or groups with different tastes. From a purely dining perspective, the food selection and consistency are impressive and worth recommending. However, the main reason I did not give a full five-star rating is the service experience. Compared with the quality of the food, the service level clearly has room for improvement. Some of the staff appeared impatient or indifferent, and the communication felt mechanical rather than welcoming. At times, it seemed like they were rushing through their tasks without much attention to the guests’ dining experience. Simple requests were handled in a somewhat cold or dismissive manner, which created an atmosphere that didn’t match the otherwise pleasant dining environment. For a restaurant of this scale and price level, I believe service should feel warmer, friendlier, and more attentive. The atmosphere of the restaurant is comfortable but not particularly outstanding. The dining hall is spacious and clean, and the seating arrangement works well for families and large groups. However, it can get quite busy and noisy during peak hours, which makes the experience feel more functional than relaxing. It still serves its purpose as a casual buffet restaurant, but it doesn’t quite deliver a refined or carefully curated dining ambience. That being said, the environment is acceptable and suitable for gatherings, celebrations, or casual meals. To summarize, Mandarin Restaurant delivers strong value in terms of food variety and taste, which remains its biggest attraction. It is a good choice if you are mainly coming for the buffet selection and the amount of food available. However, the service staff’s attitude and professionalism significantly affect the overall dining experience. If the management could strengthen staff training, improve communication, and encourage a more customer-oriented approach, this restaurant would easily move closer to a five-star standard. Overall, I would still recommend Mandarin Restaurant for its food, but I also hope to see meaningful improvement in service quality in the future.
Mandarin Restaurant – A Feast Worthy of the Council Strong in the buffet, this one is. A vast spread of fresh, hot dishes—Chinese classics and what the locals here in Canada still dare call “American” fare. From maple-glazed salmon to BBQ ribs fit for a Wookiee, and chili tofu that dances like Yoda with a lightsaber—much to savor, there is (photos, you must see). Dessert station? Overflowing with waffles, pastries, and toppings enough to tempt even a Jedi’s discipline. Service? Swift and mindful. Empty plates vanish like Sith in the shadows, and your chalice is never dry. Value great, selection greater. The Force is strong with this one.
Leslie! I had a fantastic time at Mandarine. The food was delicious, the atmosphere was warm, and everything felt thoughtfully prepared. But the highlight of my visit was the service — Leslie was absolutely incredible. Attentive, friendly, and genuinely caring, she made the whole experience even better. It’s rare to find service this good. I’ll definitely be coming back, and I highly recommend asking for Leslie if you can. She’s the best! Family from Colombia.
I love dinning in Mandarin until I started ordering for lunch online. The online food is GROSS , probably left over. Shrimp rice noodles used to come with nice veggies and full of shrimps. Now it comes in a bowl full of noodles and onions and five tiny pieces of shrimps with a very blunt taste. Where are the shrimps and veggies?????? Also ordered shrimp combo a couple of times and the rice was rotten and watery , obviously left over rice. I’ll never ORDER ONLINE AGAIN. What you get is not what you DINE IN! Look at the pic , I’m just searching for shrimps