Andrea… Zen Dave… No Zen

Andrea’s View:  I really wasn’t in the mood for a food adventure.  It was a Wednesday, and Dave had gotten off of work late, and he was exhausted.  It was rush hour traffic, and I had been cleaning the house all day.  I really wasn’t in the mood to try to a find a food adventure close by (northeast suburbs) and eat sub-par, non-authentic, so-called ethnic food.  I just wasn’t in the mood.  Exhausted Dave insisted on driving and we bitched and moaned at each other about the traffic, where we were going, and whether we just should have eaten dinner at home.  We arrived at Mandarin House in Carmel in a foul mood.

As we stepped inside, the tranquil aqua blue walls and soft music started to work its magic.  We were greeted by the kindest and most efficient server Dave and I have had in quite sometime.  It was a mere moments until I received my much-needed glass of Syrah.   I was so enchanted by the surroundings that I even ordered the duck.  I hate duck.  Oh well, I wasn’t in the mood anyway.

My Mandarin Duck came with a bowl of egg drop soup, which at first, the texture put me off a bit.  But then I dropped some crispy wontons into my bowl, and the texture became palatable.  I even noticed that it had a nice freshness to it.  It turned out to be good.  Then my plate of duck arrived.  I scooped some of the community white rice onto my plate and dove into the heaping platter of fried duck, carrots, snow peas, and mushrooms.  And what another fabulous surprise, my duck was amazing!  It was simply the best duck I have ever had.  It was not greasy or gamey, just perfectly crisp and tender.  My vegetables were al dente, and the sauce was sweet, and flavorful.  It was the perfect meal.

As we left the restaurant, its tranquility stayed with me.  I no longer minded the busy traffic, or the fact that we had eaten “ethnic” food in Carmel.  I was still enjoying my Zen of duck happiness.  And that Zen lasted the rest of the evening.

The inside

The inside

The lighting

Egg Drop Soup

Manchurian Beef and the flower from Hell

Mandarin Duck

The outside

Dave’s View:  When I saw the two concrete lions that sit outside the Mandarin House Restaurant in Carmel, I had high expectations for a glorious meal.  My belief was that a grand entrance would make for a grand meal.  The inside of the restaurant was somewhat “grand”, with its simple site lines, seaweed green walls, and tranquil Chinese pictures.  Follow this up, with some excellent service from the staff, and I couldn’t wait to have my meal.  I ordered the  Manchurian Beef because the menu stated it had two asterisks signifying that it was spicy and I was in a spicy mood.  It also came with a first course bowl of Egg Drop Soup.  Now, believe it or not, I’ve never had Egg Drop Soup, so I didn’t know what to expect.  The Egg Drop Soup here is thick, gelatinized, and not that much egg – soup.  The soup tasted much like thick chicken noodle soup and wasn’t horrible, but wasn’t the kind of  soup you would go back to have seconds, if you know what I mean.  Now, when the main meal came out, it was a large portion of meat with a red looking flower on it.  It was a nice looking shape flower, but I didn’t know what it was and was damn well sure I wasn’t going to eat either.  So, I take my first bite of Manchurian Beef and there’s no “zing”.  No spice whatsoever.  It was like semi sweet teriyaki sauce poured over chunks of fried meat.  The meat was overcooked and was not only difficult to cut, but chewing the meat made my jaws numb by the end of the meal.  I mean, my jaws must have popped twenty times during this meal, it was that tough.  Follow it up with no spice and I couldn’t stand this meal.  One of the worst meals I had since writing this blog.

Service:  9  Food:  2  Ambiance:  8.5  Total:  19.5 out of 30

$40-$50 with adult beverages

Note:  When we first arrive at the restaurant, there were a lot of people eating by themselves, then 30 minutes passed and families swarmed the place.  It was strange to me, that’s all I’m saying.  They also serve Peking Duck with a one hour notice, which is what I really wanted to begin with, but I didn’t have an hour to wait.  So if you’re in the mood for Peking Duck,  make reservations, order the duck at the same time, and hopefully it will be better than the Manchurian Beef I had.  It better be!!!

Second Note:  At the end of the meal, I wiped my mouth with my napkin, looked at my napkin, and I saw blood.  I asked Andrea, “Is my nose bleeding or something?”  Andrea replies, “No, it’s not.”  I looked at my fingertips and they were red.  I was thinking to myself, “What the Hell?”

It was that damn red flower thing on my plate.  Drenched in red food coloring?   Yeah, I was touching it the whole time I was eating the chewy meat.  I had to get my mind off the jaw popping somehow.