New Mandarin

After so many visits to New Mandarin, it has seemed like an eternity since our last meal.  I believe the most recent one was with family right in front of their massive screen.  This time around, we were invited to enjoy a multi-course dinner that would feature a few new unique items.  For those who have yet to visit New Mandarin, it is located in the T&T complex on Kingsway near Nanaimo.  It has been around since 2019 and since then, has earned a Michelin-Recommended designation.

For this meal, we had some new dishes along with some classics.  Something I've had before and have always enjoyed is the Roasted Pork Belly & BBQ Pork.  The use of fatty pork really helped move things in the right direction even before they cooked the meat!  This was especially true with the BBQ pork as it was succulent, juicy and of course fatty.  Hence, it was tender and flavourful.  The outside bark was sweet and caramelized.  As for the roast pork, the crackling was crispy and not hard.  The meat and fat ratio was about 50-50, where it was juicy and buttery tender. 

We continued on with another classic item in the Peking Duck served in 3 courses.  As usual, the first course consisted of the Peking Duck with steamed crepes.  It was also accompanied by julienned scallions and hoisin.  Not sure if the shrimp chips were served with it or not, but I enjoyed eating them.  LOL.  Anyways, the duck skin was appealing in colour and also crispy.  The fat underneath the skin was fairly rendered (also using the right type of duck).  The meat was moist and the crepes were thin with an nice elasticity.

The second course from the Peking Duck was the Shredded Duck Soup.  The base consommé had depth and real flavour to it.  It was starch-thickened just enough so it was silky with the right viscosity.  There was plenty of duck along with dried fish maw, woodear, Jinhua ham, egg white and flowering chives.  Lots of textures and complimentary flavours from these ingredients including crunch, meatiness and silkiness.

The third course was another classic in the Duck Lettuce Wrap.  This came in a large portion packed with tender duck and crunchy veggies.  It sat atop fried vermicelli that added another level of crunchiness.  The dish was the beneficiary of a good wok toss with high heat.  The wok hei allowed for some smokiness and caramelization.  Nothing was overdone though, where the veggies were just cooked through.  Seasoning was on the milder side, but with hosin on the side, that wasn't a problem.  Loved the large pieces of iceberg lettuce, so we could successfully wrap everything.  Also enjoyed that the lettuce wasn't wet either.

Now for a brand new dish and what a dish that was!  We were served a couple servings of the Teriyaki Lobster.  Not sure why it went by that name because it was more like a Motoyaki Lobster or even a Chinese version of Lobster Thermidor.  These small lobsters were baked with a mayo cheese sauce on top that was like a motoyaki.  It as creamy and cheesy with a slight tanginess.  Lobster was cooked perfectly being moist and a bit bouncy.

Getting our veggies into the meal, we selected the Stir-Fried Pea Shoots with garlic.  We were warned that the pea shoots might be a little old, but it still turned out to be quite good.  Sure, there was a little more chew to them, but they were still tender.  The cook on them was just right being cooked through but not enough to make them mushy.  Hence, there was still a crunch to each leaf.  There was enough garlic and seasoning for impact while the dish wasn't too greasy.

We ended up with two fried rice dishes as we couldn't decide on one.  So we had both!  The first to arrive was the Fried Rice with Preserved Meat.  It was made with organic rice for an extra $10.00.  If you thought this rice was a gimmick, you would be mistakened.  The rice added a silky texture to the dish and was quite flavourful.  It also helped there was good wok hei and hence, a nuttier flavour and caramelization.  The cured meat added just enough saltiness as well as some chewy texture.

The next fried rice dish was the Fried Rice with Eel served in a casserole.  We also subbed organic rice into this dish.  This rice was a bit more moist with a tonne of eel in it.  This added not only a buttery texture, it provided a unique sweetness to the rice.  Once again, with the organic rice, there was a silkiness that seemed wet, but it really wasn't.  The rice was still chewy (in a good way).   I found this more like a hot pot rice than a fried rice (even though it wasn't cooked in the pot).

Onto dessert, we had some that are also featured on the Dim Sum menu.  These included the Osmanthus & Lychee Jelly and the Sweet Coconut Pudding Piggies.  I'm biased when it comes to these desserts and the Osmanthus jelly was right up my alley.  First of all, the jelly was not sweet at all.  Second, the texture was pretty firm, which worked for me as I could pick it up without it falling apart.  Nice sweetness from the lychee and wolfberries.  As for the piggies, they were firm versions of aromatic coconut pudding.  Not too sweet either.

One of the cutest desserts is their Chocolate Pudding Puppy Dog.  Personally, I think this was better to look at than to actually be eaten.  The pudding was a bit gummy.  It did taste okay though.  But everything was all good when the Baked Tapioca Pudding arrived.  Featuring a crunchy sugary crust (same found on a pineapple bun), the pudding itself was custardy and purposefully sweet.  There was also some lotus paste in the centre to add some more sweetness.  One of my favourite desserts from any type of cuisine!  This was a fine end to a solid meal at New Mandarin.  I find the food also well-portioned here and I can't help but notice the ever-improving service.  I based this off my previous 3 visits that were not comped.

 

*All food and beverages were complimentary for this blog post*

 

The Good:

- Solid eats

- Well-portioned

- Improving service

 

The Bad:

- Dining room is still a bit cramped