Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Mandarine Restaurant - Verdun, Beirut

Fact: Cafe Hamra and Mandarine are owned by the same company! (Boubess Group) Notice the contrast, though, between the service quality in the two restaurants.

On February 28th , 2011, 8 of my friends and I decided to have dinner at Mandarine. Located in Verdun, Beirut, Mandarine offers a large variety of cosmopolitan dishes, in addition to a mezzah selection. A valet service took our cars without complication, and a friendly, smiling waiter greeted us as we entered the restaurant.  There was only one table available for nine people, and it was in the middle of the restaurant. Naturally, being the picky group of girls that we are, we asked the waiter if he could assemble a table for nine next to the window, and he did so without hesitation. It was a smooth start to what seemed like was going to be a promising night.

Mandarine's theme is clearly sophistication, and its dim lights, light wood furniture, and modern, sleek interior design all emphasize this. The restaurant has a relaxed and comfortable atmosphere, possibly because it is very spacious and the tables are set far part from each other, making customers feel like they have their own private space within the restaurant. The waiter noticed that we were a large group of girls, so after we were seated and he gave us some menus, he smartly granted us lots of time to choose our orders (around 15 minutes), which made us feel at ease and allowed us to take our time in choosing our food. The fact that he left us alone for a long time could be interpreted as him forgetting about us or not being attentive enough, but the case was exactly the opposite: he was standing at a distance but constantly looking over at our table and monitoring our progress in choosing our food. He was being very attentive, and it was still the beginning of the night.

Then came the part where he had to take our orders. I'm sure you've had dinner with a large group of people before - taking an order can get very messy. My friends and I were very loud and all over the place - changing our orders, adding drinks, then telling him to cancel a starter and ordering another one instead...you know how it goes. Another waiter would have definitely lost his temper and shown us how annoyed he was, but ours was calm, patient, extra-friendly and attentive to everything we had to say. This made us feel like we could approach him easily, thus allowing us to inquire about our food and modify it in any way we wanted. He kept a smile on his face, and seemed like he was genuinely enjoying serving us, despite how annoying and loud we were. His service skills are definitely an asset to the restaurant, as they greatly enhanced our experience there.

Mandarine is renowned for its salad bar, so I (and six out of my eight friends) chose to eat from it. The Mandarine salad bar features a variety of vegetables just like any other salad bar, but they also have some unique offerings, such as a chinese salad mix (which tastes absolutely delicious), pasta already mixed with pesto sauce to which you can add any vegetables from the bar, a variety of cheeses, such as feta and parmesan and toppings, such as olives, croutons, and sesames (my favorite). The vegetables were all fresh, and a chef was constantly refilling each bowl as soon as it started emptying. I often see empty bowls in salad bars in other restaurants, but not in Mandarine, where the staff was constantly making sure that everything at the bar was available at all times.

Another special feature of the Mandarine salad bar is its wide range of sauces - you could choose from up to eight rich, scrumptious sauces to dress your salad with, including a diet one, which caters to the needs of those concerned with their health (which are most of the people who would choose to eat from the salad bar in the first place - smart). You can easily see why next time I'm in the mood for a salad bar, I wouldn't even think twice about where I want to have it; Mandarine's is excellent in every aspect.

While I was filling my first salad bowl, I asked a waiter if he could get me some walnuts (they taste especially good with greens).  He informed me politely that they didn't have any in the restaurant, and that was that. While I was eating, my friend told me that she heard the waiter asking another waiter if there were any walnuts in the kitchen - that's how much he cared about my request! I was very impressed; not only did he follow up on what I asked him about, but also, he wasn't doing it in front of me, which shows that he was not only acting attentive in my face, but that he truly cared about what I had asked him for.

While I was filling my second salad bowl (it was really good. I even wanted a third) I was slightly disappointed to see that the parmesan cheese bowl at the bar was empty. When I told the waiter about the empty bowl, I expected him to say that he'll refill it right away, and I was already not looking forward to waiting at the bar while he did this However, he surprised me by saying, "Have a seat, and I'll bring you the parmesan to your table." Wow. I sat down, and a bowl of parmesan was next to my plate within a minute. It was like service heaven. I do not remember the last time I was so satisfied with service quality in a restaurant in Beirut.

As for my two friends who did not eat from the salad bar, one ordered chicken pesto pasta, and the other a chocolate pudding. They both said their orders were delicious.

The whole time while we were eating, our waiter was constantly watching our table (but from a distance, as to give us some space), and quickly removing empty dishes whenever someone finished eating, and he did this with ease and without getting in our way while we were eating. We were being pretty loud, talking excitedly and laughing constantly, but no one told us to lower our voices or made us feel like we were being disturbing, which made us feel even more comfortable in the restaurant. The manager even visited our table to make sure everything was going well. We really felt like the staff was giving us their full attention, even though this wasn't the case - there were at least ten other tables filled with people who were probably receiving the same amount of attention we were. After we finished eating, we stayed at our table for almost 45 minutes just talking and enjoying ourselves - a clear sign that was everyone was feeling comfortable in the restaurant and very satisfied with the meals they just ate.

Tremendous service. Extra-tasty food. A place where you can sit comfortably for hours. That's what I call a really good restaurant. To wrap it up, here’s what you should expect when you walk into Mandarine in the future:


A smooth valet service,
A friendly waiter who will greet you and accommodate your seating needs without hesitation,
A comfortable atmosphere,
An amount of time to choose your food from the menu that is just right,
A friendly, approachable waiter who will calmly and patiently take your order and answer any questions you have,
Staff who will genuinely try to get you what you ask for (like my walnuts request),
A salad bar that has been perfected in every aspect,
Tasty main dishes and desserts,
A very attentive waiter and manager on duty, who will constantly make sure that your experience is going smoothly.

Not a single negative point. And trust me, I'm picky. Next time I'm in Verdun, you know where I'll be dining. 







8 comments:

  1. The prices might be a bit expensive, but its totally justified if you consider the market segment Mandarin targets as well as its location.

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  2. Mandarin is of my favorite restaurants...Your post is just perfect to describe it!

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  3. Thanks Nour!

    Blog PH, you're exactly right.

    Zeinab, glad you like it :)

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  4. let's go during the summer :D sounds delish

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