The Mandarin Takeaway in Mid Suffolk

Brilliant staff even better food

Disgusting! Enjoying the food until I found out it had a 0 star hygiene rating! Will never go again

I am really quite disappointed by standards of the mandarin, went in and ordered two pots of satay sauce… waiting area filthy no one there to take an order for a start. Overall condition of the building is poor, rubbish flowing out of bins and mess everywhere in the car park. When I got home I pulled out a lovey hair out of my satay sauce short and black which couldn’t of possibly been mine as I don’t have black hair… explains the 1 star food hygiene rating on both of there surprise EHO visits, in most recent years. also explains why they are really quick to shut the kitchen door and ensure it’s kept shut at all times, I’ve even heard one of the chefs shout once to shut the door. Really disappointed and will go else where from now on you guys have really let your standards slip… sad really maybe it should be turned back into a pub.

I am really quite disappointed by standards of the mandarin, went in and ordered two pots of satay sauce… waiting area filthy no one there to take an order for a start. Overall condition of the building is poor, rubbish flowing out of bins and mess everywhere in the car park. When I got home I pulled out a lovey hair out of my satay sauce short and black which couldn’t of possibly been mine as I don’t have black hair… explains the 1 star food hygiene rating on both of there surprise EHO visits, in most recent years. also explains why they are really quick to shut the kitchen door and ensure it’s kept shut at all times, I’ve even heard one of the chefs shout once to shut the door. Really disappointed and will go else where from now on you guys have really let your standards slip… sad really maybe it should be turned back into a pub

Order took 3 hours to arrive! Was told multiple times when calling to chase that it was on its way, clearly it wasn't. Worst still after eating, noted that they have a Zero rated hygiene certificate! If I knew that I wouldn't have ordered!

Operates from an old pub building . Good if you are starving but problems are- 1) Food is cheap ingredients & trans fats. 2) Has had atrocious hygene ratings and owner has been dishonest about this. (Check) 3) Hard to get through on phone if at all busy as one front of house staff member does it

Just had our first meal delivered from The Mandarin. Pre ordered and paid online, ordered for delivery at 5:30pm, delivered at 5:00pm! Which we were very happy about. Delivery driver was lovely and polite. Food was piping hot and tasted amazing. Will definitely be ordering from here again. Very happy and impressed. Thank you

We came here for the first time a few weeks ago and it was the worst Chinese we have ever had. The chicken balls were soggy and like rubber. None of it was good, and all of it had a funny taste to it like it was tainted. Complained to food hub who we bought it through and they refused to refund. Won't be revisiting or using food hub again either.

Great food and great service from this Chinese. Never had a bad meal from them. Highly recommend this Chinese

Always good and fast food every time. Killer hot and sour soup!!

Normally a lovely place to order from, however they need to have an English person or someone who clearly understands and repeats English without difficulties. Got our order wrong tonight and although they say they repeated it back, what we heard was what we ordered but got completely different items. Asked for sweet and sour pork but got sweet and sour sauce ect. Didn't get anything from the bloke on the phone, he always seems in a rush to take orders and didn't even say how long it would be before he rudely hung up

Been going here for years. Always excellent.

Food is always tasty but delivery always takes a long time. Way over an hour. I have had to chase my past 3 deliveries.

I’ve eaten from here for ages and loved it, today the Rice was stone cold. Chow mien had a funny taste, the beef was way to spice, never has it ever been like that before, The portions were half the size, chicken balls were very small, normally there big, won’t be using again, very disappointing

Food was absolutely disgusting, not even fit enough to feed to a dog, so fed it to the bin instead

Hard working reception and kitchen. Good food at a reasonable price. Off road parking.

If you want bad manners/ rubbish customer service/ and only half the food order then this is for you. I ordered and collected my take away this evening to return to find 2 lots of food completely missing so I rang to try and find a solution I was then told there was nothing they could do and that I had enough food which I was a little taken back by so whilst I’m talking to the person sorting the order my partner then reveals one of the dishes that did actually turn up was beef rather than chicken I then relay this message to which I’m told they would send this dish out correctly plus the two other dishes that was missing….. needless to say we never received any of it. Don’t bother with the mandarin it’s a complete joke and on arrival the conditions and general appearance of the place is somewhat unacceptable for a food selling outlet I definitely won’t be going back.

Food was alright, nothing special. Took almost 2 hours to arrive. Ordered at 7.30. Called at 8.40 to see where food was, was told it was on its way. Called again 9.10 as still not arrived. Food arrived 9.20, was piping hot. Wouldn't have arrived piping hot at 9.20 if was out for delivery 8.45.... Would not order again.

Best Chinese we've had in ages 🥰

Amazing Chinese. Definitely far better than either of the two Chinese takeaways in Needham! Satay chicken skewers are lovely, sweet and sour chicken balls are not too greasy. Only issue is the sweet and sour sauce which comes with the chicken balls. It tastes vile and is inedible - it always has to go in the bin.

Nice Chinese. Bit expensive though

My first time ordering a Chinese takeaway. Food was good.. however there appeared to be a long black hair going right the way through one of the chicken balls!!! Ended up chucking some of them away. Bit disappointing as the rest of the food was nice.

Been going here for years and it’s always been lovely.. Saw a couple of terrible reviews online and thought we would try again and maybe boost morale by a phone call after food as it’s always lovely. Tonight I was told food would be 45 mins (it then took 1hr to p) I couldn’t pay by card (even though I explained we had no cash and it was a big order) and then unfortunately the food arrived cold.. also I had specifically asked for a dish and double checked with the lady who answered the phone, yet this arrived wrong. When I called to ask about this issue I was told ‘no I repeated your order to you over the phone’ when I said yes and it’s not what I asked for I was then asked to pay for another dish. Unfortunately I will not be using this Chinese anymore which Is a shame, much better service at little china in stowupland.

Disappointed. Chicken was pink.

Very good service and nice food

Tonight we tried the mandarin first time ever had an £8 box meal absolutely beautiful would recommend noodles tasted a little bit off , bbq ribs in bbq sauce were really good too 👍👍 will go back a second time

Foods not the best they say you get what you pay for? Not true at this takeaway very very expensive not good value for money.

I love the food here,delivery can take longer but I have always found it to be a good meal..

Wow Wow Wow. Excellent Chinese takeaway. Hot and Sour soup rich, thick, volcanic and tasty. Sesame Prawn Toast lovely and thick and gorgeous. Special Foo Yung packed full of flavour. Szechaun Chicken tasty and with a lovely spicy kick. Exceptional. Even the Prawn Crackers were excellent. We have been looking for a Chinese since moving to Stowmarket in April and we have found a winnner!

We have ordered from here for years but the last three or four times have been below par. Chicken chow mien tastes funny ( I’m Guessing it’s been reheated in microwave )portions have been reduced , egg foo yung and five spice chips half the size they were . Very disappointed now . To give it another chance we have just received another order and it’s really not up to scratch , chicken balls crispy , ribs over cooked & chip portion getting smaller and smaller . Rang up to ask if chef has changed , told no!! Not sure we will order again .

I had a beef curry and it had mushroom in it and very hot it felt like it had, 3 peppers 🌶 in it will not be get it again

Always consistent chinese takeaway. Great value and always busy.

Lovely food and service 5 star Thank you

Chicken balls and mushroom and cheese wrapped dry and over cooked, chips under cooked. Indefinite need of improvement, will not be ordering from here again in a hurry.

Take away service good and quick delivery in time slot given. Food piping hot, delicious, light and fresh. Good portions, good menu choice. Would recommend.

Been searching for a decent Chinese since moving to the area 4 years ago. Delighted to find the Mandarin with the added bonus of delivery for a very small charge to my area. We have had 2 experiences now and every dish has been fresh and full of flavor. You can tell they know how to deliver a quality product from moment you dial order in, very polite quick and clear and delivery has been very quick indeed. A couple of things to be aware of, delivery is cash only and there is not a full menu online, its photos of the menu and appears to be missing a few pages so you cant see the starters. Keep forgetting to ask for a menu to be included with delivery. Apart from those very small things I'm still giving 5 stars based on the quality of the food, every item we have had has been very tasty and very good portions including the meat content - keep up the good work, getting excited about trying more dishes this evening! 2022 update, unfortunately the standards have gone massively down hill last few years and we don’t use anymore. Was good on occasion that suggested main chef was not always working then went consistently bad

First time using this place. Menu found online was out of date with most items having a 20p/30p increase & delivery charge increased (to be expected in current climate) One of the items we ordered (Pad Thai chicken) was not on their new menu but they still made it. Ordered by phone for delivery. Stated it would take 45 mins however it arrived in under 30 mins! All items ordered came & were piping hot. All items were lovely. Would definitely use again.

Sunday evening, 4 adults, all hungry but too late to do a roast so opted for a Chinese. My wife had the Mandarin somewhere at the back of her mind being recommended by a friend so we gave it a go. Excellent all round!! Phoned it through for delivery; ETA 45 mins, arrived in 30… and all hot! Quality - excellent and the Tom Yum soup was superb with big bits of fish, squid and prawn. Also came with fortune cookies! Will definitely use again

Loved the food. Amazing quality

Moved here last year and was very happy to visit a new local Chinese I could rely on as I’m a big fan of the food, reviews looked great so gave it ago! We was so pleased that they delivered but every single time they were late and always got the address wrong, in the end we started to collect to make things easier for both, the food is nice/ok but portions that are meant for sharing came to a massive disappointment as it wasn’t great for two people let alone 3-4 people to share between.Iv ordered to collect and paid at collection and made it back home to the sofa with Freinds, I get a phone call from the Manderin saying they have given us somebody’s else’s order and asked me to come back to drop it off to them and as I go to pick up the rightful order he then asks me if I have payed which I did , he than tells me he charged me for the other order and he needs more money off of me, he made me feel like I was the one in the wrong but I still agreed and when I got home my partner wanted to speak to the manager but he refused to take the call off of the lady who answered the phone,we proceeded to pay the rest of the amount and left it as that. I then! Go back for another try a few weeks later and the food wasn’t in it’s normal appearance and things didn’t taste good so unfortunately I’m leaving this rather long boring review unfortunately and have to look elsewhere :/ the man needs more customer skills and appreciation considering I’m the one paying extra and using up more fuel driving ur food muck ups back and forth .

Usually ok. Not so tonight. The order arrived incomplete. When the rest of the food arrived, the first part was cold. The offered us free items “next time”, that didn’t go down well with my 11yr old son. Ruined a family evening. Service was really not good enough.

Best Chinese there is. Food is always nice and hot and the quality never drops!

Another excellent meal tonight.

Super fast delivery, said 45min but arrived in 20min not been in a while but the Chinese was great and will use next time.

Excellent food, I highly recommend.

I had a Chinese last night a very good one, delver very good, good not fine anything wrong, I will oder other soon, thanks for the savers

Ordered takeaway for our 40th wedding anniversay we live in stowupland best Chinese we have ever had nice and hot well done and thankyou very much definitely recommend

Our new favourite takeaway! Everything tastes fresh and travelled really well. Dumplings were amazing!

I cannot see how people can rate this as 5 star?!! This has to be one of the worst Chinese meals I have ever eaten. Chilli beef was chewy and very pale looking, even the seaweed was chewy!! The spring rolls were soggy batter inside. I will normally eat any vegetable but the vegetables in black bean sauce had the weirdest smell and tasted even worse, it had to be removed from all of our plates. The chicken in the satay chicken was rubbery and none of it was eaten in the end. To be fair, the duck pancakes and the plain noodles were reasonable but that was £41 wasted and we regret choosing this takeaway. I do not recommend.

Lovely counter staff when ordering and comfortable area to wait. To top it all great food, great portions and a great taste.

I would happily give this take away 4 stars had it not been due to the fact that they have recently updated their policy on payment for the weekends. They no longer accept card payments from Friday to Monday, which during this current climate; I find overly frustrating that cash is the only option when nobody is carrying cash around these days. With a cash point over 4 miles away I would need to drive there, especially due to the roads in my area, you would be daft to walk them at night. Being a Friday night I am not in a position to drive which I am sure a lot of others would be in the same predicament. Very bad business model. So lost business.

Great service. Very quick and efficient and the food is amazing.

Very very nice food and lots of it . Cant rate it highly enough !

Ok nuffing special teasty fast service one dish was cold time got home

A good meal from a takeaway worthy of it's four star plus rating.

Ordered late Friday night, English guy on the phone friendly... Ordered quite a bit of food. Food came within 40 mins. Chicken balls were the best we've had from a Chinese, and free bottle of coke was a nice surprise too. Everything was nice, hot, fresh and good portions. 👍

This is just the Best Chinese. Luckily it is local to me so don’t have to go far. The food is Always fabulous. Nice & hot n very tasty & delicious. Would Highly recommend.

For a Chinese this is the best in Suffolk I would say. Just seems like they put alot more care into there food. It has great flavour. Chilli crispy chicken is awesome. S&S sauce tastes so much better than that gloopy stuff every other place sells. Also the prawn toast is amazing. 8/10, good customer service to.

Good takeaway quick service and delivery.. no friLols or fancies but good for a village takeaway. Could try and smarten up building

Typically, The Mandarin is the go-to Chinese takeaway despite it being the furthest away from ourselves. This is solely due to the friendly service and good food that they provide.Like others have suggested, I would agree that the food is not to the standards of which it used to be - but the standards were very high previously.

One of the best chinese restaurants in suffolk, if you want ribs and 5 spice chips this is the heart of that, we've had it every weekend for 2 years and only been missing one thing once, soon as we rang we got it dropped straight off no issues!

Quick friendly service, delicious food

Very disappointed with the customer service I have just had from this take away restaurant, I am intolerant to dairy so I find it very difficult to eat out, I was very excited about having my local Chinese takeaway this weekend, however I was very dispointed from the costumer service I was given when ordering my food, I ordered a couple of dishes that I was reassured on that didn’t contain dairy the receptionist checked with the chef for me, I then asked about another dish that I wanted to know if it contained any dairy products in the sauce, the receptionist went to check with the chef, she then came out and told me that the chef was unsure and told her to google it to see if it contains dairy because their sauces come in packets, the receptionist then told me to carry on looking, so i did so I then asked another appropriate question due to wanting to get the food right so I don’t get seriously ill from it, the chef then came out to tell me that they do not have time to check the ingredients list on their pre ordered packet sauces due to the business of the restaurant, I was under the impression that all of the food from this family ran restaurant was freshly prepared it’s obviously not as fresh as what they state, I did not very comfortable with ordering my meal from there with the lack of reassurance on what their dishes contained, I understand the restaurant was busy but talking down to your costumes when their asking appropriate questions about the food they are paying for. The receptionist was rude and lacked in any awareness about allergens and intolerances, I felt very anexious eating my meal due to the lack of reassurance I got, staff should take there time to make sure their costumers orders are correct when having a food intolerant, I did not find my allergen was taken seriously at all, when I asked if a food product contained dairy I had the reply from the receptionist I don’t know, I will not be returning to this restaurant again, me and my sister are form the village and this is a massive disappointment for us my sister uses this restaurant very regularly, we will be trying other local Chinese take aways we hope that they take allergens more serious than what this takeaway did, staff should be fully aware and trained on food allergies and intolerances and need to understand the importance of how serious it can be given someone a dish that contains allergens that they are allergic to, also when we got home one of our dishes was wrong. This restaurant has gone down hill. I then complained about our order being wrong the receptionist then was very rude towards me and said she got it wrong because I asked to many questions about the food. I have a right to ask questions!

Nice friendly service and quick

The menu here is as you would expect, at fair prices, and the delivery service (at a very good price) is a nice touch. Our order arrived promptly - although they can't give you a meaningful ETA when you place your order. Our biggest gripe was the food itself - tasteless and stodgy. There are much better takeaways in the area... Must try harder!

We had a takeaway on a Weds evening. We had plenty and it was of a good quality, not exceptional but not bad either. If I lived in the area, which I don't, I would certainly use this place again. The food was also ready at the time it was supposed to be ready.

We always receive such good service from the Mandarin whether the food is delivered (so quickly!) or we pick up.There’s a host of vegetarian options which is fantastic and the food is always so fresh and tasty.Hands down the Chinese take away in the Stowmarket area.

We ordered a Chinese which was due to be delivered at 5.30. An hour later it still hadn't arrived. Eventually the phone was answered and were told it should be with us in 20 minutes as it had left 20 minutes before (so would of been at least 40 mins old in arrival). There was no apology for the lateness. When the fold arrived it was clear that it was old, cold, soggy and tasteless. Also there was one dish missing. After half an hour of the phone not being answered, we then rang from a different number which was answered straight away. Eventually the manager called me back and was really rude telling me with a missing dish wouldn't be delivered. The only offer was for us to go and collect the missing dish. We said we wanted a refund as it was inedible and we had to find alternative food. She said the only way we would get a refund was if we drove and returned the food. We will not be using this takeaway again. Not only for the poor quality food but the disgusting response from management.

Great staff and great food... !!

For the second time, we were missing half the food we ordered. We had to travel 20 Mins TWICE and wasnt greeted with sorry but had a £10 note waved at us! The woman on the counter told us we were rude and abusive. Obviously I was unhappy but she was raising her voice and being rude to us, slammed the phone down on another customer and stormed out. Clearly the member of staff need to go on a customer service training course.

Had this 3 times and after two I was ill all week didn’t think it was the food until had again my mouth so dry intense upset belly feeling sick won’t use again whole family unwell need to drink so much water would give zero stars

Had several takeaways from the Mandarin, can be a bit hit and miss but always delivered quickly, somewhat average

The food was hot, but the food just had a weird taste. Wasn't nice at all. Shame really

Usually very nice. But although service was good, food was very poor.

Please stop using white paper bags for chips! We dont like eating paper

Used to be my most favourite Chinese in the area has since gone down hill rapidly, the crispy chilli beef used to be amazing, proper pieces of beef now it's just mush nothing crispy at all, chow mein over cooked and chips soggy. Won't be ordering again, 2 star rating as delivery driver was lovely.

Well, one of the worst if not the worst Chinese’s I have ever had. The veg in the Satay chicken skewers was raw veg and the chicken was so over cooked I couldn’t cut it. The only good thing was the chips. Very disappointed especially as it wasn’t cheap. Definitely not fresh.

Really good food with extremely pleasant staff.

Brilliant meal. Best Chinese I have eaten

I ordered a takeaway to be delivered & paid by card. After it arrived we realised a dish was missing. I rang & they said it would be credited back to me. After checking my next statement I found no refund, so I rang on sun 1 July. I spoke to TINA, who was VERBALLY ABUSIVE to me, telling me how I should bank(as was a month since my refund should of been processed) literally shouted at me down the phone every time I tried to explain that I only get bank statements monthly. I am in total shock at being spoken to in this way! She defiantly needs CUSTOMER CARE course ASAP

Order on the phone - get told 40 mins and 10 minutes later exactly what you ordered and still hot as well turns up. Well worth the delivery charge.

Good, tasty food, reasonable portion sizes but a little pricey

awful! two days of deli belly after this, never again, only give one star as cant give zero rating.

Food tasty and hot. Amazing chicken balls with proper chicken. Very impressed and will definitely be using again.

Got really bored of the Chinese take aways in town so decided to try a little bit out of town and it was the absolute right choice, beautiful food!!!

Fab food. Love ordering from these guys. Never disappointed and good of them to delivery so far out

Great takeaway really good food delivered fast by a friendly delivery driver

order from here alot always hot and on time!!

We decided to have a takeaway from The Mandarin for a change. What a change! We ordered different styles of chicken, but when we tasted them they both tasted the same. How do they do that? One even tasted the same as a non "Chinese" dish we had bought from a supermarket! We do live locally and have been before, but this time the food was not good. It may be because it was a Monday I don't know. What I do know is that we will not be in hurry to return.

Wow!! Tonight we tried these for the first time and will definitely be using again, they delivered to us in stowmarket within thre timescale, food was hot and omg tasty so bloody tasty excellent thanks all 😋

Food is always amazing, best Chinese I've ever had.. But the menu on the website is unreadable which is beyond annoying!!!

Had a takeaway delivered and it arrived in a timely fashion and the guy was really friendly, but the food all tasted the same. It's okay if you are hungry but I've eaten nicer food.

An order for four people ready in 15 mins as always. Again as always, totally delicious. Dry crispy beef or me with rice and noodles. The five spice chips with chilli and garlic are superb.

This is by far the best Chinese takeaway we have ever had. We placed a big order for 5 of us it was exactly right the food tasted amazing. I can't wait to eat the leftovers. And they gave us free prawn crackers and bottle of drink. Will definitely be going back again

Hit and miss occasionly good other times bland and tasteless

Beautiful food cooked speedily. Very reasonable price, very helpful and friendly service from the staff.

This place is in the middle of nowhere, but then we live nearby so it's ideal. It is a consistently good takeaway, with incredibly quick service. The five spice chips are absolutely fantastic.

Lovely lady on the phone taking our order, ready on time with free prawn crackers. Food was delicious, we'll definitely return.

We live very local to this takeaway and when neither of us feel like cooking, it is an easy source of food. Every time we have used it the food has been good, well cooked and plentiful. Turn round time is also quite quick, although as we usually use it early evening we can't vouch for other times.

We've used this place a lot and so we forgave it the first couple of mistakes, but the last time took the biscuit. Our food was over an hour late. We couldn't get through on the phone to find out where the food was, or if they had a forgotten us. When the food arrived, a couple of things were wrong - meaning that we ended up with mainly rice dishes and no other main dishes, the food we got was pretty tasteless - why?? plus it was cold. So disappointing, and spoiled our Saturday night in. It's happened a few times now, so tonight we are trying another Chinese takeaway in Stowmarket - fingers crossed.