Owner: Mr. Yang
Type: Full Service
Add: 3132 Vicente Street San Francisco CA 94116
Tel: 415-564-3481
Reviews :
"Now here is a dive I love! I even make the trek to fog land knowing I won’t fall off the end of the earth when I see the large restaurant sign, and with a name like Old Mandarin Islamic Restaurant, you need a big space. You need a big tummy space as well, as the food, a fascinating combination of traditional Beijing cooking and Steppes food of the Manchu people, comes in generous portions that two big guys could barely finish. Of course the lamb stuffed crispy pancakes could satisfy a small group of skinny tech people. The hot pot comes out as a giant boiling volcano with a sea of tasty broth for cooking thinly sliced lamb, beef, napa cabbage, tofu, (yes, we ate all of that!). This is a family style place so come in a small group with someone who likes to cook. The staff is friendly and helpful. Go if only to say you have been to a place called "Old Mandarin Islamic Restaurant" and leave telling yourself you have had a great meal."

The hot pot is the most popular item...every time we were here, all of the other tables had the hot pot. We ordered the hot pot once; it is indeed very good, however we favored the regular entrees such as the Mongolian Beef, Lemon Chicken, Family Pancake with Beef, and Da Lo noodles. As far as service goes, we’ve never had a problem...the waiter would always make it a point to chat with us.

Don’t forget that since it’s Muslim Chinese, there’s no pork on the menu and they don’t serve alcohol."

"I LOVE THIS PLACE! The food is one of a kind! We usually order plates of the lamb [ One for each person ], clear noodles, spinach, these pancakes filled with yummy beef [ sort of like an Asian calzone ], and tofu cubes. If we’re still hungry, we order an extra plate of lamb. The price does rack up by the end of the night but damn, I would pay that any day! Grab the lamb with your chopsticks and stick it in the hot water and shake it a few times and in seconds, wa la! Finished and ready to be dipped into your sauce [ they’ll charge extra if you want extra sauce ]. The staff may seem rude and distant but they’re actually very friendly [ It may be because my family is friends with the owners ]."

"The owner takes great pride in his food. After he greeted us at the door and seated us he took the time to go over the chef’s specials and recommended some of the best food I had had in a long time. 5 stars for outstanding food."