Anyone tried The Mandarin Chinese Halal in Springfield ??

[vargas102]

We are going to be down in DC in April and heard from a friend that there is a great Halal restaurant in Springfield Va. Apparently they have a new owner and the food is top notch.

Anyone else tried it or can recommend ?

V

[drchang]

The Mandarin Restaurant offers greasy versions of American Chinese fare - I wouldn't go out of my way for it. This is a far cry from real Chinese Muslim food - none of the dishes I have known and loved are offered (I have fond memories of the QIngZhen restaurant in Taipei). I wish there were some place I could get dumplings filled with lamb and sour cabbage, or beef tendon noodle soup .

[OaktonWhitney]

the last time I had Chinese Halal food was about three years ago.
It was at a Chinese Halal restaurant in Los Angeles.(somewhere north
of I-10, I think)

The food there was excellent... great lamb dishes. very authentic,
not "Americanized" at all... (well.... almost all Chinese restaruants
in LA area are better than the DC area... :D )

I wonder if the place in Springfield is any good... are there other
Chinese Halal restaurants around here?(MD/DC/VA)

thanks! :)

[bmorecupcake]

Mandarin Halal is more Pakistani-Chinese cuisine. The owners are descendants of Chinese who moved to Pakistan and then moved here. (They speak perfect Urdu!) I recommend the hot and sour soup, spicy chicken wings (by far my favorite), chili beef (or beef chili was it), and crispy hakka chicken.

There are not any other good Chinese Halal places around here. There was one in Manhattan that closed recently called Greenhouse. I hear there is another in Queens, but haven't been there yet. There's one in Brooklyn that is halal in the religious sense (their meat is halal), but their flavors are that of American-Chinese.

[Minger]

wow, thanks for the background info. we have in this area Korean-Chinese and Indian-Chinese, now one more interpretation to try.

[tazeenrules]

yepp its in springfield plaza behind k-mart and traders joe, and opposite to pizza hut.

[wayne keyser]

Okay, Hounds - we gotta have an ADDRESS, or directions, or something, even if it's just "go to this intersection and follow the aroma..."

[chowser]

This caught my interest. The only thing I could find is this:

http://mobile.zabihah.com/details_sub...

But when I googled the mandarin halal there, the website listed didn't exist. If it's the one listed, I go to that plaza fairly frequently and haven't noticed it.

[bmorecupcake]

The correct URL for those reviews would be:
http://www.zabihah.com/ds.php?id=7572

It's actually in the way back corner of the plaza, and very easy to miss, even if you've been there a hundred times.

Zabihah.com is an excellent source for reviews of halal restaurants. Many Pakistani/Indian restaurants are halal, and most of the reviewers on that site are Pakistanis and Indians.

[chowser]

Is it behind the Trader Joe's? I know the front side of that plaza pretty well and don't remember it but only go to the back side for the running store. Thanks for the updated link.

[bmorecupcake]

Almost. If you're facing the Trader Joe's entrance, it's to the right and then further back, there's a mini-plaza-island thingy. Very, very close to the Trader Joe's. The restaurant is also very popular with the local hispanic population, so you can try asking someone walking around and they can probably point you in the right direction.

[tanga]

The website has contact numbers and a map. www.mandarinchinesehalal.com

[zsam]

I think it is really good. I didn't find it greasy actually (as compared to O's place). I loved the Chicken Manchurian and the Mongolian Beef!

Very fresh food and good service too. I definitely recommend it!

[Minger]

Is "Chinese Halal" like Americanized Chinese kosher or ethnic like Chinese Muslim? I'm curious to try this place but don't want to find diluted flavors.

[firzaan]

chinese halal means that its a regular chinese restaurant just that the meat is halal meaning its killed under islamic laws ...just like kosher..

[tazeenrules]

yes, its near my place and i go there twice a week. The food is tasty but a bit on the greasy side, but still i will highly recommend it.