Review: Ballard Mandarin restaurant

Following our general rule for new restaurants, we waited a couple weeks after the Ballard Mandarin Chinese restaurant on Market St. and 8th Ave. opened before giving it a try. A couple of things to get out of the way first: if you’re looking for an elegant dining experience, this isn’t the place. It’s newly remodeled, but the decor is very sparse. And they don’t have their liquor license yet, so I had to forego my traditional Tsingtao beer with dinner. But the food is tasty. We ordered General Tao’s chicken, vegetables with prawns, egg rolls and egg drop soup, and it was all good. (Not as good as many of the places in the International District, of course, but this is Ballard.) The service was prompt and courteous, and the bill was reasonable. All in all, we were impressed, and we grabbed a take-out menu on the way out the door.