Royal Mandarin satisfies tastebuds

Within Gloucester County, Deptford is generally known as the hub of shopping and consumerism. The town is known for its infamous mall and shopping centers that draw the surrounding populations into the settlement.

Among the popular restaurants and fast food places there sits an unknown, humble establishment where the food was fresh and the service was quick.

My cousin and I decided to try out this inconspicuously placed restaurant. Royal Mandarin is placed in an overlooked spot in town: between the Staples of Deptford and a Dunkin’ Donuts, all within the same small shopping center.

The interior is lavishly decorated with traditional Chinese and Japanese paintings and plants. The atmosphere is serene and customers are relaxed by the gentle Asian music they play. For anybody wondering, yes, they do have chairs and no, you do not sit on the floor. This place has a great mix of the eastern and western societies.

We first started out with an egg and spring roll which were around $1.10-$1.25 a piece. I soon discovered when eating that they fried everything in peanut oil, giving the rolls that extra-special flavor when biting into it. The spring roll which I never tried before was shrimp, vegetables and herbs wrapped in a flour-based bread and then pan fried. From the taste, I could tell that the shrimp and vegetables were fresh and not packaged or frozen like other places I’d been to.

According to our waiter, both rolls were freshly made to order.

Next I ordered the shrimp tempura rolls, which consisted of  shrimp  covered in a light batter of cold water and soft wheat flour, fried, chopped up into bite-sized pieces with avocado and other herbs and then wrapped up in seaweed covered with rice.

The rolls cost about $6. We were first a little dubious about this, but the results more than met our expectations. The tempura rolls hemorrhaged flavor of a different variety than what we had had before. The herbs and spices along with the avocado complimented the shrimp in a way that is unique in its own way.

For the main course, we had the General Tao’s Chicken: a dish made up of deep-fried chicken, gently glazed with sweet-yet-spicy sauce. The ingredients to create the sauce for the General Tao’s Chicken include ginger, garlic, sesame oil, hot chili peppers and sugar. The sauce did not take away from the tender and crispiness of the chicken and all aspects of the dish came together nicely.

The Orange Chicken was very similar: chopped, deep-fried chicken smothered in a somewhat sweet thick orange-chili flavored sauce. This sauce is more simplistic; the ingredients are mostly orange peels, chili peppers and sesame oil. Both dishes came around about $12-14. For a side, we were allowed to choose whether we wanted brown or white rice. Both types of rice were thoroughly cooked to perfection and were neither dry or soaked with water.

After we were done, I was amazed at how fresh everything was and how quick the service was. We were in and out in an hour. Royal Mandarin is BYOB, so if you bring your own bottle of wine, they will oblige you with some wine glasses. The only beverages they serve are water and green tea.

Personally, I believe that’s the only thing you need to have at this place because drinking soda or any other kind of soft drink will ruin the effect and taste of the food. Everything is fresh, so there’s no need to drink anything else. 

For two people, the bill came out to under $30, affordable for the starving and poor college student.