It’s been quite a few years now since our last visit but last night we finally went back to the Mandarin Palace in my hometown of Hornchurch. I can honestly say that we won’t be leaving it very long before we return again. We enjoyed great Chinese food along with excellent friendly service from every member of the team. We also loved a couple of old school touches that reminded you of years gone by. Let’s begin with our arrival which really set the tone for the evening. It was as friendly as you could ever want before being escorted to our table. Once seated we were immediately brought a large helping of prawn crackers. We then ordered a pint of carlsberg (80s) and a glass of rose wine while we looked at the extensive menu. We decided that despite the appeal of the set menu’s we would order of the main menu to which the waitress was very helpful and said what order the food could be brought to the table. It sounded great so we left it with them. We started with the Gourmet Platter of Five Delicacies ( satay chicken , bbq spare ribs , pancake roll , sesame prawns on toast & crispy seaweed ). We followed this with the with the Assorted Steamed Dumplings. We now moved on to the main courses where we had the Dried Crispy Pork Belly with hot chilli & garlic , Spiced Chicken in garlic sauce , Mixed Vegetable Chow Mein & Spicy Singapore Fried Rice. All the dishes were perfectly cooked and full of flavour. We then moved to dessert and I was in for an old school treat when I saw the Fantastica on the menu. This is a crispy chocolate base with layered vanilla & caramel ice cream , caramel sauce and dusted with chocolate biscuit. I followed this with another treat as they did a Floater Coffee. This brought to an end an evening of great Chinese food with excellent friendly service that makes this restaurant a real credit to not only my hometown of Hornchurch but hospitality itself. I would definitely recommend a visit and for one can’t wait to return once again very soon.