MANDARIN STREET

“On the corner of Tonsley hill and Old York Road in London, you’ll find Mandarin Street, a restaurant that cares as much about aesthetics as they do about providing high quality Chinese food to the public. It simplistic exterior of black panels and a white London street sign overhead gives you the impression of understated chic, but when you look inside you’ll see all the fun and quirky designs that make this restaurant special.

There’s a large array of cacti lining the window ledge, the walls are a mix of cream plaster and exposed bricks which gives off a rustic vibe. There are hexagons, Chinese letters, daisies and roughly drawn fish scattered over the walls, if you love symbolism you’ll be staring at the walls of this place all day long! It makes for wonderful daydreams while you eat your dumplings.

The decorative and colorful female stamped on the brick wall was drawn from chalk, and created by a local artist. The Chinese style clouds, often repeated throughout this design, center around two large pillars, inspired by Battersea power station. Even in the hallway walls leading down to the lavatories you’ll find Chinese watercolor Koi fish, and a surreal looking man in a suit with a cat head (I kid you not). Through these careful artistic choices, its clear that meaning is woven through every part of the fabric that is Mandarin Street. The restaurant branding was developed by powerhouse agency The Council, a team that strive to achieve “A brand that is not only valued, but valuable”, together with the restaurants owner Ni Han, they produced a restaurant with unique style and bucket loads of cool.”

Review By: All branded, February 2017