Gateway to quality

Situated in Bloomington's east side commercial district, Mark Pi's China Gate sets itself apart from its surrounding fast food restaurants. This unassuming building houses one of the best oriental restaurants in Bloomington. \nMark Pi's simplistic interior is pleasing to the eyes and distinctly Chinese. Oriental paintings line the walls, candles and flowers adorn every table, and thin partitions section off the main dining room. Soft lighting and quietness provide an excellent atmosphere for a date or pleasant dinner with parents.\nThe hosts and servers were very polite and friendly. We were seated promptly and they quickly filled our water glasses continuously throughout the meal. Our appetizers and entrees arrived quickly and our server checked back with us soon after our meal was delivered. Asking for change from our bill, a pet peeve we find both presumptuous and rude, was unfortunately inquired by our server.\nPrepare to do some serious decision making when you go to this restaurant. The menu is so extensive that we could have taken all night to choose if we weren't so hungry. The list covers all of the entree bases: seafood, beef, poultry, pork, and vegetarian in more varieties than we can name. They also come in family dinner sizes. Although these aren't for everyone in the family, Mark Pi's carries a good number of wines and several mixed drinks. Even though we were very hungry, the large portions were more we could handle.\nWe started with the Shrimp Toast, a shrimp puree deep-fried on toast points. Without the accompanying sauces, we found that the dish lacked much flavor. However, our entrees were fabulous. The stir-fried shrimp was a succulent blend of shrimp, onions, green peppers and white rice. Truly tasty. The Mandarin Almond Chicken was also excellent. It was vegetable-heavy, with crisp onions, water chestnuts, and bamboo shoots among almonds and chicken. It had a very unique taste that we recommend trying. \nMark Pi's is right up there with the best when it comes to leaving you full and with money left to spend. We are sure that we're going to return, and we suggest that you head to Mark Pi's before ordering any more Chinese take-out.