rev:text
| - I am about to do what I NEVER thought I would do: leave a positive review of Panda Express.
Asian food has become waaaay too sweet for my taste and 10 years ago when I had the Orange Chicken, I thought, Good Lord, this isn't just sweet, isn't just too sweet, it was desert-sweet. And I've never been back. Until a few nights ago. I read a long post by a Panda Express chef and I found him to be interesting and compelling
Now, it's not great Asian food, but, hungry as hell, only thing open, I ordered the Pepper Chicken and Kung Pao with rice and it was not bad, pretty good, in fact. Rice was fine, I tasted the Chow Mein and it was either undercooked, not cooked, properly, or a bad recipe. Horrible chow mein. Ugh.
Here's the problem: lots of the dishes are cooked fresh and that can mean a 20 minute wait in the drive-thru. I mean it, too: not 10 minutes that feels like 20; a 20 minute wait.
Also, too many chefs? Online, they offer a sliced Grilled Teriyaki Chicken, and it looks great in the photo, unadulterated. It says online, "not available in all locations", so I called a nearby location around 2pm. Schlub says, "no, we don't serve that here". When I called back later with another question I happened to ask - again - do you serve Grilled Teriyaki Chicken? "Sure", said the new guy. So, one guy, on the crew, doesn't know a main entree is on the menu. That's some training!
My point is, after that first Orange Chicken, I thought I'd never go back, much less give any kind of positive review, 2 stars here-and-now is a real PLUS. Yelp says, "two stars: Meh. I've experienced better" which is really pretty accurate. But that Panda Express is even in the conversation means they've made HUGE strides!
|