Panda Cuisine

This place is in a little strip mall, but inside it is really great. The decor is warm and inviting and we were seated right away. Our drink orders were taken and arrived promptly. I liked that our pop tasted good, not too watery or flat. We ordered the orange chicken and mongolian beef. The temperature of the food was great. The flavor on the orange chicken was very pronounced, very tangy and yet sweet. There were fresh chunks of carrots, green pepper, and zucchini with sliced orange peel. The chicken had very light breading but was a little on the dry side. The Mongolian beef cuts were thinly sliced, good cut of beef not chewy but there was an overwhelming amount of red, white and green onions. It was a little bit much. Surprisingly the flavor on them was not overpowering though, they were well cooked and more subtlety flavored, just alot of them. Overall, it was a very good experience and we'd go back again. The food was delicious, the service was fast and friendly.

My wife and I are visiting from Michigan and decided to find a place with Peking Duck to try for the first time. It was delicious and everything we thought it would be. We also tried the Cold Sesame Noodle appetizer, Pan Fried Onion Cakes, and Grandma's Pork Belly. Everything was delectable and filling. The waitstaff was friendly and accommodating. (If I were to fault the restaurant, it would be that they had 1 too few on waitstaff. They seemed to be very strapped for time and were running around trying to keep up. However, there were way more takeout orders than in house and there were other staff working on that separately so they are managing the business well.) Try if you are in town for fun or if you are a local looking for a new Chinese restaurant. 😉

This place is probably the most authentic Chinese restaurant in Lexington. The authentic dishes have a picture menu, which really helps with knowing what you'll get. Every dish I've had here has been amazing and rich with flavor. My go to starter dish is the cold cuts of spicy beef and beef tendon; note that it's seasoned with szechuan pepper, which gives a unique spice afterburn in the mouth. If you like szechuan peppers, I also recommend getting the spicy pepper crab dish which is dungeness crab flash fried and then stir fried in szechuan pepper oil, green onions, cilantro, and maybe some other seasonings and herbs I don't recall. The grandma's pork belly is also amazing with its savory brown sauce. The pork belly melts in your mouth with each bite. It's addicting. I was woofing all this food down with such satisfaction. I recommend white rice to go with these dishes, as white rice really let's the flavors of each dish stand out. The food came out decently quick as well. I definitely recommend this place if you're looking for more authentic Chinese dishes.

Spicy chicken with noodles can be better, dumpling good, jasmine tea can better.

Finding this restaurant really feels like a breath of fresh air in the midst of american chinese food… that one dish with pork belly surrounded by veggie was tHE BEST. MUST TRY!!! I also like their fried rice a lot!! It was a little bit too salty/too much MSG for my liking though, but what can you say it makes the food tasty. Overall a good visit, quick and friendly service. Will pay another visit if I happen to pass by Lexington again to try their other dishes. Recommended

This is the 5th time I've eaten here, and it is consistently fantastic. I love that you can order authentic Szechuan dishes here (you can even order the Szechuan eggplant or the Szechuan fish fillet as very affordable--- and tasty--- lunch specials during the week days). This is not only the best Chinese restaurant in Lexington by far, it's actually better than all the Chinese restaurants in Louisville as well.

When they say a dish is spicy, the mean SPICY 🔥. I love spicy and often ask for my Chinese food to be prepared extra spicy. At Panda Cuisine, I ordered a "2 chili" (marked on the menu as 🌶️ 🌶️). It was super hot. They have some items marked with 4 chilis, I can only imagine!

My wife and I came for the buffet because we both love Szechuan and we were not disappointed. The buffet was probably the best Chinese food I’ve had in Lexington. If you haven’t been here you are sorely missing out.

This place is in a little strip mall, but inside it is really great. The decor is warm and inviting and we were seated right away. Our drink orders were taken and arrived promptly. I liked that our pop tasted good, not too watery or flat. We ordered the orange chicken and mongolian beef. The temperature of the food was great. The flavor on the orange chicken was very pronounced, very tangy and yet sweet. There were fresh chunks of carrots, green pepper, and zucchini with sliced orange peel. The chicken had very light breading but was a little on the dry side. The Mongolian beef cuts were thinly sliced, good cut of beef not chewy but there was an overwhelming amount of red, white and green onions. It was a little bit much. Surprisingly the flavor on them was not overpowering though, they were well cooked and more subtlety flavored, just alot of them. Overall, it was a very good experience and we'd go back again. The food was delicious, the service was fast and friendly.

"I come here often and usually the food and service are very good -- better than most local places. However, during my visit today, even though it wasn't very busy, the service fell short. With a buffet there isn't much to manage, but I didn't get refills or follow-ups. Hoping this was just an off day, since it's normally a great experience."

I had seen ads for this place in a local Facebook group and decided to try it with my husband today. At first I was nervous because the buffet area looked somewhat small, but I remained positive. Once we got our first plate we realized how yummy the food was. So so good and very authentic! Everything was good but my favorites were the fried rice, dumplings, crab rangoon, and Mongolian beef. I wish they had sushi but overall it was a good experience. The customers service could use a little bit of work to be honest, but I ignored the negative there. I'll definitely come back some time. I give it an 8/10!

Went to Panda Cuisine for Thanksgiving and had their special buffet. I found the offerings a little disappointing, but it did include some unique items that people may not be used to. For $28.... It wasn't worth the money. Staff was friendly and great about cleaning up plates and giving refills.

So we went here for thanksgiving for the second year in a row. The people that work here are incredibly friendly and attentive. No sooner were we done with our plates they came and cleared the table. We decided on the buffet. I have to say they are consistent in the quality of what they put out. I tried tea infused duck for the first time and it was so good. I'm also a huge fan of dim sum and BBQ pork buns which they had and were equally as good as I remembered from last year. They have an amazing selection of sea food on the buffet as well. They are rotating old and new food out on the buffet when something is close to empty. We'll be coming back for Christmas with some friends in tow . I'm born and raised in New York and used to authentic Chinese food in China Town and this is as close as I can get here. As for the ambiance it's casual you don't need to be dressed up to go here. There are plenty of tables in the dining room well spaced out and they also have party rooms. For the Christmas buffet it's 19.99 per person so it doesn't really get much better then that.

this is so fye, like this gotta buffet and other food ona menu. The people are nice and look like they know what they doing. It is a quiet calm lul place i recommend fosho.

One more visit: expertly prepared dinner; all the dishes we ordered were superb. The wait staff are lovely. We would go back every week if our budget would cooperate!

Food was pretty authentic sichuan/chongqing spicy. The Sunday lunch buffet was not too large but packed with goodies.

I'm from SICHUAN just crossing here.It was amazing SiChuan food in America I have had.Excellent service and lower price.Highly recommend Panda Cuisine

Coming from the SF Bay Area, our family has missed Chinese food. Panda Cuisine is by far the most authentic Chinese food in the area, probably within 250 miles. Went for the weekend lunch buffet. Highlights were the salt and pepper shrimp, soy milk soup, pork belly, pigs ear, and intestines. Loved the choices of vegetables too (broccoli, egg plant, snow peas, choy). Wished we lived closer so we could have more often.

Delicious. A little bit of everything. Not too salty or oily. Great Szechuan flavor. And for the price, you get a lot of food.

This place was a pleasant surprise. The atmosphere was quiet and relaxing, there were plenty of options and the service was very quick, never an empty plate or glass on the table for longer than a minute. The food was all delicious, I really liked how they had a good mix of American-Chinese and authentic Szechuan Chinese flavors. Some dishes I liked were cumin duck wings, clams, mussels, tripe, Mongolian beef, gyoza, mixed meat hot pot, hot & sour soup and pepper chicken. Pricing was fair, will definitely come back.

Got a to go order.... Wonton soup Chicken, fried rice, vegetable, fried rice, Kung pow, chicken, eggrolls, crab, Rangoon It was all great!!!! best Chinese food we had in a long time

Food tasted great. Very small selection mostly pork dishes. Plates were dirty, no paper towels in bathroom. Plus for four people (one being a child) two drinks and two "free" waters our meal total was $70. WTF!!!

We always make sure to stop here when we are in town! The Buffet on the weekends is the best! Their Szechwan Wonton soup is so good- we can never find anything like it anywhere else! General tso's is always delicious, and there are so many options in the buffet!

Food is a solid meh. We went for the buffet on Christmas (super cliche, I know). Most of the food was just mediocre at best. We came in early, very few options out, most stuff was just very plain and middle of the road, it's hard to describe. Nothing was BAD, but there is nothing memorable.

I had a very simple meal - fried rice & wonton soup. The soup was better than most I've had. The fried rice was not as good as my other local favorites. I prefer the pork be roast port. The ambiance was warn and comfortable and the service excellent.

The service was sweet, the food was ok, but the waste on the buffet was shocking. So much seafood that no one was touching. I cannot even imagine how much fish and shellfish went into the trash at the end of the night. I won't be back.

My takeout was ready in a timely fashion, but I was kind of iffy on it. The ma po tofu was good, with a nice peppery spice mix on top. Not quite as spicy as I'd like, but flavorful for sure. There just wasn't quite enough portion for the price to make it worth my while, and the choice of white or fried rice on the site leaves something to be desired. I thought I'd get more veggies and an alternate protein source, and tried bok choy with water chestnuts. The sauce had an off taste I couldn't place, and the nuts had a grainy texture; I guess I just don't like whatever nuts they use. The other thing I had against them was a lack of clear vegetarian labeling on the menu. It was a nicer place inside than I expected, and I could see dining there, but as far as takeout goes, I kind of wished I'd just eaten in.

They increase the prices significantly (30%) if you order through door dash compared to the price on the receipt you get. Very misleading. Will not be going there again.

It's fast, great service, it was very calm, there's so many options, and the food is AMAZING.

Excellent food and service. I came for the buffet but wasn't aware it is only on the weekend. I was traveling through the area so I will gladly consider that my mistake. I am glad I did eat here. The food portion was large and the ingredients were fresh. In the case I am back in this area I would consider this again.

The food is great! I have attended several birthday banquets there, and the host ordered for us, so I can't say what's good on the menu. Never ever had a bad dish, though. Fish Hot Pot, Bok Choy with Chestnuts, Fried Tofu, all delicious! Service is matter-of-fact but efficient. Ambiance is pleasant. Food is fantastic!

Went there on a rainy Tuesday afternoon... which was perfect! What better than to have some hot n sour soup on a cold rainy day!? The ambiance is nothing much to look at and very dated.... same typical waterfalls n dragons n the works. They have round tables as well as booths. I've heard that they do a general buffet on saturdays and then in Sunday's, they have a dim sum party. We ordered soups, shrimp dim sum and vegetable egg rolls to start with. Everything was fresh n piping hot... just as I like it. For the main course, we ordered a spicy fish curry with friend rice, family style. The curry was amazing!!!!!!! So now here are a few things that were not too great: While ordering, we were sort of misled by the order taker on the size of portions. The servers were less than friendly.. not rude, just very very dry. We had to catch their attention numerous times; there was carelessness in attitude even though the place hardly had 2-3 tables full only. Would I go back? You bet! Coz the food is worth it!

I was introduced to this restaurant years ago when a student from Taiwan was an intern with me at a local business. I fell in love with the food there. It is truly authentic Chinese food. I believe it is Szechwan Style. I do not care for their wanton soup, it is not like our normal wonton soup you get at other Chinese restaurants, it has a hot oil and the broth is not what you would expect. The menu is very extensive, the quality of food is better in the evening off the menu than at the Buffett on the weekends.

Panda Cuisine is THE most authentic Chinese restaurant in Lex! Everything I had was to die for. They have amazing dim sums and serve Sichuan food! Instagram: @foodbytiana

One of the best spots in Lex. I lived in NYC for five years and this is better than all but one Chinese spot I knew there in east Queens. Duck is particularly impressive. Always amazed how empty it is. I will say the buffet is lackluster compared to the dinner menu but it's still good relative to most Chinese in Lex.

After having several good meals at Panda Cuisine in Lexington KY we had the Jade beef and it was inedible tasted old and slimy we were told that it was us and not the dish. Management refused to make it right and had a aggressive attitude in the conversation. Look at the bottom of the check we were also charged for the cheap plastic already used table cloth with holes in it. My advice find another Chinese restaurant. Since they make you post at least 1 star I give it a -1...zero!

Place is good. I had the jade beef and it was very good, not too spicy and full of flavor. My boyfriend had the sweet and sour chicken and dumplings. It was so good and decent service. Just a warning this will give you the worst tummy ache and have you sitting on toilet for maybe an hour.

The only truly authentic Chinese restaurant in the bluegrass. There are dishes on the menu you won't find anywhere else outside of Szechuan. Be adventurous. Try the "weird" stuff. Don't be afraid of a little spice. Or a lot of spice. Also, they're very friendly.

Oddly good Chinese food where'd you'd least expect? the flavors were adjusted pretty well and the staff was really friendly. Except for the part where they assumed I was here on business, specifically race horse business. Oh well mix ups like this happen when you're in lexington, it's the horse capital of the world afterall. Either way we can some pretty good string beans, rice was good too. Everything was reliably solid. this review is time stamped for 2019 though so i'm not entirely sure if anything about it has changed since then. Hopefully the place is just as good now as it was back then. The noise level is moderate just like any chinese restaurant. Overall I think if you're chinese in the middle of kentucky this is a great place to have dinner.

Fantastic food!! Authentic meals plus the staple "American" style Chinese meals. The dinner entrees are large enough for two people to share and are served piping hot. The restaurant is tucked away in a strip mall behind other businesses, so tou have to WANT to get there, and believe you me, you want to get there. Service is efficient, non-obtrusive and friendly. It is a definite top-stop for us when we have to have quality Chinese fare.

Very authentic Chinese food! Nostalgia of taste!Great value! Nice place to go if you like actual Chinese home dishes.

As far as Chinese restaurants go, this is the best one in Lexington. It's pretty authentic Chinese food and high quality compared to your average Chinese restaurant. The buffet doesn't have a huge selection but the items they do have are great.

The best Chinese food in Lexington hands down. And a unique dining experience. Come here with a group and plan on sharing. Their large round tables have a lazy Susan in the middle that you can use to share the bowls of food with everyone at the table. I haven't had anything I didn't like. Once the bill is split it averaged about 15 a person, but you get so much food and there isn't another dining experience like it in Lexington.

This place is amazing. We will drive up from Louisville as we do not have a quality Schezuan place here. Their weekend dim sum and authentic Chinese buffet is amazing. How many buffets can you go to that have "real dim sum" and pig ears readily available. My favorite dish is the Schezuan beef and tendon dish which is oh so very spicy and has a reasonable amount of tendon. Their Hot Pot stewed beef, beef tendon and beef brisket dish is also delicious and a great serving. As is their Pork Intestine hot pot. Are you starting to see a theme? We love the odd cuts of meat, especially if they are chewy. The spice may set your stomach on fire the next day, lol but it's so well worth it. Not going to lie, we will order food to go prior to leaving to take back to Louisville. If we are driving through Lexington, we will order to go to take with us. The service is very friendly, as is the owner who I've only spoken to once in hopes to talk him in to opening a location in Louisville. I failed..

When we arrived we didn't know if we should seat ourselves or not. It was 8 pm on a Saturday and clearly they had just gotten done with a rush. Once seated, the staff was very cut to the chase and order. No issues with it personally, but if you are used to super friendly wait staff who go above and beyond for you, then you may hate this place. This is also not a sweet and sour chicken place. This is traditional and authentic and wonderful. Best egg rolls and dim sum in town!!! Seriously the best. It is all clearly made in house and the flavor is fantastic. For around $4.25-$6.95/each you get 4 pieces of dim sum. The pork buns and dumplings are all $4.95 for 4 pieces. Egg rolls are $1.50 a piece. In addition to the tasty goodness, we got chicken and chestnuts with rice and Singapore rice noodles. Both came family style and packed a lot of deliciousness. I wished the noodles had more moisture to them as they were a bit dry in texture. We got tap waters for our drinks and regretted it. I never thought I would review tap water, but here I am saying don't get the tap water. Food came out fresh and piping hot. Can't wait to go back and try more!

Finally got a chance to try their weekend buffet and I'm not sure if I want to come back. I've read great reviews about their weekend buffet but I guess we caught them on a bad weekend. For starters, our service wasn't very good. The server brought us our drinks and then we didn't get anymore refills. The buffet did have plenty of choices, especially the authentic Chinese food portion, so I will give them that. The dim sum dishes, I wasn't very impressed with, the dumplings had the same taste, and nothing really to rave about. I tried one of their fish dishes, and I apologize for not knowing the name of it, but it was so dry. I think after that I was pretty much done with eating at the buffet. In hindsight, the place was very busy and so it must be popular, and usually good; I just didn't have a good first time experience.

The fried rice is good. The egg roll is all cabbage. The general Tso chicken isn't to my liking. Wasn't very tasty. Smaller portions even with the dinner fried rice. And they only gave us chopsticks to eat with for our to go meal. No silverware. Maybe it's a Kentucky thing. I'm from Arkansas. But overall it was okay. I would eat the fried rice again.

We were out for dinner and stumbled across this restaurant. The server was a sweet girl from OK. Very knowledgeable. I had the cashew chicken and rice. Very good. My husband had a chicken dish with chili peppers, he said it was good but not enough chicken and too many chili peppers. He also ordered the hot and sour lettuce but said it was more sour than hot. The server brought some chili oil and he enjoyed that. Overall nice experience.

Love this place. Best *authentic* Chinese food in Lexington. I mean it's never going to be exactly like what you can get in cities like New York or San Francisco, but it's really good. I always go here when I'm in town.

Surprised I have not yet reviewed one of my favorite restaurants in lexington! Few things embody comfort food for me quite like this place... any bad mood can be cured by hot tea and hotpot! There is something for everyone here: vegetarians, meat lovers, spice lovers and those with sensitive palates will all find something here they like. My default dishes here tend to be the hot wonton soup, ma po tofu, spicy eggplant, and spicy fish... but I have never tried something here that I haven't liked. For those overwhelmed by choice... I highly recommend their weekend buffet. I typically avoid chinese buffets like the plague, but enthusiastically recommend this one. Saturday they have their general chinese buffet and Sunday they do dim sum! Both buffets are delightful, and a great chance to try dishes you might otherwise shy away from. Yes, the decor here is perhaps outdated, but I think it adds to the charm/coziness of the place. The staff here is wonderful, fast, and friendly as well. This place would hold it's own in any big city china town, we are lucky to have them in lexington.

Panda Cuisine is the OG authentic Chinese food in lex and still my favorite by far. I have a palate for spicy food and Sichuan cuisine is one of my favorites growing up. I've never eaten at their buffet. On the menu, some of my favorites are Spicy Beef & Beef Tendon (cold dish starter), Boiled Fish (fish fillet in hot chill oil on a bed of cabbage - not very spicy really), and Eggplant in Garlic Sauce (sweet and savory Chinese eggplants). Everything comes in a generous portion and reasonable price tag. Part of me appreciates the conventional indoor fountain at the entrance, red carpet, and banquet style of an interior, but I do wish they incorporated some modern elements, at least brighter light (natural or fluorto make it less dingy.

I love this place. I strongly recommend the fish delight. It is simply flavorful, spicy goodness. A delight for sure. Imperial chicken is also a great option. The chicken is so tender and tasty and awesome. If you're feeling adventurous, ask for something from the "Chinese menu". It's not really a secret menu, but it includes options not on the regular menu. And if you don't mention it, it is like it doesn't exist. From that menu, I'd recommend the spicy chicken with noodles. You have the option to go with bone in or without. The bone in option is more flavorful, but it is a challenge to work with all the tiny bones in the meal. Most people who go to Panda Cuisine go it seems with the buffet. But you're making a mistake going that route. Ordering off the menu gets you a meal with so much more flavor and spice, and it tastes so much better and fresher. Trust me on this one. Buffets are for people who don't know what good food is. In that case, stay home and save the money. I've never had anything here that did not taste absolutely incredible. The chefs are culinary geniuses. In my opinion, this is the best Chinese restaurant in Lexington. If you told me I had one last meal before I checked out, this might be the place I'd choose to get it from.

We tried Panda Cuisine the first time on Thanksgiving as we heard there was a buffet and due to circumstances our plans changed suddenly. Everything was pretty fantastic so we then went again for dinner last night. Everything again was super tasty, though the prices are a bit high on some items (7.95 for cucumber salad, which contains about one cucumber worth, which is disappointing because I could eat my weight in that stuff). The pekin duck was also really really good, though a bit over-cooked. My biggest complaint is that they offered to box our leftovers and omitted two egg rolls, two crab rangoon and the duck leg/thigh. This is especially aggravating since that was specifically saved to be my daughter's lunch before work the today. Of course, since we just noticed when she went to reheat it, there's not much we can do now; but it's pretty pricy to just have been thrown away when we asked to bring it home.

I called ahead to make sure they had Dim Sum on Sunday. The person answering said yes, on the buffet. I got there and there were not many patrons, and the Dim Sum was virtually empty. I waited almost 30 minutes and even asked the boss if there will be some Dim Sum, in which he said they will bring some. kept waiting and there was never any more brought out. I ended up getting 1 custard bun And 1 piece of su mai. I went up to pay and they had the nerve to charge me full price $18 and offered no discount even after I explained multiple times to different people including the boss. In addition, the food that was available was marginal at best. Much better Chinese food in town. yreevInot return here.

Was here on a Friday for lunch, it was surprisingly empty but for a couple other tables with people. Panda Cuisine has been on my bookmark list for long but I finally got a chance to try it when I had an appointment at LasikPlus nearby. The ambience was a nice surprise, mildly lit and warm. The lady took our orders right away. The Chicken Lo Mein was everything I hoped for - yummy and greasy. My husband got the General Tso's chicken with fried rice. The chicken was okay but the fried rice lacked any flavor what so ever. Since they were lunch specials, both our orders came with a veg egg roll each. The filling was just cabbage and it was dripping in oil. (I know that's how egg rolls are supposed to be). So, four stars for prompt service, good Lo Mein and good ambience.

Lots of options to choose from! The only authentic Chinese restaurant in Lexington!!!! Their weekend buffet is sooooooo good!

The best Chinese restaurant in Lexington. We try hard to find one Chinese restaurant in Lexington and this one does not disappoint us.