Joshua W.
Yelp
Went to pick up some food from Royal Pandas Chinese Food, which just opened.
First of all, the food was excellent. I apologize for the pictures of the food mostly eaten, but it went fast when the boxes were opened.
Royal Pandas just opened and they are clearly working through some early issues, but the food quality is not one of the problems.
I arrived at about 11:15 and all the lights were off and the chairs were still on the tables. I tried the door because the times on the door said it was open, which proved true. There were two people in the back, who were both very nice, but not very helpful. The two lunch plates and one dinner plate I ordered took about forty minutes to make, even though I was the only customer in the restaurant. I was told that I would be charged when the food was ready, but I believe it was because they didn't know how to use the cash register. That may have been why the food took so long to "cook". Two kids arrived and manned the cash register, which is when I finally got my food and was able to pay. The fountain drink machine didn't have any nozzles on it, and the employees didn't seem to know how to put them back on, luckily I didn't order a drink. There was also a drink cooler for bottled drinks, but it wasn't plugged in and hadn't been stocked.
The restaurant was clean and had plenty of seating, including a large bar seating area down the center of the dining area.
I ordered the Orange Chicken plate with white rice and Sweet and Sour plate with fried rice (both in the lunch portions) because that is as adventurous as my wife is willing to be at a new Chinese restaurant. The lunch portions were very reasonable and the food was excellent. The Orange Chicken was spicy but not overwhelmingly so, and the Sweet and Sour sauce was not too sweet, as is occasionally the case. The fried rice was very good, and saltier that is typically the case, which I liked, and the white rice was good as well. The Egg Rolls were excellent and surprisingly my 2 year old liked them too. My wife really enjoyed everything I brought her, except my plate which she wouldn't try.
I also ordered the Seafood Delight dinner plate with fried rice (not available in lunch plate size) because I have to try different stuff, it's a compulsion. It was fantastic, great portion size and full of all the good stuff! It was a nice sampling of their seafood options, except the squid which I will try next time.
I will definitely be back to this restaurant, but if the issues haven't improved in the next few visits I'll probably have to call it. Please give Royal Panda a try and let me know how much they have, hopefully, improved.