Panda Palace - Another ABCDE in National City

**** Panda Palace has Closed

Can you dig the generic Chinese Restaurant name? If it has Pearl, Royal, Golden, Garden, Phoenix,  and Eastern or something similar(dragon, ruby, panda?) in the name, it's likely a circa '70's style Chinese Restaurant, something like "Eastern Pearl Royal Golden Phoenix Garden Restaurant", you'll automatically know it's a Chinese Restaurant. Much like Royal Mandarin across the street Panda Palace Restaurant serves a combination of ABCDE ("American Born Chinese Dining Establishment") and Chinoy Food. However, unlike Royal Mandarin, whose Salt and Pepper Chicken Wings are almost legendary in the Filipino Community, nary a word has been said about it. So the Missus and I decided to see why.....

The bright and generic interior screams last century Chinese.

The menu was filled with San Diego Chinoy favorites, and we proceeded to order a few.

Upside Down Pan Fried Noodles($6.75):

Noodles fried to a crisp, topped with shrimp, chicken, beef, and vegetables. First the good, the noodles were excellent, not over fried to a brittle consistency, the noodles got nicely chewy as the sauce soaked through them. The Beef and Shrimp were well cooked, soft, and moist. The bad? This dish had virtually no flavor, even the beef and chicken had no flavor. Combine these noodles and the cooking technique with the brown sauce from the Upside Down Pan Fried Noodles at Mandarin Canton and you'd have a pretty decent dish.

The Missus has a Shrimp with Lobster Sauce($8.25) fixation:

I have an aversion to gloppy, pale dishes studded with frozen peas and carrots. So I asked the Missus how this tasted. Her verdict? B-L-A-N-D. While waiting for our order we watched in amazement, as a Young Boy poured almost a half bottle of soy sauce on his fried rice. I now understood why. In fact, at this point we were pretty close to needing a refill of our soy sauce.

Finally, we had to try the Salt and Pepper Chicken Wings($6.75):

So how did these measure up to Royal Mandarin or Golden Chopstick? Not even close. First of all, not enough salt, pepper, or green onions and garlic topping. Secondly, not crispy enough. One interesting thing; I could distinctly taste a sweet component, either sugar or honey, that made these wings a bit different.

One thing I will say about Panda Palace, our Waitress was super efficient, there was absolutely no wasted motion, from taking our orders, to bringing take-out containers along with our check. As for the food? If we crave some ABCDE grub, I think we'll stick with one of the "Big Three".

Panda Palace Chinese Restaurant
1105 E Plaza Blvd Ste D
National City, CA 91950

One final item - one day soon I'd like to set-up a "taste-test", purely subjective of course, of several (4-5) versions of Salt and Pepper Chicken Wings. So Calvin, Howie, and Jack; you Guys game?

Comments

[dietchilicheesefries]

hey kirk,

does look bland...

another way you can tell ABCDE v.s. authentic is if it got an "A" rating... i believe they grade on a curve in "real" chinese restaurants, its impossible to score higher than a "B"

[Kady]

Oh man, the worst is when you get bland dishes when you're craving some nice flavorful Chinese food.

[Passionate Eater]

Eek. That Shrimp with Lobster sauce should be called "MSG + Cornstarch Deluxe" instead. From the looks of that thing, they definitely used hefty amounts of cornstarch.

[Jack]

Kirk...I'm in! Sounds like a great way to spend an afternoon.

[Rachel]

Wish I was there! I am a sucker for fried chicken ... any style! Yuk I really tend to stay away from Aussie-fied chinese food. It always has the usual taste-alike dishes. Can't wait to see how this chicken wing post goes.

[Kirk]

Hi DCCF - We used to follow those rules when we lived in LA! LOL!Stangely enough, almost all Chinese Restaurants in San Diego strives for an 'A' rating. I guess the news hasn't gotten here yet!

Hi Kady - I could tell that the Chef knew how to prepare food, but the flavoring was soooo bland.

Hi PE - You should see what it looked like after a night in the frig......

Hi Jack - I'll see what Calvin and Howie say, and maybe a few more recruits - plus I'd like at least one other wing place, and I'll let you know!

Hi Rachel - I have a strange fascination with all forms of Chinese Food. Sometimes I'll try a place even if I'm pretty sure it's going to be terrible!

[santos.]

ha! i love it when people review restaurants *not* because they've heard anything good about it, but because they've never heard anything about it at all. there's usually a very good reason for this, and you've proved it!

[EmilyK]

Hi Kirk,

And what a coincidence, here in Paris we have Poulet sel et poivre (Chicken salt and pepper). Now you've given me an idea for this weekend...thanks and I'll be posting.

[Kirk]

Hi Santos - These type of places have an odd attraction..... call me strange if you must!

Hi EmilyK - I'll say it again, for some reason it always sounds great in French! How would you say Loco Moco???

[Brian]

Welcome back to National City, Kirk. I've always passed by this place and I'm happy I didn't use my money on the salted pepper wings there. If you ever come back to National City, can you review Kim's BBQ, a Korean restaurant which is in the same building as Price Breakers right next door to Hometown Buffet. I've always wanted to dine since there are a lack of Korean restaurants down here ever since Korea House in Sweetwater Rd. closed up shop. Thanks :D

[Kirk]

Hi Brian - You know, it's been soooo long since I've been on Sweetwater Rd, I didn't even know Korea House had closed down! If I'm in the area I'll check out Kim's - I've heard it's pretty popular.

[Pam]

"Eastern Pearl Royal Golden Phoenix Garden Restaurant"...LOL!

Ooooh, and I've never been a fan of Shrimp in Lobster Sauce. I think the sauce looks like...(um, never mind.) =P

[Kirk]

Hi Pam - How about the "New Ocean Dragon Ruby Panda Palace"? Yes, the sauce does look like...ummm... not so delici-yoso!!!