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Panda Chinese Restaurant-November 29, 2012

December 2, 2012

So, I had to get my local restaurant dining out of the way early this week.  Last night was the Ladies’ Christmas Dinner at my church so I knew there was no way I was eating out for lunch without having to do the rubber band trick on my pants by the end of the night (it works for non-pregnant ladies too, my friends).  I decorated a table, ate some delicious brisket, and may or may not have donned a hood that made me look like a sheep, black paint on my nose, and a graduation robe as a judge in the Sheeple’s Court.  But I digress.

My table….

Since it was a weeknight, there was no way we were going out of Hixson for dinner.  That’s just not how we do it.  We are homebodies for real, guys.  We flipped through our ever-shortening list of Hixson/Soddy-Daisy choices till we landed on Panda Chinese Restaurant, across from Abba’s House and next to Sick Boys Ink (our tattoo shop of choice.  I’m not kidding.).  It’s not the national chain Panda Express, by the way.  Panda Chinese has been around forever with its Chinese food & frozen yogurt sign, but somehow neither of us has never eaten there.

We were greeted by a very friendly lady who seated us, gave us menus, and took our drink orders.  She was minding the entire dining room as well as the cash register and balanced it all pretty well.  There were several other tables occupied but I definitely wouldn’t call it “crowded”.  Several people came in to pick up to-go orders while we were there as well.  Anyway…she delivered our waters along with plates, silverware, folded napkins, and a bowl of fried wonton strips.  Help me.  I could eat nothing but fried wonton strips as my meal, so I was happy.  What is it about this crispy little puffy fried strips of dough?  They aren’t salty or sweet or anything like that but man are they delish.  Love.

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As is the protocol in Chinese restaurants, the menu was gigantic.  We briefly considered one of the “family meals” which included soup, eggrolls, rice (fried or steamed), and two entrees to be shared, but the entree selections were limited (sweet & sour pork and garlic chicken OR beef & broccoli and shrimp with lobster sauce) and didn’t necessarily include the things that we would have chosen to order otherwise.  Instead we ordered off the menu, taking no less than ten minutes to decide what to order.  We skipped the soup but each ordered an eggroll, holding our breath until I cut mine in half to see if it contained pink meat, which frightens me.  Beyond belief.  No pink meat, just normal-colored ground pork, cabbage, and pepper fried up in an eggroll wrapper.  Simple and delicious as an eggroll should be.

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I decided on the cashew beef, which drew me in with the promise of mushrooms, water chestnuts, and cashews all on one plate.  Sounds good to me.  The meat was thinly sliced and tender, the vegetables nicely cooked.  The sauce had a gravy-like consistency and didn’t taste too salty, though I will address the seasoning in a minute.  The fried rice was rather plain, just some long-grain rice fried up with some egg (no carrots, peas, etc.), but tasted pretty good.  It was a huge portion so I had the leftovers for lunch on Friday and really liked it better the second time around, especially since I mixed the rice into the beef mixture instead of eating it on the side.

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Philip got the sweet and sour chicken since he judges Chinese restaurants on how well they do this dish.  The sauce was not as thick and corn-syrupy looking as sweet and sour sauce often is, and he didn’t think it was as sweet as what is usually served in most Chinese joints.  The chicken was nicely fried, the breading not as thick and doughy as you might expect, and the vegetables crisp-tender.  He really liked it, although of course anything fried is rarely better the second time around.

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All in all, I would say that Panda is a pretty good Thursday night Chinese experience (by the way, the total for our meal was $21.85).  I’d love to try a real authentic Chinese restaurant, though, because, let’s face it, the food that we recognize at Chinese food in no way resembles what people in China actually eat, or even what the people who own/work at these restaurants cook for themselves.  Perhaps I should just go in one day and ask them to cook me what they’d consider “authentic”?  Anyway, back to the seasoning issue…while I didn’t think that the food tasted overly salty, I am fairly certain there was MSG in it.  You can argue with me all day long that MSG has no adverse effects, and I know that there are many who believe that and that science is rather inconclusive regarding adverse effects from MSG….but I know how my body reacts and I definitely had some bloating.  I liked the flavor of the food here enough to go back, for sure….but next time I’ll ask for it without MSG.

Panda Chinese Restaurant is located at 5137 Hixson Pike, Hixson, TN 37343. You can call them at 423-870-9563.

Panda Chinese on Urbanspoon

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Filed Under: Asian, By Location, By Type, Hixson, Restaurants Tagged With: Asian restaurants, Chinese restaurants, Hixson restaurants By Mary // Chattavore 10 Comments

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Comments

  1. Vanderbilt Wife says

    December 2, 2012 at 1:20 pm

    From what I've heard, there just NOT authentic Chinese in Chattanooga. Our Chinese students at Baylor sometimes go to Formosa - I think they might have one of those secret menu in Chinese. I don't care for Formosa's normal food, though. I love Panda for what it is - Americanized Chinese with no buffet. My favorite is the Mandarin Combination. Their wonton soup is killer too, compared to most Chinese restaurants. It has cabbage and is just delicious!
    Reply
    • Chattavore says

      December 2, 2012 at 3:40 pm

      Thanks for the ordering tips-I'll have to try both of those next time! I think you're right about no authentic Chinese in Chattanooga (perhaps even America in general!)....but I do wonder how many places would make you something authentic if you asked.
      Reply
  2. _emily_rose says

    December 3, 2012 at 8:26 am

    I'm so glad you had a good experience. I know they are not connected, but I was recently very disappointed with the new Panda Express on Gunbarrel, and probably wouldn't have tried anything else 'Panda.' I was excited to have a non sandwich lunch option close to work, but it was pretty bad. The staff was friendly, but just didn't have their act together. I also take a late lunch, so nothing on the buffet was fresh. I love Americanized Chinese (the same way I love Americanized Mexican), so I'll have to try this next time I'm in Hixson.
    Reply
    • Chattavore says

      December 6, 2012 at 4:13 pm

      I don't know how long your lunch break is or with lunch hour traffic how long it would take you to get there and back, but my husband loves the Chinese restaurant in the East Brainerd Publix shopping center. Cash only, but he says the food is really good. We haven't made it there for a Chattavore post yet.
      Reply
    • Vanderbilt Wife says

      December 6, 2012 at 7:42 pm

      I really liked Imperial Chinese on Gunbarrel - it's in the shopping center with Fresh Market, I think. Have you been there?
      Reply
      • Chattavore says

        December 6, 2012 at 8:56 pm

        I haven't! I'll add it to the list.
        Reply
  3. CC says

    January 20, 2013 at 1:41 pm

    My favorite Chinese restaurant was Mandarin Garden in Hixon. But it closed last year. We have tried Chinese in NY and San Francisco, and think Panda is the closest we can get to authentic in this area. We do not like Formosa at all, even though we've been twice, hoping we would. Panda has very reasonable lunch specials and a wonderful wonton soup. I highly recommend it!
    Reply
    • Chattavore says

      January 20, 2013 at 4:12 pm

      Cindy, we loved Mandarin Garden as well! It was around for a good long while, so we were quite shocked when we realized it was closed. My husband has actually found a tiny cash-only place by the Publix in East Brainerd that he thinks is the best around, so I'll have to try it out soon!
      Reply
  4. Heather says

    February 24, 2014 at 9:02 am

    I enjoyed seeing the picture of the Cashew Beef. I have always wondered what it looked like and I think I will try that instaed of Sweet And Sour Chicken next time. Does anyone know if they deliver? We have always just picked up our orders.
    Reply
    • Chattavore says

      February 24, 2014 at 9:04 pm

      I am not positive, Heather, but I don't think that they do.
      Reply

Thanks for your comments, but remember that Chattavore is a positive site. I reserve the right to delete any comments that contain unnecessary negativity! Cancel reply

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About Chattavore

Hi, I'm Mary! Welcome to Chattavore, a destination for people who want to feed themselves and their families well every day! Life can be crazy, which means that getting dinner on the table can be a challenge (more often than not!) and my mission is to take all your favorite recipes and figure out how to serve them on a Tuesday.

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Want recipes from scratch & restaurant reviews in your inbox weekly?
Subscribe below to get Chattavore's weekly newletter AND a free set of recipe cards to help you learn to cook from scratch!
Your information will *never* be shared or sold to a 3rd party.