Until this I hadn't been to Panda Express in 12 years, when the vegetarian options at the time were just plain rice and broccoli. That was my only experience with them until now, and let me tell you something: things have come a long, long way.
The new Beyond Orange Chicken is FANTASTIC!!!! I cannot say enough good things about it! The texture, the flavor, literally everything about it blew me away! Tempura fried plant based nuggets with a sauce that's not too sweet and a little bit spicy but not too spicy, and it's just mouth wateringly perfect. An order of these is surprisingly big! One of them turned into multiple meals for me, which was pretty great. My only one complaint about the Beyond Orange Chicken is that it comes with such an up charge, but it's worth it.
I really liked the veggie spring rolls! Crispy outside, nice veggie medley inside.
The chow mein was great. Really flavorful, lots of different textures going on in here. This is, in my opinion, the best side they have. When I go back (and I will be going back) I will just be getting the chow mein for a side, and the beyond chicken. Both were incredible, and honestly, I could have eaten them until my stomach hurt.
I also had the fried rice, which was surprisingly bland? I didn't expect this to be the case. I've never had fried rice from somewhere have such little flavor. It wasn't BAD, it just wasn't anything special, or delicious, or noteworthy? It was a bit of a surprise. I had to put a lot of soy sauce on it for it to be flavorful enough for me.
I ordered online and picked up our food to bring it back to the house. The restaurant was super busy, I mean, the parking lot was PACKED, and there was hardly any seating inside, but our order was exactly right, ready a few minutes early, and we were in and out for our pick up without any issues at all! So that's terrific, and exactly the kind of experience anyone doing an online order pick up is looking for. Very happy with how that turned out.
Again, I will 100% be returning to Panda Express to repeat this experience, just changing my order a little bit in the future. :D I recommend everyone goes and tries this Beyond Chicken, even if you're an omnivore, just give it a chance and see what you think of it!!!