My husband and I live very close by and were intrigued by the recent change in name and management of what used to be Szechuan Garden. We were not regulars to Szechuan Garden, but now we may be regulars of Spicy Panda.
I like all the Christmas decorations inside the restaurant, as well as the big Chinese paintings of animals like goldfish, which signify good fortune. You can tell this place is more "authentic" because all the employees are Chinese and speak multiple dialects of Chinese. There was even a table of Chinese kids watching TV and on their phones, and not eating--obviously related to the owners or employees in one way or another.
The menu includes a good variety of Chinese-American dishes and "authentic" Chinese dishes. We ordered 1/2 a Peking duck, boiled fish in hot sauce, and Kung pao chicken. Like at most Chinese restaurants that serve Peking duck, Spicy Panda uses the duck bones to make a bowl of duck broth soup. The soup here is clean, creamy, and hearty.
For a Friday evening, service was pretty quick. The fish came out first with two bowls of rice. We thought it tasted mild at first but then the peppercorns kicked in. Their version of the boiled fish is pretty good; it reminded me of flavors I've had in Taiwanese cuisine. The duck and Kung pao chicken soon followed. The duck portion appeared small to me, but it's actually quite filling. I like the very thin wraps this restaurant uses, rather than the sweet baos (buns) that a lot of other restaurants serve with Peking duck. They give you a good amount of sliced green onions and cucumbers to eat with the duck; their plum sauce is a bit strong for my taste, though. The Kung pao chicken was surprisingly good. They give you a lot of peanuts in this dish, and the sauce is different from the sauce I've had in other Kung pao chicken versions. Overall, I liked the food here very much.
Service was pretty strong overall. It seemed like they had one server for the whole restaurant, but the owner and who I assume to be his wife also helped with serving. We definitely got more attention towards the beginning of the meal rather than later. Also, we had to flag someone down to give us chopsticks--they really should just provide chopsticks without prompting, as most people know how to use them.
My last quibble with the service is the rice issue. I hate it when Asian restaurants are stingy with their rice. I understand that one order of XYZ dish is served with one serving of rice. But is it really necessary to bring out three bowls of rice for my husband and me to share between the two of us? Why can't you just bring out a communal bowl of rice for us to serve between the two of us. We're both clearly Asian, give us chopsticks. Give us rice.
Lastly, the bathrooms are spacious and clean. Oh, the music is just Mix 96.5, which I thought was very distracting. At least set it to Sunny 99.1, which is airing holiday favorites.
Overall, a surprisingly good dining experience. Will probably be making future visits here. read more