Golden Panda

This is a place for okay breakfast. The noodles are so plain and tasteless. The special house dishes are just tasteless.

Came back here a few weeks ago. My dad ordered some Beef Noodle Soup. I ordered the same but with a different cut of beef. We got our food 20min apart.
Nothing has improved here. I guess that’s why they are now closed…

I think I’d rather just die than come back here again.
I see a lot of reviews complaining about the servers not knowing English. Yes, that may be a problem but out of all the things to complain about, I think it’s honestly the very least of the problems I had.
When people bash on Chinese (or rather Asian in general) cuisine, what they’re referring to are places like this.
First of all, the food and the service. The meat in the pan fried dumplings was undercooked and, honestly, I’m not sure if the meat could even be called meat. The steamed dumplings tasted like the ones that you can find in the frozen aisle of Asian stores. In fact, one of the bites I took was cold, as if they were frozen.
Now you may be wondering why I got two dishes that are almost the same (since I haven’t been here before, you’d think I’d take more precaution or at least go for two very different things) but I wasn’t all that hungry and was going to just share a steamed bun plate with my friend but the waitress literally would not take the order paper/​receipt (yes they use the same paper –all in Chinese by the way so if you don’t know Chinese then, welp) until I ordered something. Seriously. She just stood there and tried to keep getting me to order until I gave in.
That was strike number one. Never pressure a customer that much. Yes, you can suggest more food but seriously? Refusing to take no for an answer is annoying and kind of bad service.
Secondly, if you think you’re going to get looseleaf tea like in normal restaurants that serve teapot teas, you’re wrong. It’s literally just one teabag that you can find at the store. Now, I’m a picky tea drinker so I can tell when I’m drinking one of the 100 teabags for $ 2 teas and this was definitely it.
Thirdly, back to service, because we couldn’t speak Chinese, our waitress basically ignored us. We order way before this group who came in yet they got all their food, 4 plates, before we got ours. That’s another strike.
Lastly, the bill. No one that says that they had to pay extra is lying. We had to pay a little extra as well and not only that, the waitress was literally looming at our table waiting for us to give her a good tip. I put down $ 2 and she didn’t take it until we got up to $ 5, which I honestly don’t think was right. I’m a good tipper, I tip 50% if the service is good. But not only was the service bad, the food was undercooked and gave both me and my friend horrible stomach aches (my friend had terrible cramps and her poo was apparently very unnatural) and my stomach aches haven’t even stopped yet – it’s been 3 hours.
Basically, never come here. Ever.

Worst restaurant ever, there are raw meat in the dumplings. They don’t even say sorry or take it out of our bill.

Don’t go here, they are serving the raw meat in the dumplings and don’t even apologize for that…

The food is ok, not the best in Chinatown. We had noodles, the price was affordable, taste wasn’t bad. Service was typical chinese restaurant service, just very minimum, but we didn’t expect much either. I read some people complaining about this place on Unilocal and only because they thought the service was bad, but I think it’s really not that bad.

Golden Panda
Service: our server was an older lady, spoke little to no English. It was lunch time and there were not many patrons during my visit, so instead of refilling our water or rice, she was content to sit and watch TV until summoned. Then when it came time for the check, she was a little rude when I signed the wrong copy of the receipt. Additionally, the menu is partly English, partly Chinese, as if some of the items are some kind of secret menu. When asked if a particular scrawl was for the fried pork dumplings with chives, egg, and shrimp, she said yes, but the dumplings that arrived were sans pork. Another problematic issue emblematic of the area, they seem to cater specifically towards their demographic, ignoring entirely any non-(Chinese dialect) speaking customers. There were times where I have literally had to say, I’m not Chinese, I don’t speak Chinese; which reminds me, the specials menu was also in Chinese, another delicious secret exclusive to the Chinese speaking patron.
Food: All of that aside, the food was alright. The Chef’s special wok was well seasoned and had good flavors, peppered with spicy notes and very fragrant, though the portions of the meat in stir fried concoction were VERY scant, often just little fragments no larger than the top segment of my pinkie, with one of my pet peeves, large slabs of only partially cut onion; I find this practice lazy as I do not personally eat slices of onion, though I enjoy its taste. The noodles were done well, not too soft and slightly sticky. But greatest flaw of the dish was it’s intensely oily nature; drenched in oil and soaked in it, any nutritional value that might have been present in the vegetables in the dish were negated by greasy texture imparted by the slick sauce enveloping them, and thus, besides tasting them, the rest was left abandoned.
Then came the dumplings. What we had asked for were for «fried pork dumplings with chives, eggs, and shrimp.» What we received was a greasy steamed pocket of a baby’s fist-​sized clump of chives with bits of eggs interspersed, with what I can only imagined where grounded dried shrimp powder because no shrimp could be found. Though the dumpling itself was relatively flavorful and good, it was very disappointing to be served something we had not asked for, and then be delivered something less than what was on offer, with again, the flaw of being drenched and soaked in oil (the oil literally seeping from the dumpling onto the plate and pooling there).
Overall, the unfriendliness of the staff, the un-​helpfulness of the all text, picture-​less menu in pointing a non-​Chinese speaker to the good things on the menu, the un-​helpfulness of the staff, the over-​oiled food, and the sad, heavy feeling after my meal point me towards and overall assessment that I shall never be coming back to this otherwise, possibly decent restaurant. For my money, in this area, there are far better choices available.

terrible service and cold food.
Tried the soup dumplings… came out cold and gelatinous.
I’m giving it 2 stars because they serve Chinese breakfast and that seems to becoming a bit rare in Chinatown. I will try it again for breakfast and update the review if it’s better.

It looks like everyone took pictures of the dumplings. Balls. I ordered the wrong thing again.
So I walked in here on a whim with my brother and girlfriend just to try random dishes that we haven’t had before. Now don’t ask me what I ordered because we picked stuff at random. A lot of the items on the menu I have never heard of before and the Chinese aren’t really noob friendly. In fact, service was so bad I stiffed the waitress.
We got what looks like a clear noodle, a dish described as peanut noodle and a pancake. Soymilk is actually this soup thing served in a bowl and not a drink from a can. And damn, everything (except the soy soup milk) was amazing. We’ll have to come back and explore again.

I’m surprised there are so many negative reviews. Came for breakfast, solid meal. Not the best I’ve had, but they have some strong dishes and I would say are as good as if not a little better than classic kitchen.
Two things I would recommend are:
Baked sesame pancake with pork (jiang rou shao bing) — the meat was juicy, the shao bing was really crispy, and the cilantro pulled together the dish!
Pan fried pork buns (shui jian bao) — they’re good when they’re fresh… would not recommend ordering to go.
Others were a-​okay:
Salted sticky rice
Pan-​fried chives pocket
Looked like a lot of people were ordering the jellied tofu too.

I mean this play servers great breakfast if you really into chinese brunch or breakfast. Dishes are solid, taste nice, and frankly quite cheap.
I am not from Houston, but it is better than any brunch/​breakfast I tried in Dallas.
Give it a shot.

I came to Golden Panda with my parents because they heard from friends that the restaurant serves hand-​cut noodles. The decoration is a bit of a hodgepodge, with leftover themes from the last restaurant (Ma-​la), a strange array of mismatching paintings, and weird color clashes. The service was ok, about average for any restaurant in Chinatown.
As for the food, it was also just okay. We each ordered a bowl of the hand-​cut noodles: dan dan, tomato and egg, and beed tendon. The noodles themselves were quite good, I would give them 4 stars. But the broth and sauces that they come in are just not quite up to par. The broths were both on the bland side and tasted very 1-​dimensional. We also ordered some side dishes, they were all ok except for the seaweed. The seaweed was very strange tasting. It almost seemed to have plastic/​chemical undertones? My mom also ordered a fan tuan, a sticky rice «ball» that’s known as a breakfast food. That was definitely the best thing we ate; it was actually really delicious. I think I may come back to try their breakfast foods because it seems like that’s really what they specialize in. But who knows. Overall, I was just not very impressed.

Golden Panda is an odd joint. First thing I noticed were the broken vases mixed in concrete, lining the wall by the door. Pretty creative recycling, but I hoped that wasn’t their motto when it came to food!
They have a pretty large menu. Alot to choose from, but alot of the items are pretty weak. They ought to reduce the menu size and stick with the dishes that they’re really good at.
On to the food!
The bad:
–Soup dumplings (sui long bao) had skin that was wayy too thick and lacked enough soup. Taste was just ok, but it was missing that slightly sweet flavor that you come to expect from this dish.
–Extremely bland friend rice. (They’re supposed to cook it in more oil, but it was kinda dry, crunchy. I felt like it also lacked lacking seasoning).
The good:
–Stir Fried green beans (i love’em here. There’s a crunchy radish and little pork morsels that are sprinkled throughout)
–Salty silky tofu jelly (guaranteed yummy, and not for vegetarians).
–You can’t go wrong with the mushroom/​chicken combination dish either. It’s a bit spicy since it’s cooked in chili oil, and makes for great mixin’s in your fluffy white rice.
Considering the extreme dichotomy (hated half, loved half) of the array of items we ordered, this place averages out to an OK rating.

We’re early birds on weekends. So glad to find this grand opening Chinese breakfast place open at 8 am daily. The place is very clean with super kind/​friendly service. We enjoyed the food and service. Highly recommended.

It’s a new place so we decided to try it out. I didn’t like it as soon as I saw the menu… perhaps it’s because I’m too American, but their dishes are all very very Chinese, with lots of pork and beef incorporated into everything, with little choices for someone who is vegetarian (not that I’m a true vegetarian).
Hubby ordered for us, got some shrimps stir fried veggies, fish and chicken with mushroom. They were ok, nothing spectacular. Half of the menu I felt I can easily make at home, such as tomato and egg soup, or onion pancakes or porridge or dumplings. I’m not impressed, but I’m biased haha.

As ya’ll may know Hot Hot Hot was located there about a year ago, that was my go to restaurant, i loved their food and service. Yesterday i was walking around finding somewhere to eat dinner and then i see this new place, im like let me see how they are. The Waiter seem new, he’s a bit slow. While the Waitress the speak to you in Chinese, i’m like okay i got this LOL. The thing about all the waitress that annoyed me was that when we first got our menu, like every 20 seconds they come back and was like are you ready to order yet, i’m like i need time. There was to many waitress around, i needed hot sauce paste and none of them walked back to my table to ask if everything is okay. But, when i got an ladies attention she was like check, i’m like … im not even finished with my food –_​_​_​_​– Plus they didn’t even refill my water. I understand that maybe they don’t have much experience but at least try to give better service. I tipped them more than 20% because i felt like they won’t earn much from their tips cause 1. its chinatown com’on 2. their service.
o wellls i wont be returning anytime soon, just hope they learn.

In my opinion the food here is not that great. I ordered spicy fish fillet and shrimp with spicy cabbage. None of them were spicy and they were made really really greasy. I was not even close to be full but I couldn’t force myself to eat anymore. The food made me feel really sick afterwards.

We went back again tonight and this time tried more than just their hot pot.
I called ahead and was pleased that I was able to order the hot pot ahead of time so we wouldn’t have to wait because it takes 30 minutes to prepare. We got there a little earlier than the time we gave the restaurant and the hot pot did come out right on time.
We also ordered a few breakfast items since we have more people this time. I liked the items we ordered so I will definitely be back to try their other dishes.
They take credit cards but they informed me that there is a 5% discount if paid by cash.

I’m surprised the reviews are so polarized. There is some room for improvement, but overall, I quite enjoyed the food here. I was coerced here by Sandy H. when I was on my way to San Dong for some dumplings and noodles. I tend to rotate between the same 3 or 4 restaurants in Chinatown — so thanks for forcing me to try something new, Sandy!
Firstly, I will say that I did NOT like the dumplings here. The skin was too thick, and the dough had an odd flavor I really can’t put my finger on — almost like cinnamon or clove. I don’t think that’s normal, I have had a lot of dumplings in my life, and I’ve never tasted any quite like this. Please correct me if I’m wrong — I’m Chinese, but it’s entirely possible I don’t know what I am talking about.
The beef noodle soup was good — lots of pieces of beef and tendon accompanied with a fragrant, light broth. The ma po tofu was well done, my husband actually commented that it was one of the best he’s had. The star of the evening was the stir-​fried intestines with onion and bell pepper. My husband and I love intestines, and they were cooked to the right consistency, saucy, and cleaned well. We also ordered an onion pancake wrapped around a layer of egg and a Chinese breadstick — I’m not sure what this was called, but it was one of their breakfast offerings, and it was delicious.
Service wasn’t great initially, but did improve as we were dining. It took forever for us to be acknowledged and get menus, but the waitresses did stay on top of rice and water refills the rest of the evening. It will help knowing Chinese here, I think most of the waitresses don’t (or just choose not to) communicate in English.

The One Where Sandy Made Grace P. Meet Up With Her.
Since my brother is going back to college this week, my mom and I took him out to dinner (aww, family time!). Anyway, we initially were going to Tofu Village, but stopped at this place that did not have a sign up. I don’t even know how my brother knew this place was open because the lighting was really dim, but he was game to try it out and so were we.
Anyway, this place serves northern Chinese dishes. They have breakfast items, noodles, entrees, and rice dishes. Of the things to order here, I would recommend their dumplings (steamed), ma po tofu, and their stir-​fry. We didn’t get to try more (there were only 3 of us), but a lot of their breakfast items looked good.
What I do not recommend is their xiao long bao. There was no soup in the dumpling and the taste was okay.
Overall, pretty tasty and I’ll come back here to try out breakfast items :)
The comment about Grace P… well, she was craving for beef noodle soup and was heading to San Dong, but I talked her into meeting me here (tee hee). Thankfully she liked it and I’m sure you’ll see her review soon.