Burger King

Update Review, February 2026

Fries. Value Size. $3.99/250 Crowns.

The last time I had fries from Burger King, it was 2013, and they were crinkle cut fries, and I didn't care for them.  I was curious to see how they'd changed over the years, as I knew they reverted back to regular non-crinkle fries at some point.

The fries were actually not bad.  Fairly hot and fresh.  Nicely salted.  Perfectly crispy, that part in particular really impressed me.  A thicker style than McDonald's, and I preferred that.  They tasted less ... fast food than McDonald's.  I think I mean less generic oil taste to them, more strong potato taste.  I certainly preferred them to McDonald's.  I did have 1-2 that seemed underdone, a bit raw, but otherwise, these were truly not bad for fast food style fries.  If I was craving, or for some reason needing to eat fast food, I'd get them again.  A random thought I kept having is that they'd go great with chili (I think they must have reminded me of Wendy's in some way, where I always got a small chili with cheese and biggie fries from the $1 menu, or perhaps of ski lodge fries and chili).  3.5/5.

Burger King. Cheeseburger. $3.99/200 crowns.

"A flame-grilled beef patty with crunchy pickles, yellow mustard, and ketchup on a toasted sesame seed bun."

I recently learned that the cheeseburger is basically the same as the Whopper Jr. (what I always got ... when I went to BK as a kid).  Same patty, same everything, but the Whopper adds the lettuce/tomato/onion.  Given that I never care for their tomatoes, and had my own lettuce and onion easily on hand, I felt no need to "splurge" for a Whopper Jr, particularly because the cheeseburger was so much cheaper (and the Whopper doesn't include cheese by default).  The regular Whopper *is* different, a bigger patty and all, but the Jr?  Same-same.

Anyway, it came with the regular extremely lackluster Burger King bun, yes, sesame seed, yes, sorta toasted inside, but these never taste particularly good to me, and I swear I had actually clicked the "low carb" button to just get it as a salad bowl, but, alas, I got the bun.  Eh.

Cheeseburger: Contents.
(+light mayo: Free!).

My burger came with the expected allocation of 2 pickles, a little bit of mustard and ketchup sorta just a squirt of each in the middle, and my addition of mayo (the only free modification allowed).  Anything "fancier", like lettuce/onions/tomatoes would have been extra, so I omitted, as it isn't like BK is known for these things.

The ketchup/mustard/mayo is certainly not fancy by any means, but it really does have classic fast food burger nostalgia for me, and I find that trio to work quite well.  The pickles delighted me in much the same way - one bite of one of these, particularly with a little ketchup/mustard/mayo on it because they are adjacent in the sandwich construction, and classic fast food burger vibes are so strong.  No, they aren't my great aunt's "famous" pickles, they aren't even good grocery store pickles, but they are fast food pickles, and I kinda adored them and wanted more.  Highlight of my burger.

The cheese was a single thin slice, American, as is their standard (I could opt to upgrade to swiss, but, nah).  Again, not fancy, but, it works in this setting.  I did kinda want double cheese though, it felt a bit meager.

And finally, of course, the burger patty.  Thin.  Fully cooked.  Firm.  Not particularly beefy.  It is what it is, no more, no less.  It wasn't worse or better than any other BK or McD's patty to me.  Certainly best with the cheese and condiments.  Not really my style of burger, I'd prefer thicker, juicier, mid-rare, charred on the outside, and well, higher quality beef, but, again, it met expectations, and was fine for what it was.

I'll give this a low 3/5 because it truly was an absolutely fine burger of this style, no surprises whatsoever.

Update Review, March 2025

It turns out, I've been missing out at Burger King.

Now, I haven't actually been to Burger King *that* many times in my life (my family and field hockey team were always McDonald's bound when fast food was in order, my high school friends and I were team Wendy's, and, well, I pretty much stopped eating fast food other than out of novelty for freebies or in other countries since actually growing up), so I suppose it makes sense that I had never tried some hits on the menu (no, not burgers or fries), but I was still a bit surprised that folks don't mention some of these things more!  (and, as I went through my love affair with the Hershey Sundae Pie, and proclaimed its goodness to everyone around, none of THEM had ever had it either ...).

Anyway, without further ado, I had some random BK rewards points (er, crowns) to spend, and decided to have fun with them.  Spoiler: zomg, the sundae pie!

Onion Rings (Value Size).
$4.09 / 250 Crowns.

"Golden brown, hot, and crispy."

Behold, my first Burger King onion rings.  If you are unfamiliar with these, just a warning: they are really quite different from most people's expectations of onion rings (including mine, but I had done my research so I knew what I was getting in to).  For example, um, they don't have an actual slice of onion inside the ring form.

Yes, onion rings can come in different shapes, sizes, and styles in general.  They can be crumb coated like these, or beer battered, or Japanese tempura. They can be seasoned or not. They can be thin, they can be just strings, they can be thick and juicy inside.  They can be petite, have a large girth, or be a mix.  The batter can fall off too easily, the onions can be overly slimy inside, etc, etc.  I personally prefer beer battered or tempura, thick, and assorted sizes.  These are crumbed, small, and all about the same size.  And yes, again, they don't have an actual onion slice inside.

The crumb coated style and petite size already makes them a bit 'eh' to me, but they had some good qualities.  They were very well seasoned (high salt level!), and remarkably crispy.  I got my order fresh from the fryer, and they were piping hot inside too.  Well drained, not too greasy nor oily.  For all these reasons, I did like them.

But then there is the whole glaring issue: the lack of onion inside the ring!  They taste vaguely onion-y, but really its just more a savory fried crispy crumb ring.  Which is good, much in the way that Funyuns can be good, but, when I think of an onion ring, I want more than just vaguely onion-y savory fried things.  I applaud Burger King for having onion rings in the first place, as they aren't very common at generic fast food restaurants, but ... you kinda gotta just think of these as fried savory crumb rings.  As fast food fried side items go, I'd give them a high ***+, but if I was judging as onion rings, they'd only get a **.  They really are so crispy and I did enjoy them, all the caveats aside.

Best dipped in bbq or honey mustard.

(And if you are curious, the ingredients list for these is amusing.  Of course, they do not actually contain actual onions, you will not see "onion" listed as an ingredient.  Only minced onion.  And that is the 5th ingredient, behind #1 corn meal, #2 vegetable oil, #3 salt, and #4 rice flour.  MSG, whey, buttermilk powder, and a whole lots of chemicals round them out.)

Soft Serve Cup.
$2.79 / 250 Crowns.

"Cool, creamy, and velvety soft serve."

It had been a while since I last had Burger King's frozen soft serve confection, which, you will note, is not called "ice cream" on the menu, and is not described that way either.  Like most fast food soft serve, it is not, in fact, ice cream, as it contains too little milk fat.  Soft serve frozen dairy delight it is.

The soft serve can come in a cup or cone.  One small size only, thus, I got two.  No toppings available.  McDonald's definitely has the edge in that they at least have sauces to put on top of a sundae, or obviously mix-ins for McFlurries.  Burger King has none of that.  Just soft serve.

But the soft serve really is decent.  The most remarkable aspect to me is just how creamy it is, and how perfectly it melts.  Kinda exactly my mental model for how soft serve should melt, including the rate at which it should do so.  The flavor is sweet but not cloying.  Vaguely vanilla-ish maybe?  

I wouldn't go out of my way for this soft serve, but if I had a craving for a cone on a hot day, or wanted a soft serve pairing with a dessert, it would do just fine.  ***.

Hershey Sundae Pie.
$3.69 / 400 Crowns.

I've heard about this pie for years.  People on the internet rave about it.  Strangely, no one I've ever been around in person has ever mentioned it.  I certainly hadn't ever sought it out.  Until now.  

The pie comes packaged in a cardboard box, and in this case, even labelled with the date it had been pulled from the freezer.  They take no care to make this look homemade or special in any way.

But that's ok.  Because once you have this, you'll know it is special.

Hershey Sundae Pie. $3.69.

"Say hello to our HERSHEY’S®? Sundae Pie. One part crunchy chocolate crust and one part chocolate crème filling, garnished with a delicious topping of fudge drizzle and real HERSHEY’S® Chocolate Chips."

"A crunchy chocolate crust filled with chocolate crème filling and garnished with real HERSHEY’S® Chocolate Chips."

OMG, OMG, OMG.

One bite is all it took to break into extreme joy.  This this was good.  Really, really, really good.

I don't even know where to start.  Every element was glorious.  Amazingly sweet, crispy, chocolate crumble crust.  Definitely not a throwaway component, and I loved the texture it added.  Light as air milk chocolate mousse and sweetened whipped marshmallow-like fluff (er, "crème filling").  Although it looks like the marshmallowy one was only along the back crust, it actually was under the chocolate filling, and vice versa (under the marshmallow one was chocolate crème).  Then the decoration, a chocolate drizzle that hardened a bit like magic shell, and a few little chocolate chips, both added a stronger, darker chocolate component and more texture.  Did I wish there were more chips?  Well, sure, mine literally had just 5 (!), but still, a minor quibble. 

Glory.  I loved every bite of it.  Definitely not something you share, and the light nature of it makes it extremely easy to devour and not feel weighed down.  I can't wait to get another!  ****+.

Update review: 

I had it again and loved it.  Sooo fluffy and whipped like.  The marshmallow layer did dominate this time, so it was really quite sweet, I somewhat wished for more chocolate flavor, but, I still did quite enjoy it.  It also seemed to have less crust to add that fun texture and chocolate element, but more of the shell-like chocolate drizzle on top, so, some slight differences and trade-offs.  Still fantastic, and something I'd gladly get again.  4.5/5.

Update Review, October 2023

It had been a while since I last had a burger from Burger King or McDonald's, but when I wound up with a free Whopper loaded on my account, I of course had to go claim my freebie.  I went with zero expectation of actually liking it, armed with my own drinks and side dishes (because, I was there for the free thing after all!), and ended up leaving very pleasingly satisfied.  I won't be rushing back to get a fast food burger anytime soon, but, I liked it considerably more than I expected.

Whopper (low carb). $7.69.

"America's Favorite Burger, The Whopper Sandwich is a ¼ lb of flame-grilled beef with juicy tomatoes, crisp lettuce, creamy mayonnaise, ketchup, crunchy pickles, and sliced white onions on a toasted sesame seed bun."

I never care for Burger King's buns, so I ordered mine bunless, or, "low carb" they call it.  Note that you cannot order online or in the app with no bun, it isn't in the customization options, but if you order in person, they don't blink an eye, and the receipt comes out saying "low carb", so, clearly this is an easy and moderately common thing.  I wish they'd add to the app.  

I did not ask for no ketchup/mustard/mayo, and those are generally slathered on in the regular sandwich version so I expected them too, but alas, mine came bare.  Luckily I realized it before I was out the door, and went back to ask for some, and was given packets of all three.

My low carb burger came in an amusingly large platter this time.  It was fairly attractively presented, with the pickles and onions atop the burger patty, and lettuce and tomato on the side.  5 pickles, 3 onion rings, 2 slices of tomato, plus a pile of shredded lettuce.  I wonder if these are the same standard portions used when constructing into a burger?  The toppings are not really enough to make a salad of it, so if you are intending to enjoy this as a burger atop a salad, bring more base mixed greens.

I actually brought my own large slices of green leaf lettuce to make lettuce wraps (and sauteed mushrooms and fresh heirloom tomato slices to put in with the burger, and a small salad and cole slaw to have as sides).  I assembled my wraps, added condiments, and dug in.  I was immediately pleased.  The burger patty wasn't anything special, certainly not a big fat juicy medium wagyu burger, but it wasn't too tough, and was reasonably well seasoned.  It went oh-so-well with the pickles, onions, and condiments.  Really, it is all the bits together that combine to give a very classic burger taste.  

The onions were crisp and harsh, but, that works here.  The pickles lightly acidic and juicy.  The ketchup and mustard as generic as can be.  Put that together?  Such a familiar taste.  The lettuce was pretty boring pieces of iceberg, but they were fresh enough, and not browning.   The tomato was actually fine, not too mealy.

Overall, with my additions as burger lettuce wraps, I truly enjoyed this.  Would I pay $7.69 for it?  No.  But, it was satisfying and free, and totally worth the venture to BK.  ***.

Update Review, April 2022

A year ago, I became a fan of Burger King.  Yup, it took me 40 years to really truly love Burger King (besides the crowns, of course).  I genuinely enjoy their Impossible Whopper, which I've reviewed several times before (below).  Honestly, **** burger.

But this time, I headed to Burger King for something else.  Dessert.  Not just any dessert.  Ice cream.  Somehow, in all my soft serve eating, I had never had a cone from BK before.

Soft Serve Cone. $1.49 (or 250 crown points).

"We didn't invent soft serve, but with one taste of our cool, creamy, and velvety Vanilla Soft Serve, you'll think we perfected it. Served in a cone."

This was my first time having Burger King soft serve.  I didn't expect anything special, but, it was ridiculously warm out, totally ice cream weather, and I had some "crown points" burning a hole in my pocket.

So I splurged, redeeming 250 of them for a cone (a cup is also available), normally $1.49.  Only the one flavor is available, never actually listed as "vanilla" just as "soft serve".  No toppings are available.

It was, well, fast food soft serve?  About as I expected.  The consistency was good, in the fake ice cream kind of way, and it melted perfectly on the warm day.  It was not grainy nor icy. The flavor certainly wasn't vanilla, almost more like a white chocolate, just, sweet.  It didn't taste too artificial or plastic-like though.

The cone was the part that actually surprised me as it wasn't stale in any way.  Even decent ice cream shops can suffer from stale cones.

So overall, the consistency was good, the flavor was fine, and the cone not stale.  Would I pay $1.49 for it?  Well, given other options, probably not, but it wasn't bad, and once I added my own sprinkles it was much better.

***.

Update Review, February 2021

Well, I've become a Burger King fan.  I'm really, really into their Impossible Whopper, which I reviewed once before.  And now, I've hacked it even further.

Impossible Whopper. $7.29.
Extra Onion, Extra Cheese, Low Carb. ($0.50, $0.80).

"Features a flame-grilled patty made from plants topped with tomatoes, lettuce, mayo, ketchup, pickles, and onions."

I finally, finally, finally took my own advice.  I am not low carb, but I dislike Burger King buns.  I had started bringing my own iceberg wedge to do lettuce wraps, and always thought about asking for no bun.  

So, I did it.  "No bun," I said, and the cashier without hesitation said, "Ok, low carb."  They have a button on the register for it even.  I asked if that meant it would be a lettuce wrap or just no bun, but she didn't seem to know nor care.  The answer?  Basically just no bun.  Perhaps they threw a little extra lettuce in?  It also came packaged totally differently, in a square plastic container (what they use for side salads?).

I left in all the standard toppings (tomato, pickles, lettuce) but upgraded to extra onion ($0.50!) because I adore their onion.  As always, I adored the onion but its a bit hard to justify $0.50 for just 1 (maybe 2?) extra round of onion, as I think it usually comes with 3.  It is so harsh though and I just really like it with my burger.

The lettuce was standard shredded iceberg, which is not my lettuce of choice normally, but is entirely appropriate with a burger.

The pickles I don't normally care for, crinkle style, but I actually didn't mind them this time, the little bits of pickle really do complete the "burger" experience.  That said, these are certainly not pickles I like much at all.

The tomatoes I always plan to leave out, but I'm glad I left them in this time.  Yes, they were awful, two slices of not juicy, not even red, clearly out of season tomato, but again, its all about the burger "experience" and the juicy tomato is kinda key.

I also added cheese, because, well, cheeseburgers are delicious?  More on this soon.

I wondered what they'd do with the ketchup and mayo, which come standard on the burger, and are key elements for me.  I hoped that they'd just put them on the burger patty itself.  Looking in from the top gave no indicator though (where *was* that actual burger?).  Sadly, the answer was "leave out entirely", but I was able to ask for packets instead.

I actually really, really, really enjoyed my burger this way.  I brought additional large hunks of iceberg to make a wrap, and I'm glad I did, although really you could just make a pretty tasty cheeseburger salad bowl from this (and their base salad?).

It was crazy satisfying, gave me a legit burger experience, and was everything I wanted it to be.

****.

Impossible Whopper Patty & Cheese.

The Impossible Burger patty was hiding under the toppings in the bottom of the container.  It came with what my receipt said was "HEAVY CHEESE", 2 slices, but, when I asked, they told me this was the normal amount.  I would have thought 1 slice was normal?  And I asked for regular.

Anyway.  The cheese was ... um, entirely not melted.  Oh, I'll also note that my burger was ready before I even reached the pick up area, so, clearly it was already cooked and the cheese just set up on top.  I guess that is normal?  I generally forget to order the cheese, and generally go to McDonald's, where they do usually melt it on ...

The cheese was fine, artificially bright orange "American" cheese, which, you guessed it, I liked to help complete "the burger experience".  But ... I really wanted it melty, so I'd probably leave off in the future.

Impossible Burger Patty: Grill Marks.

At some point, the burger patty I guess was actually grilled, and you could see the grill marks clearly on it.

The patty however, yeah, lukewarm at best.

This didn't detract me from enjoying it, but clearly it would be better actually warm, and actually freshly cooked.

Impossible Burger Patty: Inside.

And here you can see what the inside of that patty looks like.  It really, really did look like beef.  It tasted like beef.  Honestly, more than the last one I ordered.  I ... can't say that I'd be surprised to learn that they just didn't care and gave me a real patty.

It wasn't thick, it wasn't juicy, but ... it tasted like beef, and it was exactly what I wanted at the time.  Slathered with way too much mayo, ketchup, and mustard (from packets since they didn't add on), with all the other "essential" toppings, I really loved it.

****.

Update Review, November 2020

Oh T-Mobile Tuesday.  How I love you so.  I love random freebies. Particularly, it turns out, while living in a more rural area, staying with my parents in New Hampshire for a while during COVID for fresh air, summer, and greatly reduced COVID rates, and, it turns out, a way higher number of places that actually show up as T-Mobile freebies.  Maybe I'm biased because I was just soo happy to see Dunkin' Donuts on there regularly (where I discovered a great new favorite donut, actually, review coming soon - but previous reviews of baked goods here, drinks here), and I usually miss out when it is the weekly feature, as alas, no Dunks in San Francisco.

Anyway, T-Mobile Tuesday featured a free Whopper from Burger King, and I could pick regular or Impossible.  I've had my share of free Whoppers from Burger King, always mostly out of amusement/getting my free things, but I really do love their lettuce/onion/mayo mix (I know, I know), and I was eager to try out this Impossible burger.  

Yes, I actually ... was excited to visit Burger King.  My mother warned me as I left the house that I was likely to be disappointed.  Thanks, Mom!

Impossible Whopper Experience.

My visit was via the drive-thru, as it was in the depth of COVID, and the dining room was closed, even for takeout.

My burger was hot, seemed freshly made, was ready as I approached window, toppings were applied well, and the patty? Definitely better than I expected.

I was actually very pleased with the experience.  I wouldn't seek out a Whopper ever in general anyway, but if I found myself wanting one for some reason, I'd certainly get this again.

Impossible Whopper. $6.39.  (Packaging)

"Features a flame-grilled patty made from plants topped with tomatoes, lettuce, mayo, ketchup, pickles, and onions. *For guests looking for a meat-free option, a non-broiler method of preparation is available upon request."

The Impossible Whopper comes in a standard wrapper, branded with the IMPOSSIBLE name.  The standard prep actually makes it not technically entirely meat-free, as they cook it on the same broilers are the beef burgers, which, outrages real vegetarians, I know.  No dedicated Impossible burger grills at BK.  You *can* ask to have it prepared fully meat-free, and I think they microwave it that way ... Since I am not a vegetarian, I didn't care, and wanted the better, broiler experience anyway.

The same toppings as regular Whoppers are applied unless you ask for changes: lettuce, tomato, mayo, ketchup, pickles, onions.  You can add cheese or bacon, or add extra of anything normally included (most for a fee), and remove anything, obviously.

I left everything as-is, except I added extra onions (because I love them!) and extra pickles (because free!).

Bun.

The bun is the same standard Whopper bun.  Quite large, soft and fluffy on top, grilled on the inside top bun, slathered with the mayo mix on top, nothing on the bottom, thinner bun.

I never care for these buns, they are fine, but very generic, and I'm not much of a bun girl in general, if not a brioche or something special, so I never use them.  I actually went prepared this time with an entire half of an iceberg lettuce, and used the outer leaves to make a lettuce wrap, which worked remarkably well.  So juicy, fresh, and helped cut all the heaviness of the burger, and, um, my favorite part, the mayo.

But yeah, standard Whopper bun.

Toppings: Regular tomato (2 slices), lettuce, mayo, ketchup
Extra: onion, pickles (5 slices).

For toppings, I left the regular ketchup and mayo, as I adore the mayo at Burger King (just something about it!) and they apply it quite generously.  And ketchup really does go great with beefy taste, so I left that, and did not add mustard (free to add, but, not standard).  I was quite pleased with the sauces, again, that mayo is just ... awesome, I really think it tastes soooo very good with their lettuce and onions.  And they really do smother it in it, literally, 160 calories of the burger is *just the mayo*, even with the standard order.

For once, I left the tomato, finally willing to at least try it.  The regular amount is two slices.  They actually weren't that scary, looked decent, and were a solid "fine", what you might expect from a fairly generic tomato.  Not pale, not mealy, so, at least not that.  But I wouldn't get them again.

I also left the lettuce at regular, although I do like their lettuce, just shredded iceberg, but adding more is an additional charge, and I brought an entire half an iceberg head with me anyway.  I did like it as always though.

I added extra pickles, which meant 5 slices, crinkle cut, because it was free, and I could give to someone at home (along with bun), to use for their own purposes.  I did try one, and can confirm, that yup, I just don't care for BK pickles.  Something about the taste.  I like McDonald's pickles though!

And lastly, the onion, extra, which meant quite a bit, all different sized rings.  I really like their onion, again, I know, nothing special, just white onion, but I love the crispness, harshness, and way it combines with lettuce and mayo.

So, pickles and tomatoes given away, but everything else, exactly as I was hoping, and I truly enjoyed the lettuce/onions/mayo in my burger-wrap.

***** onions/lettuce/mayo, **+ tomato, *pickles.

Impossible Burger Patty.

The Impossible Whopper is assembled just like a regular Whopper, the patty under all the veggies, ketchup squirted on top, nothing under it besides the bottom bun, which had no sauces.  It had classic, visible grill marks, and looked like any standard beef patty from a fast food restaurant - fairly thin, cooked well done, no pink really inside.

I tasted a bit of the patty, sans anything else, and was reasonably impressed.  It wasn't nearly as good as other Impossible Burgers I've had, thicker, juicer ones, but it wasn't dry, it didn't taste funky, and certainly didn't taste like a veggie burger.  The texture was pretty close to that of a standard *fast food* beef patty.

Once I combined it into my lettuce wrap with all the other traditional burger toppings, it worked very well.  I certainly liked it more than the Burger King regular beef patties.  It really did have the beefy taste, as much as any fast food burger, perhaps even slightly more.

I brought a chunk for my mom to try, and made her a perfect bite with all the toppings, and she was actually really impressed, and said she'd never know the difference.

Overall, I was impressed with what BK has pulled off.  I won't seek it out, but if I was getting a Whopper again, I'd certainly get the Impossible one.

The patty is 240 calories, 29 fewer than the beef burger, still has 14 grams of fat, and does pack in 19g protein.

*** (**** for fast food burger I guess?)

Update Review, June 2020

Yup, National Burger Day, 2020.  Burger King gave out free Whoppers.  Of course I stopped by.

I wanted to do my "salad sandwich" that I proposed to myself last time, with extra lettuce, extra onion, etc, but adding extra anything comes with a fee, and I didn't want that for freebie day! 

Whopper. Add mustard.
Free for National Burger Day.

So, regular Whopper it was, only mod was adding mustard, which I learned I *can* do, and had lamented not having last time.

My review is largely unchanged.  These things are pretty consistent.  Burger King does have that going for htem.

Bun nicely toasted inside, soft, but, just a really boring bun.  Its also huge!  My partner also commented "wow, a Whopper is way bigger than I remember!"  Beef patty was thin, cooked all the way, and tasted like ... processed beef, and wasn't great.  Ketchup and mustard just in the center, not tons, and not spread around.  I didn't have the horrible looking tomatoes, and gave him the pickles as he likes them more.

I did like the onion, crisp and harsh, and the iceberg (no brown in sight), and I do love their mayo.  It was extremely generously slathered with mayo, all along the top bun.

It was what it was.  No more, no less, a Whopper.  Nice for free, but I mostly just gave it away.

**+.

Update Review, January 2020

When I was growing up, McDonald's was always my fast food of choice, and the Quarter Pounder with Cheese, or sometimes Big Mac, was my burger.  I always felt sad when the field hockey bus pulled into a Burger King instead, as I just never liked it nearly as much.  I settled for a Whopper Jr. with Cheese, but always wished we had picked McDonald's (and McDonald's had better fries, and McFlurries ...).

As an adult, I have not sought out fast food burgers all that often, although I did go through some years of excessive burger eating, running a dining club that got burgers every single Monday night.  I started my blog after those years, but you can read about some of my burger adventures here.  Let's just say I ate a lot of burgers, and plenty of them were fast casual style.

I never went to Burger King though, except when I went to try the new Satisfries (not tasty!), or, uh, when I went to Burger King in Munich explicitly seeking out the waffle ice cream sundae (ok, really good!).  Until now.  I think it had easily been 20 years since my last BK burger.  I won't mind if it is another 20.

Packaging.

My Whopper took a few minutes to assemble, and was handed over without a word: "A Whopper", is all she said, not even saying my number.

Signature Whopper paper, decently well wrapped.

Whopper.

"Our WHOPPER® Sandwich is a ¼ lb* of savory flame-grilled beef topped with juicy tomatoes, fresh lettuce, creamy mayonnaise, ketchup, crunchy pickles, and sliced white onions on a soft sesame seed bun."

I opened it up to reveal the contents.  It looked pretty good, nothing falling out, nothing mushed ...

The bun was nicely toasted inside, soft, and seemed fresh enough.  A large, kinda oversized bun though, I realized that I always got a Whopper Jr. in the past, not a regular one.  It is, uh, kinda a Whopper?  Just comparing the buns, the Whopper bun is 230 calories, the Whopper Jr. is only 120, so it really is nearly half the size, at least, the bread component.  The regular burger uses the same bun as the Whopper Jr.

Whopper: Inside.

It is the insides I was interested in though of course.

The top bun was slathered in mayo, creamy, generic mayo, that I really did love.  It went great with the lettuce and onions.  The lettuce, torn shreds of iceberg, was ... moderately fresh.  Crisp, but I did see some brown bits.  The sliced white onions gave a hit of harshness and pop of flavor, and I appreciated them.

Pickles are always one of my favorite parts of a burger, but I wasn't really into the BK ones.  Wavy style, and fine, but, I really prefer McDonald's and Subway style.  I didn't try the pale looking tomato, two slices.

Ketchup was somewhere in the mix, it seemed to be between the pickles and tomatoes, and was not well distributed.  This was easy to fix with an additional ketchup packet.  I also forgot that a Whopper doesn't include any special sauce, nor any mustard, so the ketchup and mayo really is it.  I prefer a McDonald's Quarter Pounder for the mustard, but, I do love mayo ...

I also forgot that a Whopper doesn't come with cheese by default.  Oops.  I certainly would have wanted that.

And finally the patty.  "¼ lb* of savory flame-grilled beef " ... yeah, it was barely warm, it was not juicy in any way, but at least it wasn't tough, and did have lovely grill marks?  It was basically, as expected.  No worse, but certainly not a burger you get to taste and enjoy the beef.  Again, comparing to the Whopper Jr. what I always used to get, that patty is just 100 calories, vs the 240 calories here, so this patty is actually nearly 2.5 times bigger, and I could tell.  Although it was very thin, it was a large patty, in diameter.  I guess they named this thing for a reason!

Overall, it was exactly as I expected.  No better, no worse.  It has a place in the world, but it is certainly not anything I plan to seek out again ... at least for another 10-15 years when curiosity strikes?

**+.

Whopper #2.

I blame T-Mobile for this.  T-Mobile Tuesdays had free Whoppers.  How could I resist another freebie?

My review is largely the same.  Beef patty thin and not exactly a juicy quality burger, but it isn't *that* bad.  I still couldn't bring myself to try the tomatoes.  I really did love the generous mayo, the harsh onions, and the iceberg.  I can kinda imagine enjoying a "salad sandwich", a Whopper hold the patty, extra onions, extra lettuce, definitely add cheese ... uh ...  

**+.

Original Review, October 2013

Burger King has always had a larger selection of sides than McDonalds, but they've now taken another leap, and offer not one, not two, but THREE different types of fries: sweet potato, regular, and their latest offering, dubbed Satisfries ... the healthy, yet still satisfying, fries.  The marketing behind them is genius, boasting that they contain 40% less fat and 30% fewer calories.  I assumed that they were comparing against their own fries.  They aren't.  They are comparing against McDonalds!  The numbers aren't nearly as impressive when you compare against their own versions, but given that they use the same oil and fryers, I guess it is impressive.  They developed a coating that somehow magically absorbs less oil.  But, (spoiler alert!),  they didn't live up to their name.

Value Sized Satisfries.  $1.69.

My fries were hot and fresh.  I give them credit for that.

Unlike the standard fries, they are crinkle cut.  I've never really liked crinkle cut fries, and my family always ate tons of frozen crinkle cut fries when I was a kid.  These reminded me of those exactly, not just in look, but also in taste.  They tasted like cardboard.  The outside was crispy, but the inside was just mush.  It didn't resemble potato in any way.  Burger King claims the fries are cut from whole potatoes, but I'm pretty skeptical.  They weren't salted well either.

Definitely not a win.  *+.

Read More...

Panda Express

Update Review, November/December 2025

Another few Panda visits as I work my way through more of the menu ...

Panda Cub Meal: String Bean Chicken w/ Super Greens. $8.80

My server really loaded up my Cub Meal this time.  Good distribution of everything in both compartments too.

Panda Cub Meal: Eggplant Tofu w/
1/2 Super Greens, 1/2 White Rice. $8.80.

The main dish (eggplant tofu) in this Cub Meal looked a bit skimpy, in comparison to other dishes.  I'm not sure if that was just this server, if it is intended to be a smaller portion, or if others have been erroneously large.

I think this was my first time having the rice.  It was fine. White rice.  No clumps.  Fresh tasting.  I don't really like white rice like this, but I threw it onto my panini press to crisp it up, and enjoyed it that way.  3/5 rice.

Crispy Sesame Shrimp & Beef. $9.
1/2 super greens, 1/2 rice. (Premium +$1)

Another one, with entree portion loaded up decently.  The distribution of rice and veggies in my half and half however was a mess, with rice just dumped on top and overflowing, and there weren't many veggies under the rice either.

String Bean Chicken Breast.

"Chicken breast, string beans and onions wok-tossed in a mild ginger soy sauce."

"But Julie, you don't like chicken! And this isn't even breaded nor smothered in delicious sauce!", you might be saying.  Indeed, these things are very much true.  I don't like chicken, I barely ever eat it, only truly when it is battered/fried and smothered in tasty sauces, which, yes, Panda Express orange chicken counts.  So why on earth would I order a chicken breast dish?

Because I was craving string beans.  And I like onions.  I figured I could pick around the chicken, and have a vegetarian meal, combining the string beans and onions with the other side dishes.  Plus, I had never tried this dish before, and I generally applaud Panda Express for having actually crisp snappy veggies, and that is very much what I wanted.

I eagerly plucked out a string bean.  It was good!  Blistered, still crisp, generic Asian-ish sauce.  Exactly what I was hoping for.  I was also thrilled to see the large hunks of onion.  They too were crisp and well prepared.  The elements I cared about entirely delivered.

The chicken ... well, I tried it for research purposes, and it tasted like ... chicken.  It seemed well prepared, moist, all white meat breast, but the light sauce didn't really mask the fact that it was chicken, so for me, meh.

4/5 on the beans/onions though.

Eggplant Tofu.

"Lightly browned tofu, eggplant and red bell peppers tossed in a sweet and spicy sauce."

This is not a dish I'd ever normally order, and I think many people do not as most Panda Express locations don't carry it (it is regional, and limited, and I guess pain for them logistically since the eggplant used is fresh and quite perishable), but I read many rave reviews of it.  I was not interested in the tofu at all, but what was interesting to me, besides the fact that I do like eggplant, is that they actually use the same orange chicken sauce ... just without adding the orange extract at the end.  This also explains why what sounds like a healthy enough dish of veggies and tofu, turns twice the calories/etc as many other dishes on the menu, and is on par with the honey sesame chicken (orange chicken still trumps it of course).

My portion looked a bit skimpy; it had 3 batons of tofu, and 7 pieces of eggplant.  I had mixed feelings on it.

The eggplant was surprisingly decent - not mushy, not spongy, just pretty good.  I read this is why most locations don't carry it - eggplant is super perishable, and they get it fresh, so it is difficult for the restaurants to not waste.  The tofu was tofu, firm tofu, whatever, not my thing.  I tried it, and then ditched the rest.  I didn't appreciate the red bell pepper slices, as I don't like bell peppers, but that is just me and preference.

Now, for the interesting part: the sauce! It was good, but very sweet, and without the orange it was a bit boring and slightly cloying.  After a few bites, I wanted a reprieve.  In particular, I wanted heat (so I added red pepper flakes).

Overall, it was definitely interesting, and if you like eggplant, it's worth a try, but I don't see myself getting it again unless I was really wanting eggplant and happened to be at Panda Express.  3/5, but lower end, really carried by the strength of how well prepared the eggplant was.

Crispy Sesame Shrimp + Beef.

"Succulent shrimp, crispy beef, and veggies wok-tossed in a spicy sesame sauce."

This was a new limited time offering in the fall of 2025.  It uses the same battered shrimp from the Honey Walnut Shrimp and the crispy beef from the Beijing Beef.  Given that I've liked the honey walnut shrimp quite a bit, and always had the Beijing Beef as my "next to try" item, this seemed perfect.  Plus, it was marked spicy!

The veggies turned out to be the usual suspects of red bell pepper and green beans (no onions).  My order had two shrimp, and a decent amount of strips of beef.

It was good.  I liked the blistered green beans, I easily avoided the bell peppers.  There was a lot of the promised sesame - the beef and shrimp were both well coated. It had fair number of big red chiles, so had a bit of heat, but also still had the kinda signature Panda Express sweetness too that gets to be too much pretty fast.  I haven't had the Beijing Beef before, but now I want to try it, as I really quite liked the crispy fried beef.  I haven't had fried beef of that style in like 25 years, it brought back memories from my younger years.  The shrimp was great, as expected as the honey walnut shrimp is my favorite dish there normally and it is exactly the same, just, with sesame seeds.  Well battered, crispy, juicy succulent shrimp inside.

Due to the shrimp, this was a premium dish, so, +$1.xx depending on the meal size.  This is a new limited time menu item, one that would be a fav for me if it stuck around.  4/5.

Kung Pao Chicken.

"A Sichuan-inspired dish with chicken, peanuts and vegetables, finished with chili peppers."

Once before, I enjoyed this dish.  Even though it seems like I mostly shouldn't as, 1) it is chicken, and I dislike chicken, 2) the chicken isn't even battered or breaded or masked in any way, 3) the veggies in it are bell peppers and zucchini, neither of which I care for.  And yet I tried it once, and really liked it.  It was spicy, I loved the plentiful peanuts, and even tolerated the rest of it.

But then I had it a subsequent time, and disliked it.  I got it this time hoping it would be like my first encounter, but, alas, no, I did not like it.  The zucchini was actually fairly soft, unlike most Panda Express veggies that I really appreciate for being al dente.  It did have tons of red chiles in it, but somehow wasn't spicy at all.  The sauce was kinda gloopy and just not enjoyable.  The peanuts were fine, the chicken was chicken.  1.5/5.

Update Review, July 2025

Another year, another set of Panda Express visits, continuing to get the Panda Cub meals, that I then round out a bit with my own salad base or other veggies.  The bigger meals tend to just be a bit too heavy for me.

Build Your Own Cub Meal: super greens, wok-fired shrimp +$1). $12.20.

My orders this year all came properly packaged in the special Panda Cub box, with reasonably full side dishes.  The apple chips and fortune cookie were properly included in most as well, although I never want the apple chips and I've since learned when I order online I can use the notes section to say I don't want them, although sometimes that seems to mean I also don't get my fortune cookie.

The super greens are fine as always, a good mix of broccoli, cabbage, kale, all nicely cooked and not too mushy, although I needed some additional seasoning sometimes. Consistently fine though, high 3/5.

Build Your Own Cub Meal: super greens, cheese rangoon. $11.20.

Some Panda locations allow you to get an appetizer as your main dish in a Cub Meal, which I took full advantage of, and tried all of the appetizers this year.  That said, most locations don't allow this, so, you kinda have to seek them out intentionally (there is one location in midtown Manhattan that allowed it when ordering online which is how I discovered it as an option, not something I would have known otherwise.).  Getting one cub meal with an appetizer, and one with an entree, both with different sides, makes a great meal!

Build Your Own Cub Meal: white steamed rice, hot orange chicken. $11.20.

This was my first time ever selecting the white rice, but I disliked the chow mein and fried rice, and thought that with the sweet orange chicken, actually white rice sounded like a good pairing.  And it was.  Yes, it was just simple steamed white rice, but it was fairly fluffy, not clumped together, grains not too hard, just, fresh enough steamed rice, and yes, it did help balance out the cloying sweet fried chicken crack.  3/5.

Entrees

This year I focused on getting a few of the limited offering choices, as I'd already explored all the standard menu.

Wok-Fired Shrimp (Premium, +$1).
(limited).

"Succulent shrimp and vegetables wok-tossed in a delicious sweet and spicy sauce."

One day I wanted a light, healthy, easy dinner, as I had consumed a heavy big lunch, a massive pile of pastries from Petit Chou (review coming soon!), and had more pastries lined up for post-dinner.  The new-ish wok-fired shrimp seemed like a good choice that would give me protein and veggies, and not be a gut bomb like say the signature orange chicken.  Panda even agrees, as this is considered one of the "wok smart" (e.g. high protein and lower calorie) dishes. The other wok smart items, if you care, are things like the simple grilled teriyaki chicken, the string bean chicken breast, and broccoli beef.

Panda also designates this as spicy, which was laughable.  There was zero spice to this dish.  Zero.  The orange chicken, sure it has a little, sorta.  Some batches of the kung pao have a decent amount.  But this had zero.  Zero.

My kid's size portion was 5 shrimp, a couple pieces each of onion and colorful bell pepper, and 4-5 green beans.  I believe this is the proper portion (although I got 7 last time in my honey walnut shrimp Cub Meal, which I think was more than it should have had).

The shrimp were cooked reasonably well, not too rubbery, still slightly bouncy.  They were properly cleaned.  Not too fishy.  Small-medium size.  Pretty average lower end shrimp basically.  The green beans retained a bit of snap and were properly trimmed.  I picked around the bell peppers.  Basically, it was all fine, no real issues, but not exactly high quality fresh product.  What did let me down however was the overall taste.  The sauce really just lacked any flavor.  Definitely not spicy, but also just not much to it, and woefully under seasoned.  Luckily I had requested the full array of sauces, and had some furikake and salt and pepper with me, so I jazzed it up fine, but it was just very bland on its own.  Eh.  Low 3/5, maybe even just 2.5.

As a premium dish, like the other shrimp option on the menu, this is $1 additional charge.

Hot Orange Chicken.
(limited)

"Crispy chicken bites wok-tossed in our signature orange sauce with more HEAT."

The hot orange chicken was introduced as a limited time offering in 2024, and was brought back again in summer 2025.  Given that I like actual spice, this sounded great to me.

They say this has six times more chilies than the original in the sauce, AND has the dried chiles from the kung pao chicken.  Given that I haven't ever found the original remotely spicy, and the kung pao not really either, I had my doubts it would be actually spicy, but it seemed more fun to try.

It was also my first orange chicken in quite a while, and damn, I forgot just how good it can be.  Yes, it was at least 50% crispy batter, and yes, the chicken was entirely lost and mostly just kinda questionable bits of dark meat, but, 1) I don't like chicken anyway, 2) it was still crazy crispy and addicting, and 3) this is just a vessel for the sauce, anyway.  It is crack, really.  The sauce was still very, very sweet, this was candied fried bits more than anything, but there were indeed large size pieces of dried chiles, and if you got one of them in a bite, it really truly did have some heat.  It wasn't balanced though, when you didn't get one of those intense hits of heat, the base was still just candied and really dessert, not a savory dish in any way.  Fantastic, yes, but, a little goes a long way in the too much sweet department, so the white rice actually was a very good pairing.

I liked it even more than the original.  4/5, and I'd gladly get it again if craving something heavy, fried, and sweet.  And spicy of course.

Appetizers

I think most people don't really get appetizers from Panda Express, but they have several.

The quantities of the appetizers are just kinda odd.  If you order them a la carte, chicken egg rolls come only as singles, veggie spring rolls as a duo, and the rangoons as a trio (if you get the small size, $2).  For the large size, the egg rolls and spring rolls come as 6 or 12, respectively, for $11.40, a slight discount over the small size pricing, and the rangoons come only as a dozen for $8.  Just kinda odd.  Anyway.  I've tried them all.

Veggie Spring Roll (2). $2.

"Cabbage, celery, carrots, green onions and Chinese noodles in a crispy wonton wrapper. Note: At some locations, celery may be substituted with green beans, mushrooms, onions and tofu bean curd (or vegetable protein)."

First up, the veggie spring rolls.

These were not awful, but they weren't great.  Mostly, they were a contrast of strengths and weaknesses.

On the positive side, they were remarkably crispy.  They did have seasoning, the ginger in particular was quite strong.

But on the negative side, the filling was just mush.  Yes, it was cabbage/carrots/etc, all finely shredded, but it was so, so, so mushy.  And kinda wet.  And, besides the aforementioned ginger, not very flavorful.

With some dipping sauce (I used sweet and sour as a dip and copious amounts of soy poured into them) they were ok-ish, but wow, that mushy interior just was not very good.  Kudos on the crispy shell though.

1.5/5, maybe 2 if I'm feeling generous.

Cream Cheese Rangoon (3). $.2

"Wonton wrappers filled with cream cheese and served with sweet and sour sauce."

Next up, cream cheese rangoons.  These were really not bad ... with some help.

To start, they weren't actually crispy, really quite soft.  So, if eating them "fresh" at the restaurant, I would be sad, but I suspect this is just luck of timing, if you get a fresh batch or not.  I clearly did not, even though it was prime lunchtime (12:15pm, Sunday).  I had one there, at lunch, alongside my meal, and brought the other two home to air fry later, which greatly improved things.  So, crispy factor was a fail on this visit, but easily saved, with a bit of effort on my part.  The wonton wrappers were fairly standard, not too greasy tasting.

The filling is just cream cheese, these are *not* the more common crab (or, krab) rangoon you see at most Chinese restaurants.  These are vegetarian cream cheese rangoons.  I think this surprises some people, but I knew to expect it.  They do have green onions in them too, so slightly savory, but mine really didn't have much.  They were fairly generously stuffed, the filling was warm and soft, and, well, tasted like cream cheese.  I definitely wanted sauce for them, they come with sweet and sour, but of course you can request any additional sauces they have if you want to make them spicer.  I think you could easily pretend these are dessert and drizzle with a fruit sauce or sweet syrup and dunk in whipped cream, as they are pretty similar to a cheese danish or, well, cheesecake for that matter. 

Overall, I think an uncommon choice for folks at Panda Express, but I liked them the most of all the appetizers, and would get again if in the mood.  High 3/5.

Chicken Egg Roll. $2.10.

"Cabbage, carrots, green onions and chicken in a crispy wonton wrapper."

The egg roll is the one appetizer that I had tried previously (and disliked) but I wanted to give it one more try for completeness.  I ordered via the app as I walked up, and frankly, had I gone inside first and seen what the egg rolls looked like, I probably would have changed my mind ordering it.  It really didn't look fresh nor appealing in any way.

It was packed up to order, so I did eat it as hot and fresh as it was going to be.  It was ... yeah.  About how it looked.  Over fried.  Kinda crispy, but kinda soft at the same time.  Didn't taste like very good oil.  Inside was a bit doughy.  

The filling though was still definitely not for me.  Lots of ground chicken, so much chicken flavor (and I hate chicken).  Lots of vermicelli.  Vague Asian seasoning and shredded cabbage mush.  Big meh to the fillings. 

I think the wrapper could be good if you got a good batch, but seems highly variable. 1/5.

Update Review, August 2024

In my initial days of unemployment this summer, I handled the situation by making some curious choices, like, eating Panda Express kid's meals for dinner many days.  I had only discovered Panda Express a year prior (yes, I know, I'm a late bloomer?), and had only visited twice ever, and found it fairly amazing.  Kid's meals are also relatively cheap, and a good portion size for me (I usually tossed it all on top of a base of other veggies / salad greens), so I thought I was being frugal and responsible, while drowning my sorrows in fast food.  Like I said, "curious choices".  Let's just say, I'm completely uninterested in eating any more fast food Chinese food for a while.  But I did enjoy working my way through the majority of the menu. 

Build Your Own Panda Cub Meal.
$9 (+$1 premium entree, +$2.20 premium drink)
1/2 fried rice / 1/2 super greens w/ Honey Walnut Shrimp

This Panda Express location didn't have the cute boxes for Panda Cub Meals.  I think the result is that I got larger portions?  It certainly seemed like a dramatic amount of fried rice in particular (this was just a 1/2 portion of fried rice), and my entree had as many shrimp as the bowl normally does (9).  For some reason, my order didn't include the apple slices, but I didn't care, as I didn't want them anyway.  I think perhaps they screwed up and gave me NOT a kids meal?  Two days later when I visited, they did have the Cub Meal boxes.

For $12.20 total due to the premium items I selected, this was a great deal, very filling, and well rounded.

Build Your Own Panda Cub Meal.
$9 (+$1 premium entree, +$2.20 premium drink).
1/2 chow mein / 1/2 super greens w/ Black Pepper Angus Steak.

Another day, another Cub Meal. This one with the proper cub meal container, half chow mein and half veggies as the base. Portions seemed more Cub Meal appropriate than the previous day with the big container at the other location.  This time I did receive my apple slices.

Build Your Own Panda Cub Meal.
$9 (+$1 premium entree, +$1 premium drink)
Super Greens w/ Beyond Orange Chicken.

Another day, another Cub Meal.  Proper cub meal container again, but at the same location as the one that gave me the big container 2 days prior, so I think they really did mess up and not give me a cub meal then.  Portions were as expected for cub meal.  The apple slices weren't included by default, but the person handing over my order asked if I did indeed want them.  I suspect adults ordering Cub Mmeals isn't all that uncommon, and most adults don't want those?

Build Your Own Panda Cub Meal.
$9 + $1 premium drink.
Super Greens w/ Kung Pao Chicken.

I've determined that they really did give me the wrong size meal on my first visit, as every subsequent one has been an appropriate sized Cub Meal.  Apple chips were missing again this visit, as were all the sauces I ordered.

Orange Chicken Panda Cub Meal.

Another normal size, another missing apple slices.  Consistency in packing up orders really doesn't seem to be their forte.

Sides

During my first Panda Express experience last year, I tried both the chow mein and super greens, and kinda fell in love with super greens (and didn't care for the chow mein).  This year, I gave it another try, and also tried the fried rice, but, for me, the super greens reign supreme.  I didn't try the plain white rice.

Fried Rice (1/2 portion)

"Prepared steamed white rice with soy sauce, eggs, peas, carrots and green onions."

So, I'm not a rice girl, and I know people say the fried rice is kinda blah, but, I wanted to try it for completeness sake, and I thought it would pair well with the honey walnut shrimp.  I did do 1/2 rice and 1/2 veg, but was still blown away by the hefty portion of rice, even in a kid's meal.  This was only about 1/3 of it.

It was indeed very lackluster fried rice.  Shockingly lackluster really.  It was dry, and had no real flavor at all.  The grains were lightly colored, and I guess it must have had some soy sauce in it, but, it sure didn't taste that way.  At least none was clumped together, but in some way that would have been a better sign that it was actually ... fried?  This just seemed like steamed rice.  Blah to boring dry flavorless rice.

The mix-ins didn't improve things.  The veggies in Panda Express's other dishes have always impressed me by their seeming freshness, vibrancy, and non-mushy nature, but the carrots and peas in here were elementary school cafeteria / frozen or canned veg quality.  Tiny cubes of mushy carrot.  Mushy peas.  Meh.  The egg bits were flavorless as well.

Yes, covering this in copious amounts of sauce helped, but, wow, just such a boring dish.  I wouldn't get again.  *+.

Chow Mein (1/2 portion).

"Stir-fried wheat noodles with onions, celery and cabbage."

I had this once last year, and found it not great, too greasy, but I wanted to give it another try.  This time was no different, just a bit too greasy for my taste and not particularly flavorful. The noodles did have a decent chew to them though.  **.

Super Greens (1/2)

"A healthful medley of broccoli, kale, and cabbage. "

The super greens were just as good as I remembered.  I don't really understand how a fast food place can do vegetables so well.  The veggies were vibrant, not mushy, and lightly sauced.  My mix was pretty evenly distributed with brocoli/kale/cabbage.  Pairs well with basically anything, and genuinely delicious just to eat on its own too.  ****.

Entrees

I visited 7 times, and got different items every time.  Three were repeats from my first visits to Panda Express, the other 4 were new to me.

Honey Walnut Shrimp (Premium, +$1).

"Large tempura-battered shrimp, wok-tossed in a honey sauce and topped with glazed walnuts. "

I was very excited to try the honey walnut shrimp.  I'm primarily a pescatarian, and so I always gravitate towards seafood, and I haven't had honey walnut shrimp from anywhere in many years.  I couldn't wait, even though I had read plenty of lackluster reviews.  I was even more thrilled when a fresh batch was brought out as I stepped up to order.

It was a home run for me.  Just as good as the orange chicken, probably even better, as I prefer shrimp over chicken.  

The shrimp inside were fairly large, juicy, succulent, good snap to them, not fishy.  The batter was thick but well seasoned, flavorful, and remarkably crisp.  I'm sure that a few minutes of sitting in the serving area would decrease its quality quickly, but, when fresh, it was fantastic.  It was coated in a sweet, clearly honey based sauce.  Yes, it was sweet, but, I knew it would be.  This isn't everyday food.  I wouldn't want this and orange chicken (or any of the other sweet dishes) side by side, as that would be too much.  But, in this portion, with the veggies in particular, it was great.  I don't think they use mayo like most honey walnut shrimp?

The only real gripe I have about the dish is that mine had exactly 1 walnut.  1!  Only 1!  It was great, a candied walnut, but I definitely wanted more than one.  Speaking of portion in general though, my research tells me that the bowls get 7 pieces, and kids meals should get 4-5 (depending on the source).  I had 7, even in the kid's meal.  Score!

I'd get this again in a heartbeat, probably over the orange chicken, when I was up for a breaded and sweet dish.  ****.  I'm docking them slightly for the sole walnut.  Definitely worth the $1 upcharge for kid's meal ($1.50 for adult).

Black Pepper Angus Steak (Premium, $1).

"Angus steak wok-seared with baby broccoli, onions, red bell peppers and mushrooms in a savory black pepper sauce."

Next, I splurged for the other premium offering, the black pepper angus steak.  I had to wait 3 minutes for a fresh batch to be brought out, which I definitely didn't mind.  The fresher the better!

This was the first Panda Express entree that I just didn't like.  It did have a good mix of veggies - mine had a single mushroom (that was a bit slimy and soft), a few pieces of crisp sharp onion, one snappy piece of baby broccoli (which was interesting to see, since all the other dishes use standard American broccoli, I guess this makes it feel even more premium?), and a slew of red bell peppers (they definitely dominated).  And the beef itself seemed decent quality, good size pieces, no fatty bits, just, decent.  

So why didn't I like it?  Simple.  The sauce.  I really did not like the sauce.  It was smothered in it.  A thick sauce, and just ... not a flavor I liked at all.  Gloopy, savory but not enjoyable.  Not sweet like other Panda sauces, no spice to it, just ... I am not sure what it was about it, I just genuinely did not care for the sauce.

Execution wise and ingredient quality wise this was fine, but, the sauce just ruined it for me. *.

Beyond Orange Chicken. (Premium, +$1).

"Just as craveable as The Original Orange Chicken you know and love, but now made with Beyond Meat's plant-based protein."

I was actually excited to try the Beyond orange chicken, not because I'm vegetarian, but because I adore the orange chicken, despite it being chicken, which I generally loathe.  Also, I knew people raved about it.  It was originally on the menu just as a short time special, but after it went away the masses revolted, had a petition, yadda yadda, and now it is back (at select locations) as a regular menu item.  So I knew it had a fan following, but I'll admit I didn't actually research it much.

It definitely is not as attractive of a dish as the real orange chicken, as the pieces look more like nuggets, all the same size. My portion was 10 nuggets.

The sauce I believe is exactly the same as the original orange chicken, and is just as awesome.  Sweet, a bit spicy, addicting.  Love love love this sauce.  ****+ sauce.

The nuggets themselves were well battered and fried, super crispy.  Probably more crispy even than the regular chicken or the shrimp.  But ... that is where my accolades end.

Beyond Orange Chicken: Inside.

I was really surprised by the actual inside texture and taste.  I didn't care for it, too much like tofu for my tastes (even though I know it isn't tofu).  I think I expected it to be more like Impossible nuggets (which, if you haven't had them, are uncanny is just how much they taste and seem exactly like McDonald's Chicken McNuggets!), or more like Quorn breaded chicken products.  Granted, I had not researched what the Beyond chicken actually was like, not here at Panda, nor anywhere else, I just assumed if people raved so much about it, that it must be better than this.

So ... great sauce.  Great exterior.  Meh to actual Beyond chicken.  I wouldn't get this again, but was glad to try it.  **+.

Broccoli Beef.

"A classic favorite. Tender beef and fresh broccoli in a ginger soy sauce."

I had this once before, and was happy to have it again.  I was again impressed by how tender the pieces of beef were (although I had one that was a bit chewy), and again loved how huge they keep the broccoli hunks in this.  It was very sauce-heavy, but I think that is what makes the dish.  The broccoli just absolutely soaks it all up, and it's really quite flavorful.  Simple broccoli beef, yes, but, they do it well.  ***+.

I was a bit sick of Panda Express side dishes at this point (I was on day 4 of Panda Express in just 5 days), so I actually just saved the veggie sides, and brought my own big hunks of romaine to make lettuce wraps.  I drizzled them with the Panda Express hot mustard, and really loved that combo (the mustard and beef were a great pairing).  The lettuce wraps helped cut down a bit of the greasiness too.  **** my way, and I loved my creation.

"Chef's Special"

One Panda Express location I was regularly visiting always had a "Chef's Special".  When you ask the staff what is in it, they kinda shrug, but it always looks loaded with chile peppers, so I finally gave it a try, hoping this would be the dish that really brought the heat at Panda (I enjoyed the kung pao chicken before, but lamented the real heat).

This was actually pretty good.  A mix of chicken bits, lots of red and yellow bell peppers, onion, string beans, and of course, the chiles.  Basically, the string bean chicken meets the kung pao chicken (-peanuts, -zucchini).  I think it was chicken thigh, but not positive.  

The bits of chicken were tender, and just tasted like nuggets of sauce, so I didn't mind them.  The string beans were sadly over cooked, a bit shriveled.  The onion was a bit harsh and a bit raw I think.  I avoided the bell peppers (two colors) as I don't care for them.  The sauce was savory and spicy.  And yes, tons of full chile peppers to really amp it up.

I appreciated the spirit behind this dish, but it did suffer from the uneven cooking job of the veggies (which normally are done pretty well at Panda Express!).  I still enjoyed the flavor, and the chicken even, but wished the green beans were more snappy (and they do always look better in the string bean chicken dish) and wished the onion was a bit more cooked.  Fun to try something off menu too. ***.

Kung Pao Chicken.

"A Sichuan-inspired dish with chicken, peanuts and vegetables, finished with chili peppers."

I had this once before, and was pleasantly surprised by it then, although I found it lacking in the heat.  Today's batch was an even bigger letdown.  It had zero heat to it, no chiles, and barely any peanuts.  I had to dig around looking for them, and my entire order had only 2.  2!  The crunch from the peanuts is a key element to kung pao (well, along with the spice).  The chicken too was a bit lacking, all just small bits of dark thigh meat that I wasn't as into as other times.  Lots of big hunks of red bell pepper, a few slightly mushy pieces of zucchini, and a few bits of green onion rounded it out.  Coated in sauce, that was sorta sweet-savory, but definitely not spicy.

For a generic chicken and vegetable stir fry it was fine, but, it wasn't really what I was looking for from kung pao.  **+.

Orange Chicken.

"Our signature dish. Crispy chicken wok-tossed in a sweet and spicy orange sauce."

Well, I went to the location I know isn't as good, but I still thought the orange chicken would be great.  Alas, it was not.  It was not crispy, it was soggy.  The sauce was overly sweet.  The chicken even seemed less good, more chewy, more gristle.  Still ok overall, but not nearly the magic it should be.  Low low ***.

Update Review, October 2023

In fall of 2023, Panda Express made a major menu change.  They added a dessert item.  Yes, 40 years of being in business, and they finally added a dessert, besides the fortune cookie you always get with a meal.  Let me cut the chase: what they came up with is just as magical as their orange chicken.  Run, don't walk, and get one.  Stat!

Apple Pie Roll. $2.

"A sweet and fun American Chinese creation featuring a combination of juicy apples, fall spices, and cinnamon sugar like a classic American apple pie and wrapped in a crispy and flaky wonton wrapper, like a quintessential Chinese egg roll."

OMG.  Well, Panda Express, you have done it again.  It may have taken many years to have a dessert item, but, the wait was worth it.  This was shockingly good.  It is the love child of an apple pie, and a egg roll, and a churro, and just as amazing as it sounds.

I expected to need to bring it home to properly crisp it up in my toaster oven, I expected to want to add ice cream or whipped cream and a drizzle of caramel, but of course I tried a bite fresh, and ... wow.  It needed nothing.  Perfect as it was.

Super crispy fried shell, really well spiced and not too mushy apple pie filling, covered in all the cinnamon and sugar you could possibly want.  It had just the right amount of fried goodness, was so crispy, and the insides were gooey and satisfying, and didn't taste "cheap", not like apple pie filling from a can.  And the cinnamon sugar coating just takes it over the top.  Yes, it likely is improved by dunking into whipped cream, but, really, this is a beauty, and I'd get another in a heartbeat.

****+.  Perhaps the best fast food dessert I've ever had?

Only $2, or 6 for $11.40.

Original Review, November 2021

This is a story of my discovery of Panda Express.  No, I am not telling a story from my days of youth, but rather ... of last week.  Yes, I somehow made it this far into adulthood, without ever visiting a Panda Express location.

"Chinese Inspired. American Made. From our world famous Orange Chicken to our health-minded Wok Smart™ selections, Panda Express defines American Chinese cuisine with bold flavors and fresh ingredients. Freshly prepared. Every day."

In case you've never been to a mall, student center, amusement part, airport, or the like, or are otherwise thus unfamiliar, let me start with the basics.  Panda Express is mass produced, buffet style, americanized fast food chinese, found in food courts across the country.  Panda Express has been around since 1973, started in Pasadena.  It wasn't a hit right away, but now does have 2000+ locations, including some seemingly random international spots like Guatemala.

I've walked by Panda Express locations many times, even recall stories of friends absolutely raving about the signature dish (orange chicken), but, I never had any interest in visiting one.  I know not why, as I do like generic americanized Chinese food from time to time ...

Spoiler: I've been missing out.  Seriously, seriously missing out.  Many things are not worth the hype, but, Panda Express orange chicken really is.  I was shocked that on all my visits I found items to be far higher quality than I expected, but even more surprising, the execution of the dishes was all really well done.  The veggies were always cooked well, never mushy.  Proteins seem to be good quality, no chewy bits, no cartilage.  It seemed reasonably fresh, even though sitting in a buffet line.  That said, I can't imagine going all that frequently, because it was really, really heavy food.  It did not sit lightly ...

My First Panda Express:
Kids Meal & Egg Roll.  $10.10.

The first time I visited, I was cautious.  I really didn't expect to like it, and I know Chinese food can sit kinda heavy, so, I opted for a kid's meal, along with an appetizer. 

I was so in love with the experience, that I returned, literally, two days later.

My Second Panda Express:
Plate + Extra Entree: $11.10.

My next visit, I went all in.  No kid's meal for me.  Nope, not the regular adult Bowl either (with 1 entree and 1 side), I went all in, and got 3 entrees and 1 side, yes, all for me.  I wanted to try everything, and, really, who doesn't love Chinese food leftovers?

I can't wait to go back.

Setting

The location I visited was inside the Westfield Mall, with a small seating area adjacent dedicated to just their customers.  I opted for takeout each time though, going to eat in the larger communal seating area nearby.

Assembly line buffet.

Like all Panda Express locations (I think?), the setup is a buffet with all the items laid out, and a staff member creates your dish for you, they pass you down the line to finish it off.  

Sides: chow mein, super veggies, fried rice
Entrees: Crispy Almond Chicken, Beyond Orange chicken, Black Pepper Angus Steak, Honey Walnut Shrimp

You start by identifying which size you'd like, and your side dish.

I noted that Panda Express just so happens to lay out all the premium dishes first - the ones you stare at as you wait your turn, and as you start assembling your dish.  I do not think this is accidental.  All the dishes here, besides the crispy almond chicken, came with a $1.50 upcharge.

Several entrees:
Kung pao chicken, broccoli beef, orange chicken.

Next are the entrees, where you select 1-3, based on what type of meal you are getting.  Each one is well labelled, and seemed to be prepared in relatively small batches, so things stayed fairly fresh.  I appreciate being able to see them in advance.

Appetizers, entrees:
Tofu eggplant, teriyaki chicken, spring rolls, egg rolls, rangoon.

Finally you are asked innocently if you'd like a egg roll (yup, there is a charge, don't be fooled!), or you can add on another fried appetizer, and then you are passed off the cashier, who also handles beverages.

They never offer you sauce, but you can ask for soy sauce, hot mustard, and sweet and sour sauce (the later does come with appetizers).

Food

Meals at Panda Express are either Bowls (1 entree), Plates (2 entrees), or "Bigger Plates" (3 entrees), each of which also start with a "side", which is really more of a base.  The kid's meal is like a bowl, but, smaller portions.  You can also order dishes a la carte, I don't think people do that frequently.

Kid's Meal: Box. $7.30.

My first order was a kid's meal, and I kinda loved the box.  How cute was the panda?!

Plate: Super Greens, Broccoli Beef, Kung Pao Chicken. $11.10.

My second order I went all in, skipping past the regular adult size Bowl, and moving right on to the Plate, which comes with 2 adult portion entrees.  The "Plate" came in a generic large size white styrofoam box, much less fun than the kid's meal.  

Oh, and then I added a third entree on too (not pictured).  The extra entree I added came in Panda Express branded standard Chinese takeout mini container.

Appetizers

Panda Express offers 3 appetizers, all fried: spring rolls (veggie, sold as a pair), egg rolls (chicken, sold individually), and cream cheese rangoon (not crab rangoon, just cream cheese, sold as a trio).  All come with sweet & sour sauce on the side.

While the sides and entrees are relatively suited for steam tray buffet style serving, fried foods generally are not, so I didn't have great hope for these.  But still, I had to try, because, what is Chinese food without some fried wonton in some form?

Chicken Egg Roll. $2.

"Cabbage, carrots, green onions and chicken in a crispy wonton wrapper."

For my appetizer, I picked a rather unusual thing for me: the chicken egg roll.  Unusual as I don't like chicken, but, I do really like egg roll wrappers, and egg rolls were only available with chicken.  Plus, the spring rolls (thinner, not egg washed) had thin noodles in them which I don't care for, and the rangoons ... were just cream cheese?  I guess even imitation crab is too fancy for Panda Express?

So, the egg roll.  First, it was ... not really warm.  On the cool side.  Which was not a good thing.  Fried food should be hot and fresh!  And ... it seemed to have the thin noodles in it, the same noodles I was avoiding by not selecting the spring roll.  Sigh.  Since it was not hot enough, wasn't really something it seemed like I would like, and I had plenty of other food, I took a bite of it when I first got it, and decided to take it home.  I hoped my air fryer could save it.

I heated it up that evening, and it did indeed get both hot and crispy.  So those elements were fixed.  But it was still fairly mediocre - the wrapper didn't particularly have a great flavor, and the filling was quite heavy in the chicken department.  It tasted far more chicken forward than I liked.  I salvaged it by adding copious (and I mean copious) amounts of duck sauce I had at home, but, I felt pretty gross after eating it, and kinda wished I had just tossed it.  I would not get another.

**.

Sides

Most meals at Panda Express are formed from a "side" and 1-3 "entrees", where sides are steamed white or brown rice, veggie fried rice, veggie chow mein, or "Super Greens" (a mix of broccoli, cabbage, and kale).  You can also opt for 1/2 and 1/2 of any of these.  The side portion is extremely generous.

Since I don't really care for rice, my choice the first time I visited was pretty easy for my side: I'd do a half and half with the other two options, chow mein and super greens.  My second visit, I dropped the chow mein as I was not a fan, and just went with the Super Greens.  I'd consider trying the veggie fried rice sometime ...

Chow Mein

"Stir-fried wheat noodles with onions, celery and cabbage." 

Ok, I don't really like chow mein very much either, but, it seems like an essential part of a Chinese meal, and is the sort of thing I have certainly loved as cold leftovers before.  Plus, this was literally piping hot, the fresh wok full was placed on the line as I stepped up to order.

And ... yeah.  It was chow mein.  Hot and fresh, yes, but kinda soft.  I like it with a bit more chew to the noodles.  It was very, very greasy, and didn't have any particular flavor to it.  The bits of cabbage, onion, and celery were fine.  I ended up adding soy sauce and duck sauce, and ate some of it, but, meh.  I would like it more chewy and flavorful.  And far less greasy, although I know that is kinda the point.

**.

Super Greens.

"A healthful medley of broccoli, kale, and cabbage."

My other pick on my first visit was the Super Greens, because I actually wanted some vegetables.  

I was fairly pleased with this pick - a few large hunks of broccoli that was still crisp and not mushy, a bit of cabbage, and like one half a bite of kale.  Certainly not much kale, but this was fine.  The veggies seemed to have been stir fried, not steamed, and had salt added ... they were saltier than I expected, which was fine, but, beware if you are expecting simple steamed veggies.

Nothing exciting nor earth shattering about the veggies, but it was nice to have something to balance the greasy noodles and the very sweet and decadent orange chicken.  I'll certainly pick this again in the future.

***.

Update: My second visit, I went for just veggies as my side.  The larger portion was good so that I got more kale, and considerably more cabbage as well.  I was again fairly impressed that the veggies weren't too soft, but was again struck by the fact that they definitely were not just steamed, healthy greens.  There was a lot of salt, but also, some kind of very light sauce?  I can't say I loved the veggies, but, they were a better choice for my tastes than rice or chow mein.

Entrees

For entrees, Panda Express is very chicken heavy, with a few beef options, a single seafood option, and now two vegetarian options (tofu, Beyond Chicken).  I find it interesting that they don't have any pork on the menu anywhere - isn't pork fried rice a quintessential Chinese staple?  Panda's version is veggie fried rice only.

My particular Panda Express had 6 of the 9 chicken options available, including of course the signature Orange Chicken and its new fried Crispy Almond Chicken friend (they look much alike!), plus some healthier chicken breast options like string bean chicken breast, mushroom chicken, and grilled teriyaki chicken.  Kung Pao rounds out the chicken lineup.  If chicken isn't your thing, beef is an option, with two choices, the healthier classic broccoli beef or the fried spicy Beijing beef.  You can also splurge for an upgrade to the Black Pepper Angus Steak, for $1.25 more.  Pescatarians have only one option: crispy fried honey walnut shrimp, also a premium upgrade.  Vegetarians at most locations just can opt for Eggplant Tofu, but some select locations, mine included, offer a premium Beyond Chicken version of the orange chicken.

Kid's Meal:
Chow Mein & Super Greens (1/2 & 1/2) with Orange Chicken.

The Original Orange Chicken

"Our signature dish. Crispy chicken wok-tossed in a sweet and spicy orange sauce."

I couldn't visit Panda Express, and not try the signature dish.  Right?  Even though I truly hate chicken ... I had no choice, right?

So, orange chicken it was.  And, spoiler, I did NOT regret this decision.

ZOMG.  It took one bite, scratch that, *half* a bite, for me to totally and completely understand the hype.  This stuff is good.  Really, really, really good.  ZOMG.

I'm sure it helped that I had a fresh batch, but, it was perfectly crispy on the outside, smothered in delicious sweet sauce, and just downright addicting.  I could care less that chicken was what was hidden under all the tempura batter and sauce.  I can safely say it did not taste like chicken.  The chicken seemed to be a mix of white and dark meat.  Did the sauce taste like orange?  Not exactly, but it was sweet, but not in a cloying way.  It had a slight, slight level of spice, I'd certainly love more, but I get that this is for the masses.  And I tell you, this member of the masses was quite pleased.

The dish has nothing else to it.  No vegetables.  No garnishes.  Just, crispy chicken smothered in sauce.  And really, it doesn't need anything else.  I appreciated my Super Greens to balance out the sweet and fried, and I do think rice would be appropriate alongside.  I also think it is the stuff leftover dreams are made of, even though it would lose the crispness.

I don't want to be dramatic, but I think this was fairly life changing.  Hands down the most I've enjoyed chicken as far as I know.  Literally, no memory of enjoying chicken more.

****+.

Crispy Almond Chicken Breast.

"Our new, delicious Crispy Almond Chicken Breast features juicy, all-white meat chicken raised without antibiotics, with our crunchy, signature puffed-rice breading that is wok-tossed with toasted almonds & freshly chopped green onions in a savory soy garlic sauce."

My second trip to Panda Express, I decided to venture out, and try something else, even though, I must admit, the Orange Chicken was pretty hard to pass up.  For my first entree, I opted for the dish that looked a  lotlike the Orange Chicken, the newly added Crispy Orange Chicken Breast.

Of course, I knew this wouldn't be the same, as the sauce was described very different (just soy garlic sauce, not sweet and spicy), and the chicken promised to be higher end all-white meat breast, and even the coating was different (with puffed-rice?!), but it still looked pretty similar at first glance, and I hoped it would deliver in the same way in the crunchy department.

It turns out, it really was nothing like the Orange Chicken.  That doesn't mean it was bad, just, actually totally different. 

First, the pieces were significantly bigger, more like just slightly small chicken fingers.  While the orange chicken pieces were about 2 bites each, these were more like 3.  The ratio of chicken to breading was quite different as a result, these clearly fell more deeply into the chicken department, less into the "yay yummy coating and sauce!".  The "chicken finger"-esque aspect was further amplified by the fact that they were large pieces of actual chicken breast, they ate like ... well, chicken.  It did seem to be fairly high quality all white meat breast, no chewy or odd bits around.

The coating also was totally different.  It was equally delightfully crisp, but this coating had the puffed-rice in addition to the batter itself, which made the coating thicker overall, and just, different.  I'm not sure which I preferred.

And finally, the sauce.  This was just a sticky soy sauce, not a sweet and spicy orange sauce.  It was quite savory, coated the chicken well, and tasted fine, but it didn't have that "ZOMG GIVE ME MORE STAT!" quality the orange chicken sauce has.  The toasted almonds I barely noticed, as the crispy coating really added more crunch than they did.  And that was really it, like the orange chicken, no veggies to be seen.

Overall, I'm glad I tried it.  If you like white meat chicken, or want something a bit more wholesome (but still clearly quite fried), or just want to change it up, this was a good dish.  But ... if I'm getting crispy fried chicken at Panda Express, no question, I'm getting the orange chicken.

***+.

Kung Pao Chicken.

"A Sichuan-inspired dish with chicken, peanuts and vegetables, finished with chili peppers."

My second entree pick on my second visit was the Kung Pao Chicken, a very odd pick for me on the surface since 1) it is chicken, and this time, not hiding in breading and 2) I don't really seek out bell peppers nor zucchini, and those are the primary vegetables in it, but, I really wanted something spicy, and I was craving the peanuts.  Plus, it really always did look great, and quite fresh.  I figured it was worth the gamble, given that I was getting 3 full size entrees after all, if one was a flop, nbd, I had plenty of other food to eat.

I was beyond surprised when I quite liked it, although it really was not spicy at all.  For a dish that is marked spicy, and did indeed have big visible red chili peppers in it, I expected at least ... some heat.  This truly had none.  Besides the utter lack of heat though, it was good.

I think what I appreciated the most was how fun it actually was to eat with chopsticks.  The eating experience was just great - the small, hard peanuts, the bite sized zucchini and red pepper pieces, and then totally different sized bits of chicken, some a very big bite, but many just little morsels.  It was so easy to pick through with chopsticks for the next great bite.

The veggies were certainly not ones I'd normally seek out, I'm just not into zucchini or bell peppers, but I was pleased with how they both remained quite crisp, not mushy.  The zucchini in particular added a juicy element.  I only had 2 chunks of red bell pepper, but I didn't mind.

And finally, the chicken, which I truly, truly expected to just pick around, and eat the nuts and veggies with my other food instead ... was, uh, fine?  It was mostly thigh meat I think, but was absolutely free from all gristle, was not chewy, was really, just, fine.  Even without breading to hide in ... I didn't mind it.

It was all coated in a sauce, seemingly soy based, but it did have something else too it that I couldn't quite pinpoint, not sweet though.  And, not spicy, alas.

Overall, I actually enjoyed it, and took the leftovers home to make a kung pao mashed potato bowl ... which I know sounds odd, but, I had leftover mashed potatoes, and used them as my carb base instead of rice, and topped it with the kung pao chicken leftovers, mixed with stir fried fresh celery, baby corn, broccoli, onion, and mushrooms.  Oh, and chilis, because, it really needed the heat.

****.  I don't know if I'd order it again necessarily, as I'd still like to try more things, but, I wouldn't be opposed to it, which I certainly did not expect.

Broccoli Beef.

"A classic favorite. Tender beef and fresh broccoli in a ginger soy sauce."

My final (third) pick of entree on my second visit was the Broccoli Beef.  I selected it because I wanted something other than chicken, didn't want to splurge on a Premium (e.g. the angus beef or shrimp), and didn't want another fried option (the tempting Beijing beef), so, Broccoli Beef it was.

It was a pretty classic broccoli and beef dish, like you can get from any Chinese restaurant - thin strips of beef, lots of big juicy broccoli, savory salty sauce.

The beef, much like the chicken, surprised me in that it seemed quite reasonable quality - it was tender as described, and not a chewy bit to be found.   I really loved how much broccoli was included in the dish, and the fact that they left the broccoli in huge chunks.  I was also pleased at how crisp the stalks still were.  The broccoli soaked up the sauce quite well.

Overall, nothing earth shattering here, but well executed, and definitely above my expectations for a buffet.  A good choice to have something other than chicken, and it did make me want to splurge for the black pepper angus next time ...

***+.

Dessert

Every meal at Panda Express is served with a fortune cookie.  No other desserts are offered.  You can buy additional fortune cookies for a whopping $1.50, which seems totally crazy to me.

Kids Meal: Apple Crisps and Fortune Cookie.

I said no other desserts are offered, but kid's meals actually come with a bag of apple crisps.  Maybe those count as a dessert?

The fortune cookie was a pretty standard fortune cookie, which I enjoyed - it was crisp, fresh, and had a Panda Express branded message inside.

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