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Saturday, June 28, 2008, Sharlene and I spent puttering around the house and yard, working on a number of projects that we'd been putting off for quite some time. By mid afternoon, we'd had enough work, and since we'd only been snacking on fruit and other healthy snacks, we'd developed quite an appetite. Despite the fact that cooking is one of my favorite pastimes, neither Sharlene nor I were in the mood to cook, so we decided to go out to dinner. Naturally, I suggested Mexican food, but Sharlene wanted to break out of the mold and dine on Chinese food, which is a favorite cuisine of ours. We're fortunate in that one of the best Chinese restaurants in the area, Panda Restaurant, is located less than a mile from our house.
Photo: Panda is located next to BelAir Supermarket, so you can dine on delicious Chinese food when you're finished your grocery shopping. Panda Restaurant is tucked away in a small, upscale shopping center in west Roseville, California, at the corner of Foothill Blvd. and Baseline Road, close to a major supermarket. The restaurant is fairly small, very cozy, and is a one-of-a-kind, family owned and operated restaurant. The decor is very tasteful, and features blue carpet, blue booths, blue chairs, wood waistcoating, and harvest gold walls. There are just enough Chinese-style photos, fans, posters and other theme-oriented decorations to let you know that you're in a Chinese restaurant, yet it's not overpowering and gives a spacious, light and airy feeling. In keeping with many Chinese restaurants, Panda Restaurant features a sparkling clean aquarium stocked with many colorful tropical fish. Is the aquarium the secret to the ultra-fresh fish served in the restaurant?
Photo: Panda's dining room is attractive and comfortable. Yes, that's a HDTV mounted on the wall. Note the painting of the panda bear, in the extreme upper right of the photo. When we go to dinner on Saturday, we generally like to go in mid-afternoon, as we prefer to dovetail in between the lunch and dinner crowds when restaurants are not as crowded. We find the pace much more relaxing, the service friendlier and better, and there are more opportunities to take photos when a restaurant is less crowded. We arrived around four in the afternoon, and with the exception of a couple of other parties, we practically had the restaurant to ourselves. We were immediately seated by a somewhat shy but friendly waitress by the name of Kim, who provided excellent service, and who even took a photo of Sharlene and I together.
Photo: Kim brings our plate of chicken, prawns and fried rice to our table, while Sharlene looks on. Note the large bowl that contained sizzling rice soup, now polished off by me! Panda's menu is extensive, and features all the classic Chinese cuisines, including Szechuan, Mandarin, Hunan and Cantonese-style entrées, lots of side dishes, and a section of family-style dinners for two people or more. Sharlene and I are lovers of Chinese dinners served family-style, as the selection always seems to be wider, the meal always includes soup as an appetizer, and there's always plenty of food to take home. We ordered the "Panda Dinner," which for the two of us included sizzling rice soup, golden fried prawns, egg roll, chicken stick, orange chicken, prawns with cashews, and chicken fried rice. To wash down the meal, I ordered a icy-cold Tsing Tao beer, and Sharlene ordered a pot of tea.
Photo: Look at all of the food that you get for only $13.95 per person! Not only is there a huge amount, but the food is served sizzling hot, and it's delicious and made from very fresh ingredients. You'll never go away hungry when you dine at Panda Restaurant. After drinks were served, Kim brought a big bowl of sizzling rice soup, followed by appetizers of golden fried prawns, egg rolls and chicken sticks. Today was the first time that we've ever had the opportunity to enjoy rice soup, and I must say it was delicious. When you're served dinner family-style at Panda Restaurant, it seems like the parade of food never ends...
Photo: Kim was gracious enough to snap this photo of Sharlene and I enjoying a delicious dinner together. The main entrées of orange chicken, prawns, and chicken fried rice, along with everything else, was fresh, attractively presented, delicious, and not a bit greasy. Not only does the food look and taste good, but it smells delicious, and our mouths would water each time that Kim brought another plateful of delicious food to our table. As usual, there was more food than we could eat, so we requested a box to bring it home in. For the record, I got two meals at work from the leftovers, and even after being a couple of days old, the food made a delicious dinner at work.
Photo: Here's a look into Panda's kitchen, through an open door. The dishwasher guy to the right of the photo seems a little bit camera shy. I didn't ask permission to take the photo; I just walked in, shot a "quickie," and made my egress.
Photo: Panda is also great for takeout food, and is just the thing to enjoy during Monday Night Football. Here are the appetisers of won ton soup, egg roll and the stuffed thing, with sweet/sour dipping sauce.
Photo: Monday night, October 28, 2013, the Seattle Seahawks beat the Los Angeles Rams during Monday Night Football, and I got to enjoy fine take-out from Panda Restaurant. Tonight's main course is orange chicken, chow mein and rice. Delicious! We've lived in west Roseville for 15-plus years, and this is probably or 20th visit to Panda Restaurant, as Panda is convenient to our house, serves delicious, fresh food at reasonable prices, has great service, and huge portions so you'll never go away hungry and you'll have food to take to work the next day. There are other excellent Chinese restaurants in town, but in our opinion, none are better than Panda Restaurant. Panda
Restaurant Copyright(c) 2008 eRench Productions. All rights reserved. This site has been on the web since December 22, 2002.
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