Pau's Asian Kitchen — Restaurant in Bainbridge Island

The trouble with setting a time to meet someone on Bainbridge Island is that you have to factor the ferry into your plans. Some days, you show up and get right on - total time just over half an hour. Other days, there is a line way up the street and it may take several sailings before you get on. So, what do you do when you are looking forward to spending every possible minute with a new lady friend? My answer is to head over early. If everything works out OK, I might be way too early and not give her enough time to get ready. In that case, I find a place on the island to have coffee, read a book or get a meal. A couple of weeks ago, I had over an hour to kill and I was a little hungry. Pau’s Asian Kitchen looked like a good place to take care of both of those problems. They are tucked into a little shopping area across the street from the high school. Several teens were hanging out in the parking lot doing teenage stuff. I smiled at their celebration of their youth and found a parking spot near the restaurant. Pau’s is one of those casual places where you order at the counter, then select a table where they bring your food out to you. I was the only one there, which I took for a bad sign. The kid working the counter asked me what I wanted as soon as I came through the door. I told him that I wanted to read the menu for a few minutes. They had the usual American-Chinese dishes and the prices were reasonable. I selected Kung Pao chicken - a dish I usually like. The kid took my order, then my money, then told me that it would be 10 minutes to make the dish. He handed me a cup that I filled with Sprite from the soda machine. I picked a table that looked comfortable. The dining area was clean and in good order. I was disappointed to not find any soy sauce on the table. I looked around, but I did not see self service supplies anywhere. My food came out in the 10 minute time frame. The plate held a pile of chicken and bell peppers in a gooey sauce. The counter kid clearly had something better to do - he quickly set the plate in front of me along with a napkin wrapped around a fork. He disappeared so fast that I did not have a chance to see if I could get soy sauce or chopsticks. I guess I could have chased after him, but I was not in the mood for putting him out. The Kung Pao chicken was filling, but dull. I chewed up tasteless chunks of chicken and bits of green bell pepper. While I ate I thought about the pointlessness of living in a world with bad food. It occurred to me that the system where you pay first in a restaurant makes tipping stupid. If I wanted to protest the lackadaisical service and disappointing food, I would have to say something. That would require finding the kid. I was not in the mood. No wonder there were no other customers in the place. I finished up and took off. The good news is that my lady friend made up for the lousy dinner, so my night...

Was almost turned off by the reviews, but decided to give Pau's a first try tonight.

Potstickers, Kung Pau Chicken, and House Chow Fun.

Potstickers were decent, though a little tough on the edges. Since we ate them 30 minutes after they were cooked, I don't pass judgement on that part. The flavors were good.

The Kung Pau was excellent. I saw some complaints about the meat texture, but maybe people aren't accustomed to velveted chicken? This is the correct preparation for the style of food, and it was tender and well cooked. Veggies were cooked nicely as well, and it had just the right bit of kick and not over-seasoned.

Wife enjoyed the House Chow Fun with no complaints.

Every restaurant can have off nights and people with bad experiences are more likely to take to reviews. I thought this was very well executed Chinese-American food and glad we gave it a shot. Prices may seem higher, but definitely enough food for 2 dinners. Will certainly...

Tried this new Asian restaurant for dinner last night & was not impressed. As far as I'm concerned 3 stars is being generous as I wish them well, but I doubt we will return. We had the house chow mein special. Neither the wife nor I cared for the meat, both the chicken & the beef tasted a little odd. Very little vegetables, but I will say that the noodles were good. An order of pot stickers were mediocre at best. I tried to get some hot mustard, but they only had some horrible stuff in little squeeze packets. This is not Asian cuisine, it is Asian fast food. On top of all this we tried to place a phone order to go & they do not take phone orders, only "computer orders". Are you kidding me? I wish them well, but we will...