Happy Panda Restaurant — Restaurant in Hillsboro

I have eaten at Happy Panda many times over the past several years, mostly delivery. Although I haven't eaten there recently, because I'm not a fan of their food on the average, I might try it again.

Here's why: My chief complaint has been that their food is beyond bland, almost tasteless, and their portion sizes are a bit small for the price... BUT I've been reading the new reviews, mostly because I live within walking distance and I love Chinese food and I really want to love Happy Panda and I had hoped that some sort of magic had happened. It might have, with the current owner. I'm going to check tonight to see if it's true, and I'll report back.

What struck me as amazing is that the new owner (or their representative) actually responds to reviews. And in a professional, timely, and in some cases, educational manner. For example, I had no idea that their food is intentionally bland to appeal to "family" (read: children's) palates, but that you can ask for spicy.

I'm about to go in and order, then I'll let you guys know how it went.

Edit: So I went in with my newfound knowledge that you can ask for spicy, and this was my experience: I didn't want to spend the $15 on their average plate cost on an experiment so I got my go-to, the hot and sour soup, and I asked for it spicy (you know, the hot part of the hot and sour). What I got was a thin broth with a bunch of carrot strips in it and a few tiny tofu squares, loaded with red pepper flakes. There was no "sour", only "hot", and they clearly conflate heat with burn instead of flavor. But at least they tried. The staff ran hot and cold; one woman seemed eager to please and the other one seemed annoyed that the customers were bothering her. I wish I had caught their names, but the helpful lady was wearing glasses, if that helps management give credit where credit is due.

But I definitely won't be returning.

With that said, if your particular palate prefers bland, Americanized "Chinese" food, Happy Panda is a lovely place with a great atmosphere. And I hope you get the nice lady.

Re-edit: After I let the red pepper meld with the other flavors for a bit, the soup was actually pretty good. I'm still disappointed that there weren't any mushrooms, and I don't like carrots in my hot and sour soup, but I will probably finish...

I ordered a lunch combo yesterday on DoorDash, I had special requests to have all my sweet and sour sauce on the side... not On the chicken... then I requested to have egg fried rice or bbq pork fried rice! Said please & thank you. And explained I wouldn’t eat it any other way. My food was delivered and there was sauce all over my chicken. They wrote my ticket wrong , but I got the egg fried rice 👍🏼 Some how they skipped over the no sauce on chicken?? When I had wrote that first, not Sure how you get the second thing right and totally disregard the first request. So I call politely and say my order was made wrong. Maddy looked at the notes saw she read over it, and owned up to it. However she said she’d replace it for me, but I don’t have a car.. she made the mistake and I then asked if I could pick it up at dinner time and she said she couldn’t make a lunch special at dinner. (I don’t have a car, Andwas trying to make best Of situation) and said I could only have my husband pick it up after he got Off work around that time. So she said she’ll make it but can’t even make me a dinner portion for there mistake because I only paid for a lunch special! 😂 (great customer service, mess up someone’s order with no car, and every solution I come up with she can’t agree with) the customer should not be making resolutions for the workers or “ supervisors “ at a restaurant... and then I noticed the did delivery and because I was one mile out of there radius they would not deliver to me for a mistake they made, and agreed they made. So I lost 22.00 and had no food I could eat because it was soggy as hell. I’ve been a manager in retail and the food industry and would never treat a customer like that for a mistake I made, and I know you don’t move up making the mistakes she made.. by not taking care of Customers properly. I give the restaurant 0 stars for staff of choice and will never be a customer there again. I will never recommend happy panda- and I used to but all Because of maddy and her rude Demeanor demeanor I will not continue to. I highly suggest the owners higher a better “ supervisor” or at least I hope she was lying...

Well, this is obviously a negative review, I would like to clarify that the service we received from Happy Panda was exceptional, both the host and the server were prompt and attentive, extremely friendly and the food came very quickly. That said, I write this review from my toilet, nearly 24 hours after my visit to Happy Panda, where I have been for most of the day, the toilet that is. I ordered the Panda Seafood, in retrospect, a gamble to be sure. The presentation wasn’t that great, nor was the food itself, my girlfriend ordered the Mongolian beef and we shared the barbecue pork and crab cream cheese wontons with a pot of tea. The tea and the wontons were delightful, however we found the rest to be relatively subpar, the flavor profiles can be chalked up to personal preference, and you very well might like them yourself, however, about two hours after we left, I knew I was in trouble. My stomach was in knots and come midnight I became very, leaky shall we say. It’s quite embarrassing for a grown man to soil his trousers, particularly in the presence of his romantic partner, but I digress. As we shared everything except the panda seafood, and she experienced no discomfort I suspect that was the culprit. I still suspect it, from my bathroom, 24 hours later. Anyway, if you want excellent service and terrible food, don’t let me steer you wrong. Happy Panda is the place for you. I would, of course, like to hope that this is simply a one off experience, and maybe other people have thoroughly enjoyed it there, however, I can say I...