Panda Express — Restaurant in Honolulu

Normally I love Panda Express. Normally I eat my normal meal...a plate with half super greens, half chow mein, and teri chicken and Shanghai beef. This is my go to. It is my safe place. A little healthy, a little heat, and I'm happy. Well, the marketing team for Panda has done their job, and they've done it well! I strayed from my safe place, from the norm, and I tried something new. Deemed their szechuan chicken, and labeled as spicy with an option to even order it 'extra SPICY', I was hooked in. It was a one time event, which I suppose is the intention of a chain restaurant's limited time fare...good or bad, they got you in the door. The chicken strips, I mean, the szechuan chicken, were/was okay. The chicken meat was all white, and good quality. But the fried batter on the chicken was just okay, with the heat level from these orange glowing nuggets being nearly nonexistent on their own, and very minimal with the addition of Panda's extra spicy powder which I requested. Szechuan chicken, aka, overly salty marketing gimmick. Not great, good-ish, but not worth a second go. Perhaps the insult to injury is that a portion is 3 of these little chicken fingers. Thankfully in my plate I also had the teri chicken, no sauce...it redeemed my lunch plate portion. My wife, on the other hand, orders the bowl with super greens and an entree, and the 3 sad pieces of chicken on top of stir fried kale, cabbage, and broccoli made for a sad and small lunch choice. We'll be back to Panda, but we'll also be back to our go to...

Sad to say they cut down portion size to miniscule. At first, going through line, I thought maybe the lady was new, so I asked the clerk at the register. He said yea they had, they are only giving people one scoop instead of a heaping scoop. I didn't want to say anything rude, but they barely gave me a scoop that was almost (not quite) level with the top of the scoop spoon (it was lower than the top of the scoop). I had only 2 pieces of tofu in a double order plate of eggplant tofu. And they switched the veggies to about 95% broccoli only. I had 2 pieces of kale and 2 pieces of cabbage (trend here?). Bottom line, find a new location. Not for people with big appetites anymore. With the new sizes even a 3 entree combo would not be as much as they used to put in the 2 entree plate. Still 2 stars because the guy was really nice about answering my questions. He told me that they had a call down (from someone above them..??) and that was why they had to cut back all the serving sizes. But he did say that maybe if you go late at night they might still give out big sizes. Good luck finding a new...

Comparing this to real asian food is just not fair. This is Americanized Chinese food. However, comparing it to other Panda Express locations I have been to in various states, this is a good location. Nice, bright, clean and situated in a nice shopping complex with ample parking. Well staffed during peak hours and friendly staff. Food was good by Panda standards and relatively fresh. Grilled Chicken was by far the best item and they had people waiting for the cooks to make more to meet the demand. Walnut shrimp was tasty too but not a lot of walnuts. I'd would pass on the orange chicken as usual as I have never been a fan. Veggie medley with Tofu was way to spicy. Drinks were only Pepsi products so that was a bummer. They were also supprting a local school fundraiser so that was cool...