Yummy Panda — Restaurant in Lacey

tl;dr Probably the best Chinese in the entire Olympia/Tumwater/Lacey area. Very friendly staff. The long wait for the food is totally worth it.

Full review: We went into the restaurant at dinner time on a Friday night. The few tables that they have in the dining area were all full. There were a bunch of people standing near the entrance and cashier counter waiting for their to-go orders. The decor of the restaurant is pirate themed(!?).

We, a party of three, found a small table with chairs for two people and the manager/owner saw that we were short a chair and brought out a chair for us. She asked if we had ordered yet, and warned us that there would be a 25 to 30 minute wait. We were still looking at the menus so we informed her that we were still deciding.

The yellow printed menus that you can take to the table don’t have all of the food items on them, so I had to take photos of the TV menu boards above the cashier counter to share with the members of my party.

Once we had our order figured out, I went up to the counter and ordered. Several items that we wanted to order (fried pork in scoop, pork fried rice) couldn’t be ordered because they were out of pork. The manager/owner was super apologetic, and even double checked with the chef in Chinese to ensure that they were really out of pork and that the items couldn’t be made. We substituted beef for the fried rice and skipped the pork in scoop.

They also had just enough soup left to give us a small order of egg drop soup. There was not enough hot and sour soup to even get a small order. She offered the small amount they had left to us for free, which was a nice gesture.

We sat down to wait for the food at our table. While waiting, several of the family stopped by to make sure that we had ordered, and offered refills for our drinks. The manager/owner (we later found out her name was Liu) came by and offered us a plate of sliced watermelon while we waited.

Then the food came out, plate by plate, over a period of about 15-20 minutes. The staff kept checking in on us to make sure we had everything.

We ordered crab rangoon, chicken egg rolls, egg drop soup, hot and sour soup, beef fried rice, beef & broccoli and twice cooked pork.

The crab rangoon were piping hot and flavorful.

The egg rolls were good, but just warm to the touch.

The egg drop soup wasn’t bad, but by the time we got it, it was cold.

The hot and sour soup was the closest I can remember (compared to all of the Chinese places in the Olympia area) to the authentic Chinese hot and sour I remember from when I lived on the east coast. It also arrived cold.

The beef fried rice was “just OK” to everybody at the table. The beef that was in it was tender and flavorful.

The broccoli & beef was AMAZING. Everybody at the table said it was excellent, with one person saying it was the best broccoli and beef they had ever eaten.

The twice cooked pork was the star of all of the food in my opinion. It was hot (temperature), had great flavor and a perfect amount of heat in it, combining the Szechuan peppers, chili peppers and chili oil. When Liu came back to check on us, I told her how amazing it was, and she said that it was one of their specialties.

A note: All of the food was served in takeout containers, and we ate there in the restaurant on paper plates, using plasticware.

I get that they just opened and are “learning the ropes” of how to run a restaurant. It looked like they had their whole family on deck to help out, including young children. Liu made it a pleasant experience, despite the wait. I would definitely return and try more...

Dear Yummy Panda,

My recent takeout order left me with mixed feelings, and I wanted to share my experience to help improve your offerings. The exceptional kindness and welcoming nature of your staff were truly outstanding – they were incredibly sweet and gracious, and the complimentary soup was a thoughtful gesture. This positive interaction unfortunately contrasted sharply with the food itself.

I had high expectations, given the praise I’d seen on the "Best of Olympia" page. My order included Orange Chicken, Sweet and Sour Chicken, Chicken Fried Rice, and a Chicken Egg Roll. While the presentation was appealing, the taste was unfortunately disappointing. Both chicken dishes lacked any discernible flavor; each bite was a bland experience. The fried rice, while the best item, still fell short of truly delicious. The egg roll suffered from an overly hard, almost brittle, exterior, and the chicken inside mirrored the blandness of the other dishes.

I'm unsure if this was a one-off experience due to the time of day or preparation method (perhaps takeout differs significantly from dine-in service?), but the overall lack of flavor in every dish was striking. The complimentary soup, while well-intentioned, unfortunately had a texture I found unpleasant—slimy and reminiscent of reheated leftovers.

It’s disheartening to write this review, especially as I strongly believe in supporting local businesses. I genuinely hope this feedback is constructive and assists in improving the culinary experience at Yummy Panda. Perhaps investigating your preparation methods and sourcing of ingredients could pinpoint the source of the flavor deficit.

Sincerely,

Travis M

Posting here, since you removed my...

Let me begin with do not out in an order for dumplings! PUT IN TWO ORDERS! OMG, between the super tasty fried chicken rolls and the dumplings that was enough for a full meal. But wait, there's more!

I stopped by because I've been I've been craving this on my way out of the gym (Shout out to WCF next door for helping me burn calories and make room for good food). Anyhow, I was lucky enough to run into the special for the day which was a Spicy dish called Beef (or chicken) in hot chili oil. Now one would imagine that it's probably a stir fry of sorts but I asked for details. And the lovely lady at the counter described this as a vegetable stew-style masterpiece with sizzling beef on top! Ma'am. Ma'am! You had me at Spicy and sizzling.

Be forewarned, this dish is not for the faint of heart, this dish pack some real flavor. Oh and here's the kicker, it's chock full of baby bok choy 🥬🥬! Now for those that aren't into veggies you wouldn't understand but for those that do LIKE some green with their Protein (no rhyme intended) you know that that Bok is the Tops! #iykyk. Anyhow that's just the beginning of this dish. If you haven't figured it out by now, well it is a bit spicy. But please DO NOT let that deter you since the flavor combination serves it up just right. Now, for me, well I asked for a tad bit more chili oil but overall, this dish simply does not disappoint! Now the name of the dish is deceiving, but the taste is worth every penny! I hope you all enjoy it as much as I did. I look forward to coming back and trying more of the traditional style dishes. Maybe a Friday or weekend special to get those that like traditional food to see if it becomes...