Red Pavilion Mandarin Cuisine — Restaurant in Meridian

I haven’t been to all the Chinese food restaurants in Boise by any stretch of the imagination but I’ve been to a few, and this is one of the best I’ve had so far. The staff was very kind as soon as we entered the restaurant, and had no issue with us needing a while to find out what we wished to eat. They came and refilled our waters very often, and checked in often to make sure we were all set and content. Everyone there was quite amiable. Unfortunately, the dish of one of the members I was dining with took a very long time to arrive, about half an hour after the first members of our group ate theirs. It was frustrating how long it took, because it was just a skillet dish and didn’t even need to be plated. Thankfully, we had ordered lo mein and she was able to eat that until hers arrived. Although, all but two of the entrees for our group arrived after two other groups nearby who had arrived about 20 minutes later, but it wasn’t that big of an issue. The food was FANTASTIC. I chose the Ruby Red Chicken as my entree (orange chicken) and it was outstanding. There was plenty of sauce pooled up in the plate so that you can make the pieces extra saucy. As for the human street fry, one of the entrees ordered by my group, super flavourful, very spicy, and includes thinly sliced habaneros. For the Iron Beef Sizzler, tasty, with well cooked vegetables and meat. For the General Tso’s Chicken, tasty, and the group member who got it requested mild, but wished that she had gotten medium because the mild level was VERY mild. For the Beef Crown Broccoli, very very good, and the beef was very flavourful. As for the Rice Stick combo was a fantastic dish, gluten free and tasty along with it. But, the fried rice was a bit of a let down, it didn’t seem fried at all, but more like steamed rice with vegetables. There was plenty of food, not just on my plate but on the plates of the others in my group; leftovers were taken home. Overall, everyone enjoyed their food throughly. There are complimentary chips, known as “Chinese Chips and Salsa”. It’s technically not salsa, but it is sweet & sour sauce along with wonton chips, and it was stupendous. The pot stickers are a MUST GET!!! These may be the best pot stickers I have ever had; the dough was perfect, it wasn’t greasy, and the soy sauce was great. I cannot quite put into words how good these pot stickers were. My group also ordered the Crunchy Calamari, which I did not try as I am not a fan of seafood, however those who tried it in my group very much enjoyed it. Our initial water tasted slightly papery, (I did not use a straw so it could not have been that) but honestly, I was really thirsty and it wasn’t THAT noticeable, and my refill did not taste like paper, so it was maybe nothing. No one in my group seemed to notice it, but I thought it was worth mentioning. Please come to this restaurant, eat, and enjoy! You will enjoy it, there’s something on the menu for every variation of...

I really wanted to like this place, but I just didnt.

All the waitors/hosts seemed nice, and they really tried their best to provide good service. However, we specified several times that I am vegetarian and that we didnt want meat in the dishes I'd be eating. I ordered the mapo tofu and the waitress asked if I wanted it stir-fry style or Chinese, and I requested it Chinese style. However, when it came out I took a few bites, noticing it tasted a bit off and realized it had meat in it. I was a bit disappointed, as I had waited longer for the mapo tofu to come out than my partner and his food which came out first. I had to wait for it to be remade, which by the time it came back out we were ready to go. We had ordered a noodle dish to share, which wasnt very good to be honest, but I munched on some of that while waiting for mapo tofu. The waitresses were quick to fix our issue, which we greatly appreciated.

The food wasnt generally very good, either.

The mapo tofu was okay, it is very peppery. Dare I say it, the meat version was better tasting than the veggie version, but not by much...

I had a spring roll as an appetizer and it tasted VERY strange. It smelled like cinnamon and tasted like french toast. I tried dipping it in soy sauce to see if it would help, but it just tasted like I covered my breakfast in soy sauce. My partner got the fried crab cream cheese rangoons, which he says were not very good as they lacked tartness characterized by rangoons, making them bland.

He also said that the wonton soup is bland, too, tasting more like oily dirty water than soup. I had the egg flour soup, which was okay, but was pretty decent when I added salt and pepper to it.

The Chow Fun was bland, the chow rice and the Mongol beef dish were bland. In general, the food was pretty bland, oily, and needed to be doctored up with salt pepper and soy sauce for it to be good.

Food was generally 5/10 and below.

The saddest part is that the food looks good, but it doesnt taste good.

We wanted Chinese, but this didnt scratch the itch so we'll have to go...

I looked at the reviews of this place and I felt like it was a must try. As someone who is seriously watching every calorie in, this place has great low carb options-- protein and veggies with a little sauce (sauce never hurt anyone... or did it)?!?

Walking in the place seemed small, nice, and clean. Everyone was friendly. The order taker came almost immediately, pen and notebook in hand, ready to take my order. She was new and I thought it was sweet that she was so attentive, but I didn't get the menu open yet. Another server brought fried wonton chips and sweet and sour sauce. They had three different servers on staff and every few minutes one came over and asked how we were. The young ladies were trying very hard for excellent customer service, and I would never be rude, but it was way too much. I counted 11 times someone came to our table that wasn't our waitress. Again, great customer service, but too much.

The food came. It was a nice portion and had good flavor. To me, it wasn't anything special. I ordered the double mushroom and I had 8 mushroom pieces. So, the original mushroom must only have 4? I substituted the steak for chicken. I had my choice of dark or white chicken, which was nice; I chose white. The chicken was moist and very good. I ate some and had plenty to return home with. You're also given your choice between white and brown rice, but I skipped the rice. My dining companion got the mongol beef and thought it was very tasty. He would rate the restaurant a 4.

On the wall hangs their shirts that they have for purchase. If you're a big fan, be sure to buy one.

All in all, I would give this place a 3.5. There wasn't anything special. the customer service was too much (hard to say because they were amazingly nice and helpful) and the food didn't rock my world (double the mushroom people!). However, many of my favorite yelpers rated this place higher than I; therefore, I vow to visit again and give it another chance. If you're trying for a healthier lifestyle this place has...