Red Panda — Restaurant in New York

As you can see, the reviews for this restaurant from a few years back are good. People rated it 4/5 stars. But if you look at recent ones, they’re not good. It’s clear that the quality of experience you get from dining at Red Panda has dwindled- from its food, service, and atmosphere.

In my recent experience here, the food was of low quality. My complaint is about the jhol momo and chicken lollipop served here:

When eating the momos, their covering always flipped out from the meat, and essentially the meat and momo covering were always separated (which is definitely not supposed to happen). Also, when they were separated, the momos’ meat had the marks of having being wrapped (which is also never the case for momos anywhere else); basically, this indicates that the momos were left frozen for a long time and then reheated (which isn’t a problem, but it doesn’t look appetizing).

The chicken lollipop was served to us with the chicken still bleeding, and the meat was red. Of course this wasn’t seen on the outside, but after each bite, you could see the red, bloody meat. Also, the plate of chicken looked nothing like how it was advertised on the menu. It wasn’t covered in the red spicy looking sauce, no, it was served with just the chicken meat and chicken skin in a lollipop looking way. So disappointing.

As for the service here, we had ordered the chicken lollipop with the rest of our food (it was even the first food we ordered) but it never came. When we asked her where the chicken lollipop was, she was like “Did you guys order that too??” and wasn’t even like “Oh sorry about that” or anything… she just left and then came back, saying “5 minutes” like talk about low quality service. Then, even after we finished eating the other foods, she didn’t take our dishes for a longgg time. When she finally did though, she took one of the plates, and left the other ones still there… like… what are you doing?? She came back, but didn’t take the other half of the empty dishes on our table until we had to tell her to do so. She was also impatient with us, and replied to our orders in such a stern way.

So overall, the quality of the service and food has extremely gone down. I don’t mean to blame the waitress though because she’s probably being overworked for low pay in such a busy restaurant. This may be especially true because I’ve witnessed the waiters there changing so often- old ones leave and new ones come in so often.

To speak about the atmosphere, the TV there has many songs playing, but it freezes frequently, so it isn’t that enjoyable.

This review is really long so congrats if you reached the end— I don’t recommend going to this Nepali restaurant— there are other way better ones...

“As a Nepali living in Vermont, I was really craving authentic Nepali food, which is hard to find back home. So, I decided to try the Nepali Thali here, hoping for a taste of home, but unfortunately, it didn’t live up to my expectations. We started with the fish fry and Nepali salad as appetizers. The fish was bland, lacking spices, and there wasn’t enough salt. I understand that salt can be added later, but proper marination with the right spices and salt is what makes a dish flavorful, and this was missing.

For the main course, we had two Thalis – one with local chicken and the other with Bhuttan. I was really disappointed because the food didn’t taste fresh, which is key in Nepali cuisine. Given all the positive things I had heard about this place, I was excited to try it, but it ended up being a letdown. Trust me, as someone from Nepal who knows what authentic Nepali food tastes like, this just didn’t hit the mark. The presentation was okay, but the flavors weren’t there . The service was excellent, and the staff was very attentive. The price was respectable, and I understand that some people might think, ‘How can I expect so much for such a good price?’ Honestly, I wouldn’t have minded paying a little more for truly authentic Nepali food. It’s the quality and authenticity that matter...

I’d heard quite a bit about Red Panda, especially about their Thali dishes, so I decided to give it a try, being a Nepali and a fan of Thali myself. Living nearby, I usually enjoy Thali at places like Annapurna Thakali Kitchen and Gorkhali in Jackson Heights, which are personal favorites. I stopped by Red Panda as I was famished and decided to go in.

The ambiance was average, and at first, I even considered leaving, but hunger won out. I ordered a veg thali with an egg in an almost empty restaurant. The rice tasted less than fresh, and while the lentil was decent and the veg curry was okay, it was the mixed chutney that stood out. I also ordered a chicken lollipop, which I ended up packing to go. Since it was Diwali, they offered a complimentary Sel Roti, which was a nice touch and tasted good.

Overall, compared to other spots around town, Red Panda was a bit underwhelming for me. It’s a passable option, but I’d probably head back to my...