475 Sacramento Street San Francisco, CA 94111
This is a popular Asian deli in the financial district, which has hot steaming vats of ready to go Chinese fast food, with some Thai and Burmese dishes as well. There is often a line out to the door, but the tables move quickly and most of the people get their food to go.
This is an upscale version of Panda Express, with a much nicer interior. It’s a fine place for a quick bite. You can order ala cart, get a rice bowl (choice of plain white, brown, or fried rice) with one item, or a rice (or noodle – they have chowmein and singapore style vermicelli) plate with 2 or 3 items if you are hungry and the portions are very generous. The brown rice is very good and chewy, never had it overcooked or soggy. The fried rice and chowmein are just evil ways to sneak more fat and sodium into the mix, without adding much flavor or texture.
I had brown rice with orange chicken and stir-fried green beans, the orange chicken had a thick somewhat soggy coating…
There are many dishes to choose from, one of my favorite is the burmese garlic chicken, which is breaded, deep fried breast meat, chopped up and served with lettuce and drizzled with a zesty garlicy sauce..
The decor is modern spa with azure blue walls and sculptural portraits of golden buddhas.
I spotted a lovely cymbidium orchid arrangement by the register and the woman who rang me up said she had put it together herself – very nice!
rowena said,
January 19, 2007 at 11:12 am
It’s foodbloggers like you that make me say AMEN!
I was looking for a recipe for Panda Express Orange Chicken and came across your site. Although that orange chicken image is not from PE themselves, I am still salivating in front of my monitor. Thanks for a fantastically illustrated post…no I’m off to try and replicate the original thing!
foodhoe said,
January 22, 2007 at 11:51 pm
LOL glad you enjoyed visiting! Good luck, I saw a show on America’s Test Kitchen where they made a good looking Orange Chicken, and put the recipe on my recipe blog. http://foodhoe.blogspot.com/2007/01/orange-flavored-chicken.html