Judy's NYC: Panda Cafe Review

o(^_^)o

I don't usually use icons, but that cafe makes me want to with it's cute wall decals and Asian cafe food. From what I heard, it is opened by the same person that opened Oz Cafe in Elmhurst before, however this time they got smart and did more branding. They used cute pandas everywhere, attracting girls to rush in. That's how they got my friend and me :P Well, they also have some interesting menu that you don't see much of, such as the Magic Box, Taro fries and Paper Pot.

Cute wall decals, I wonder if their characters are designed by the cafe itself?

I've been there four times, first time I was sold because of the great deal they have taro, sweet potato fires or cripsy chicken and one bubble tea for $3.75 (now it's a bit more since that was for grand opening). And upon taking a sip of the rose milk tea, I was so surprised. It was better than Rose House's rose milk tea, as that one can get a bit nauseating after a few teacups. This one was light and fresh! Definitely recommend.

New decoration they put for Valentines Day.

Second time, I dragged my boyfriend along, but it was a bit of a let down. The service was really slow because they had friends over and were serving them first, and their friend touched all the food coming out (hey it might not be there's...). However, the waiter/cashier apologized and offered us a free drink.

So we gave it two more tries, and this time they really improved on the speed! Even with a lot of customers, they were a lot faster. Perhaps there is more workers in the kitchen now? Anyways, I really like this cafe now because it reminds me of Taiwanese cafes.

The two dishes I usually get is the Taiwanese Pot Noodle ($6 for beef or pork, $8 for seafood) and the crispy chicken ($3.50 by itself, or I belive its $4.25 now with the small size drink). The pot noodle soup base taste a lot like the hot pot / Korean pot soup bases in Taiwan, so I'm very addicted to it. The ingredients are fresh and comes with a lot of vegetables, which is good since I barely eat my greens.

Taiwanese love spicy popcorn chicken, and they make it very close to those you can find in the night markets. You can ask for nonspicy, and it's still fragrant because of their batter and basil they add in. They also added a cup sleeve for hot drinks, but I still think they should add a plastic lid with a drinking opening rather than their paper covers and give a straw. That's going to burn the customer's throats! Geez...

Andddd the drink I get all the time is the rose milk tea! Now I don't have to travel all the way to Flushing to get my dose of rose milk tea! You can get it cold or hot.