Recently, I posted a review of Red Hot Goodies, which (after much research…) has proven to be our Chinese takeaway of choice. Last week, we decided to try something different instead, and opted for Panda Chinese Takeaway in Redfield. Why? Well, simply because it has a high food hygiene rating, the prices are good and the menu is less limited than some of the other venues that deliver to our door.
Our order of sesame prawn toasts, sweet and sour chicken balls, roast pork in satay sauce, shredded chilli beef and a portion of egg fried rice (plus a free small bag of prawn crackers) came to £21 plus a delivery charge of £1.50: not too bad at all, and with the aim of having leftovers for lunch…
Delivery was prompt, with the food still piping hot when it arrived: always a good sign. Unfortunately, though, the food that we’d ordered turned out to be a bit of a mixed bag…
We began with a portion of sesame prawn toasts (£4.40), which certainly looked the part and still had a good bite – they obviously hadn’t been sitting in their plastic container for too long. However, that’s sadly where the enjoyment ended…without any prawn flavour whatsoever, we wished we’d chosen something else instead.
The shredded chilli beef (£4.90) was more enjoyable: perfectly crispy and in a sauce that was sweet but not cloyingly so. The mixed vegetables also helped to balance out the flavours.
The roast pork in satay sauce (£4.50) included a decent amount of pork, with both pork and veg beautifully cooked. However, while the sauce had a lovely nutty flavour to it, it was incredibly watery and a little disappointing.
The egg fried rice (£2.20) was a real let down: it featured minimal egg, and tasted very much as if it had been pre-prepared and reheated. The flavour was not at all fresh, and the texture was completely off.
Finally, onto the sweet and sour chicken balls (£4.50), which are a staple when we order Chinese takeaway. I think we’ve been spoilt by those offered by Red Hot Goodies, which are huge, feature perfectly cooked chicken and a lovely crisp batter. These were completely different. Each ball was far smaller, and contained only a tiny piece of dry chicken, while the batter coating was soggy and not at all crisp. I don’t think we’ll be ordering these again…
A bit of a mixed bag, overall – while the shredded chilli beef and the roast pork in satay sauce were great on the flavour front, the rest of our meal was a bit of a disappointment. I think we’ll be sticking to ordering from Red Hot Goodies in the future…