My Name is Zach, and I Am An Addict
I’m sorry, I couldn’t help it. I have a problem. The funny thing is others stopped by the newly opened Panda International (on 46th btw. 5+6th), took one look at the food, and walked out. From Lunch’er “Gustad”
“Went with some coworkers, and just as we were walking in, 3 guys walked out laughing. so i asked what was wrong, and they said it looked too sketchy. we continued walking in to come to the same conclusion. in their warm trays, i saw meatballs and other italian dishes. what the hell!!?? their menu had chinese dishes for 10-11 bucks (the stuff that is usually 6-8 at a real chinese joint). and heros, smoothies, etc… very odd. i saw a mexican in the kitchen and two white people up front. i can eat at the junkiest of chinese places, and i’m not saying this place looks junkie, but it was very far from appetizing. we left without food.”
I stayed and ate.
In fairness to Panda International, the lunch specials were not $10-11. And I did see a Chinese guy bringing food out while I was there. The rest of what he said is pretty much true.
On the Chinese side $8 gets you one meat, rice or noodles, an egg roll, and a soda. Not bad, unless you don’t want the egg roll and soda. Then you’re just going to wish it was cheaper.
If you want the Italian food, it’s $9 for one pasta, one meat, bread (and I think also a soda).
None of it looked that great, and with Sun Yip and Hing Won not too far away (for Chinese) and Park Italian and Little Italy Pizza on 45th btw. 5+6th (for Italian) I doubt Panda is going to replace any of those four as your go-to.
I got noodles and sesame chicken. “Chicken” is kind of misleading (it was mostly breading), and there was waaaaay too much sauce (and I actually liked the sauce.) No sesame seeds to be seen, egg roll was a little too doughy, and an hour later I was fighting off a headache. It’s probably the worst cheap Chinese food option there is in Midtown. And yet… I still enjoyed every single bite. What is wrong with me?
Panda International, 9 W. 46th St. (btw. 5+6th), 212-921-2323
Posted by Zach Brooks at 3:15 pm, April 23rd, 2009 under 46th btw. 5+6th, Chinese, Italian, Panda Restaurant.
16 Comments | RSS comments feed for this post
16 Comments
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Dude, that’s like walking into a crack den to get a fix. Sketchy…
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the dude at the table in the first picture looks like he’s going to kill you
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The dude in the first pic looks like zach in 10 years you guys should go to a meeting together.
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You’d be better off saving up the $ you spend on this shit and getting a rub & tug down on 32nd St. It’d feel better, be less risky for your health and at least you’d get some form of exercise. Bonus: No headache.
Smoking crack might also be an improvement over this slop
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Wayne –
I strongly disagree.
Smoking crack would *definitely* be an improvement over this slop.
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where the heck and you get a rub for 8$….and do you get an egg roll with it?
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@ wayne—Where do you get the rub and tug!!!! I work on 32nd btwn park and madison! Which shady Korean joint offers such pleasures!
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This week Midtownlunch would like to welcome our sister site MidtownRub&Tug.com
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Just because it has the word Panda in the name does not make it a Panda Express!!!
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There’s no shame in loving Chinese food–in all its Americanized fake glory!!!
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Hahaha, I think we were literally 20 feet away from each other today. I was eating a schwarma in baguette at Kosher Deluxe when I noticed Panda across the street and thought “Huh, I know that place from ML!”
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I used to go to this place before they switched it up. Looks exactly the same. Can’t bring myself to spend $8 on the same chinese food they served for $5 or $6 before. It’s still dirty and grimy as shit just looking at that picture. haha
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i guess i didn’t pay much attention to the lunch specials (or didn’t see them).
like i said, i can really eat anywhere… but i went here wanting some good chinese food, ideally “chinatown style”. oh well. -
funny enough, I’m the person (with two of my coworkers) that Gustad saw yesterday… we saw that this place was opening on midtown lunch and thought we would give it a shot… clearly it was a good idea we didn’t
though, I’m not quite sure why someone would open a restaurant without having a clear menu/prices up on the board yet (you can see the empty space where the rest of the menu should be in the picture – the flourescent lights behind where it should be are shining)
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enjoy now as the joint will be closed by summer
Zach needs a Panda-addiction intervention. lol.
Clear out your system with some good ol’ chinatown cheap-food.