Let me tell you about my new favorite thing - Pan Asia Restaurant! I kept seeing this place on the way to and from work and kept telling myself, "I need to drop in there". I did, and boy am I glad I did!
When I walked in the door, I was immediately greeted by two smiling faces and several square feet of a very comprehensive menu. I was in shock that this place that seemed to be a little hole in the wall had such varied offerings. The fare consisted mostly of your typical American Chinese food but there are other delights on the menu as well.
After some deliberation I ordered two egg rolls, a small pork fried rice, and the Chicken Chunks in Spicy Satay sauce. As my order was being made I was pleased that Pan Asia not only has an open kitchen, but both the front of the house and the kitchen were clean and well kept. Cleanliness is often overlooked in restaurants, but it is an important factor to me.
In what was literally a handful of minutes, my order was ready! Experience has taught me that this could be either a good or bad thing. I grabbed my order, thanked the gentlemen, and went on my way. On the way home my car was filling with the delightful smells coming from the bag.
I had wondered how hot the food was going to be, but my curiosity was satiated when I pulled the food out of the bag. It was properly hot, like, atomic hot. You know, like someone had just pulled the stuff out of a wok (as it should be).
The egg rolls were fried to perfect and nice and crispy without being greasy. The stuffing actually had a flavor other than blanched cabbage, which is what most "fast food" Asian restaurants offer. What was interesting is that there was a little ramekin of duck sauce included, but this wasn't like your typical duck sauce. It was thin in consistency and had a smell indicating it was strongly vinegared... but it was SO much better than that crappy sauce you usually get from places that is just made of high-fructose corn syrup and little else. On the egg rolls, it really accentuated the flavor. The inclusion of house made duck sauce is a little touch that I appreciate.
The pork fried rice was perfect. It was good and sticky, without being overcooked or with too much of the starch clinging to the outside of the rice. Also, it actually had bits of pork that had a flavor to them, not like other places where you get tiny little chunks of tasteless leather. It was well seasoned and not overly salty and would easily stand by itself.
I wasn't sure what to expect with chicken chunks in spicy satay sauce, but I was pleasantly surprised. Tons of chicken, green peppers, and onions in a fantastic brown sauce that was spicy but not so hot that it cloys the palette. I love spicy food, but so many places either give you something that is mediocre at best, or so hot that you don't actually taste the components of the food. The seasoning on this was spot on, with a bit of a fire at the back of the throat while letting the flavors of the food shine through. Hints of curry and mustard peeked through the layers of flavor as they should do - those are strong flavors and can quickly be overwhelming in a dish. But, the expert chefs at Pan Asia know what they're doing. Give it a try - I am sure I will be ordering it again.
In all, I strongly recommend giving Pan Asia a try. I guarantee they have something there that you will like. I have a big appetite for Asian food and they have a big menu... so it seems like a perfect match! Prices might be a buck or so higher than you would expect to pay, but there is a saying - 'you get what you pay for', and you do at Pan Asia. Also, the sauce for the chicken dish was a little bit thinner than you might be familiar with, but that just means they didn't load it down with corn starch to thicken it up. That's not a negative in my book as corn starch seems to steal some of the flavor away.