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Panda Gourmet, Szechuan Specialists in the Langdon Days Inn - New York Avenue and Bladensburg Road NE


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I'm in, but I want to mention that it isn't obvious that I have a PM when I am on my phone, which is 90+% of the time. I have to actually check to see, and as months go by without one I do so rarely. Is there a way to fix this?

Do you use the mobile site? At the top right, click the square with 4 white squares inside it. The black screen appears with New Content and other options, one of which is messenger. If you have a new message, a red box with 1 in it shows. Click that.
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Do you use the mobile site? At the top right, click the square with 4 white squares inside it. The black screen appears with New Content and other options, one of which is messenger. If you have a new message, a red box with 1 in it shows. Click that.

Yes, that is what I mean by "checking." I don't do it a lot.

I have new content bookmarked, so I start there.

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Not sure if you can do this from the mobile, but from the desktop browser:

  1. Click on your name in the upper right toolbar, and select My Settings.
  2. Click the Notification Options tab on the left
  3. Scroll down to the Private Messages area. I'm not sure if the "inline notifications" will work on the mobile, but you can check the boxes for the choices listed to have the system send you an email to your registered address when you get a PM
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Report: there was food, and we ate it, and it was good.

A few more details, at least for the dishes that I can remember, please correct where I get it wrong as I know some of them are mixed up:

Cold tendon and tripe in spicy sauce - I feel like this had a third meat (maybe tongue? whatever it was was the best of the selection). Thin sliced in a spiced chili oil. This dish was the last to be finished, at least the slices of tendon? were a bit lonely there until the end.

Rabbit cubes, cold and bone-in with peanuts and salty spices. This was probably my least favorite due to the tiny bone shards throughout.

Cumin lamb, hot lamb slices with bell peppers? I was mixing this one up with another dish, which may have been pork slices with mushrooms. Or not.

Shaanxi (not) hand-pulled noodles - very tasty thin noodles with ruffled edges, dressed with chili oil and spices.

Soup with lamb and mystery cubes (pita? tofu?), this came with a separate dish of some kind of chili paste and garlic, which really added a lot to the dish.

Pork? in fiery pot - vat of pork slices with cabbage in a chili broth. I've had the fish version of this here before, I think I might give the edge to the fish version as the fish filets soak up more of the tasty broth. I'm not

Dry fried green beans - this was the sleeper hit of very flavorful, garlicky beans. This is different from the heavier, greasier version with pork that I have had elsewhere (and which seems to be ubiquitous at every hotel breakfast buffet in China).

So that is eight dishes, and I feel like I may be forgetting something. Nothing was overly spicy, but after eating enough chili oil it can be hard to distinguish flavors between dishes. Anyway, for 9 people this ended up being $18 each.

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I thought the cumin lamb was not as good as skewers of lamb with cumin.

The firey pot had lamb and not particularly lamby lamb at that.  Agree that the fish would be the way to go.

 The pork had pressed bean curd and mushrooms

there was one more cold plate I think.

think the rabbit suffered from being inhe middle of the meal.... a hint would be to order cold plates firlst, then order the hot dishes after the cold plates start to arrive.

I think we hot better dishes last week.  But one thing of note: the dishes all compared with the best renditions we have had of these dishes as in "this is almost as good at it is at Grace Garden, or Joe's is a little better.  The broad range of generally excellent dishes is impressive.

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Today was my first meet-up so I was supposed to write this up, but thanks to the others because everything pretty much became a mashup in my mind.  I had a great time and look forward to more meet-ups hopefully in the near future.  My favorite was certainly the green beans.  Although the meat in the firey pot was nondescript as dean mentioned, I really enjoyed the vegetables and the "soup" (this is very similar to one of my go to dishes at Joe's, but at Joe's it is tofu in place of the meat).  The tendon and tripe was also very nice, numbing and spicy.  Based upon the abundance of good Chinese in Rockville, I am not sure when I will be back to Panda again, but it was still very good.

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my wife has forbid us ever to return.

So my wife was fine with Panda Gourmet tonight, and we actually ate there last month too as we also explored Chang in Rockwell. I find Panda Gourmet much more compelling, especially for cold dishes and vegetables. Some updates:

- no more delivery

- 10% discount if you pay cash!

- lady a table over was really mad that they forgot her General Tso's shrimp. A 15 or 20 minute ordeal. Felt sorry for her.

I recommend ordering the Dan Dan noodles, delicious and because they seem guaranteed to come out quickly for a starter. Other dishes may take a bit longer, if you are really hungry.

So, upside is greater than Peter Chang, but the service issues continue which can really torpedo a meal. A lot of lost in translation moments. But the value is tremendous.

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got carryout from panda gourmet sunday and it was great. the hand pulled shanxi noodles were great-- i loved the seasoning and the texture, the noodles felt almost fluffy. other hits were the cold shanxi noodles--a very thick, dense, slippery noodle, a very different texture from the hand pulled ones, the celery/tofu salad, and the mapo tofu which was very flavorful. one thing i wouldn't order again was what i thought was the northern schezuan bean jelly salad. at other places i've had wonderful dish of bean jelly with a savory chili seasoning. that's what i was trying to order, but i recieved a dish that was actually quite sweet. has anyone else ordered this, and if so, was it sweet? i'm trying to figure out if that's just how they do the northern bean jelly salad, or if i recieved the chengdu bean jelly salad by mistake instead. 

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Tyler Cowen hosted a dinner discussion at Panda Gourmet with Chinese cuisine expert Fuschia Dunlop.

About an hourlong discussion: video / transcript

The focus is on how to understand Chinese food culture, its growing nexus with Western culture, and especially Szechuan food. Pretty fascinating - they're joined by journalist Ezra Klein and chef Mark Miller.

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6 hours ago, saxdrop said:

Tyler Cowen hosted a dinner discussion at Panda Gourmet with Chinese cuisine expert Fuschia Dunlop.

About an hourlong discussion: video / transcript

The focus is on how to understand Chinese food culture, its growing nexus with Western culture, and especially Szechuan food. Pretty fascinating - they're joined by journalist Ezra Klein and chef Mark Miller.

And Megan McArdle.  Dunlop is really compelling, and tremendously informative -- thanks for the tip.

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9 hours ago, DanielK said:

Yeah, but I want to know what they ordered...

I asked her on twitter; her response:  "loved the Liang pi (cold Xi'an noodles) and the rou jia mo (Xi'an 'hamburgers')"

Those are the two items that appear to be the most consistent.  Otherwise, I've found PG to be hit-or-miss (though I haven't been in a while).  Lately, I've been frequenting Northwest Chinese Food, which also excels in Shaanxi cooking (or something similar--I'm no expert) and is, I think, more consistent. 

 

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Panda Gourmet is available for delivery on Amazon Prime Now so @MichaelBDC and I put in an order and grabbed a couple of drinks after our evening run. We ended up ordering the dan dan noodles, rouga mo chinese burger, cold steamed noodles with sesame sauce, hot and spicy chicken, and sauteed string beans. Highlights were the two noodle dishes, especially the dan dan noodles, and the sauteed string beans. Probably should have ordered the cold xi'an noodles mentioned above but got confused and ordered the one with sesame sauce. Still good. The green beans were nothing super special (sauteed with garlic and ginger) but still nice to have alongside the other dishes. The rouga mo chinese burger was good, but not great. I preferred the noodles to the burger, but I am a noodle fiend. The chicken was really dry and was good if we picked at it but didn't work with the steamed rice. Overall a great experience. Cost was $45 included tax and tip (which was automatic) and we had a coupon for $10 off. Order took about 50 minutes, which we expected.

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I'm normally a huge fan of Panda, but had an off meal there last night.  Yes, much of the food was still good.  But the mapo had clearly been rewarmed and not very well.  Double fried fish was soggy.  And the rice was different -- almost like a basmati.  Maybe Monday is someone's night off.  Or maybe just a fluke.  Let's hope this isn't a great restaurant in decline. 

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3 hours ago, eatruneat said:

Panda Gourmet is available for delivery on Amazon Prime Now so @MichaelBDC and I put in an order and grabbed a couple of drinks after our evening run. We ended up ordering the dan dan noodles, rouga mo chinese burger, cold steamed noodles with sesame sauce, hot and spicy chicken, and sauteed string beans. Highlights were the two noodle dishes, especially the dan dan noodles, and the sauteed string beans. Probably should have ordered the cold xi'an noodles mentioned above but got confused and ordered the one with sesame sauce. Still good. The green beans were nothing super special (sauteed with garlic and ginger) but still nice to have alongside the other dishes. The rouga mo chinese burger was good, but not great. I preferred the noodles to the burger, but I am a noodle fiend. The chicken was really dry and was good if we picked at it but didn't work with the steamed rice. Overall a great experience. Cost was $45 included tax and tip (which was automatic) and we had a coupon for $10 off. Order took about 50 minutes, which we expected.

Maybe I just hadn't had proper dan dan noodles, but the ones from Panda Gourmet blew me away.  Amazing!  Glad @eatruneat made the suggestion

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1 hour ago, MichaelBDC said:

Maybe I just hadn't had proper dan dan noodles, but the ones from Panda Gourmet blew me away.

You're so right; the tingling from the Sichuan peppercorn really comes through as compared to other versions I've had.  

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37 minutes ago, Rieux said:

Now that they are on Amazon, going to try them through a delivery order.  Dan Dan Noodles sound like a must-order.  Has anyone had the scallion pancake?  How's the Ma Po Tofu?

A word of caution on Amazon Prime Now. @MichaelBDC and I ordered Panda Gourmet via Amazon again on Thursday and it took nearly 90 minutes to get to us. There was a disclaimer when we were ordering citing that the items we wanted would take a long time to prepare. However, following the tracker, it was clear that the kitchen prepared our order in a reasonable amount of time but the driver was making multiple deliveries (we are unsure if it was from one or multiple restaurants). Saw the driver drive past us (in Chinatown) to do one or more deliveries in the Palisades/Georgetown. The result was that much of our order needed a bit of reheating. Still a pretty good meal, but something to take into account when putting in an order. 

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5 hours ago, eatruneat said:

A word of caution on Amazon Prime Now. @MichaelBDC and I ordered Panda Gourmet via Amazon again on Thursday and it took nearly 90 minutes to get to us. There was a disclaimer when we were ordering citing that the items we wanted would take a long time to prepare. However, following the tracker, it was clear that the kitchen prepared our order in a reasonable amount of time but the driver was making multiple deliveries (we are unsure if it was from one or multiple restaurants). Saw the driver drive past us (in Chinatown) to do one or more deliveries in the Palisades/Georgetown. The result was that much of our order needed a bit of reheating. Still a pretty good meal, but something to take into account when putting in an order. 

Your post is very interesting.  My close friend owns a bar in Adams Morgan, and he participates in a number of these delivery services.  He gets complaints frequently from people that the food isn't good.  The bottom line is that he cannot control what happens when the food leaves his restaurant.  He also said that it often sits for long periods of time before being picked up and in those instances he makes a new order, but still cannot control when and in what condition it gets to the purchaser.

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No drop off 4 weeks ago for the things I order (Griddle Cooked Fish. The online menu is different than print. I get a chicken and rice dish from the print menu. Two of them look the same except one has peanuts in it. Dry cooked, I believe? You would have to ask when you see the menu. Need to return!)

I'd be sad if there were a drop off for even common things like their comfort food egg drop soup!

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Yes, the Griddle Cooked Fish and egg drop soup were good today!  Like most dishes you can get this with chicken or shrimp or pork or lamb or some other meat. Lots of vegetables (onion, green bell pepper, red bell pepper, celery, garlic, leek). The fish is fried in a batter. Be sure to mix everything well with the hot chili oil at the bottom of the pan it's served in.

The 2 chicken dishes I mentioned in my previous posts were from SC-07 Dry Braised Series and SC-08 Stir Fried Spicy Series (on the print menu). One of them has crushed peanuts in it.

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Hungover from New Years Eve festivities, I had the craving for Chinese food and convinced @MichaelBDC to roll the dice and order from Panda Gourmet via Postmates. We over ordered and ate throughout the afternoon and into the evening. Thankfully we did not have any major delivery issues that noticeably affected food quality. Altogether we ordered large hot and sour and wonton soups, steamed dumplings in red sauce, won tons in hot and spicy sauce, dan dan noodles, and liang pi noodles. The dumplings and wontons in sauce were a hit as well as the liang pi noodles, which were spicy, smoky, and overall very good. Hot and sour soup could have been better but really hit the spot for this hung over gal. Wonton soup was the only disappointment. The broth was very soy heavy. We didn't get to the dan dan noodles and are still in our fridge waiting to be reheated. We would order Panda Gourmet from Postmates again.

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On 1/3/2019 at 6:49 PM, eatruneat said:

Hungover from New Years Eve festivities, I had the craving for Chinese food and convinced @MichaelBDC to roll the dice and order from Panda Gourmet via Postmates. We over ordered and ate throughout the afternoon and into the evening. Thankfully we did not have any major delivery issues that noticeably affected food quality. Altogether we ordered large hot and sour and wonton soups, steamed dumplings in red sauce, won tons in hot and spicy sauce, dan dan noodles, and liang pi noodles. The dumplings and wontons in sauce were a hit as well as the liang pi noodles, which were spicy, smoky, and overall very good. Hot and sour soup could have been better but really hit the spot for this hung over gal. Wonton soup was the only disappointment. The broth was very soy heavy. We didn't get to the dan dan noodles and are still in our fridge waiting to be reheated. We would order Panda Gourmet from Postmates again.

Just a note that they're also available for delivery via Uber Eats. I actually didn't realize they were on Postmates as well. 

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First visit! Essentially riffed off @eatruneat's order strategy but ate in. Last Fri, around 1130am. I'd say half dozen tables seated.

Steam Dumpling in Red Hot Sauce / Dan Dan Noodles / Shaanxi Style Homemade Noodle / Grilled Lamb Skewers / Shredded Beef in Spicy Oil Broth (don't recall the name; my Chinese friend ordered off the printed menu and it came in a large white pot with choice of protein)

The Shaanxi noodles and the skewers were my favorite. The dumplings and Dan Dan noodles made for pretty decent leftovers hours later. My one nitpick on the latter, these struck me as overcooked and slightly mushy, not the springiness and chew with which I was familiar. Having only really had them at Hong Kong Palace (Falls Church) and Mala Tang (Arlington), I'm wiling to concede my limited experience here - flavor was still great.

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Quick lunch today. Just an order of Fiery Pot Lamb. I have had beef and fish before, this is my first time with lamb.  I just ordered it from the menu and did not specify hot.   The lamb is a little chewier than the beef but is also very rich. I would not have minded a few more slices of lamb. The broth is fiery hot, without being overbearing hot. But it is one of the spicier dishes I have had in a while. The broth comes fillled with bean sprouts and cabbage. As is typical in Szechuan dishes, there is a slick of oil on the top of the dish but the dish itself is not greasy at all. 

Panda Gourmet hit it out of the park with this dish. Need to go back with a group to get a good cross section of the menu. 

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Just want to gauge the interest in a dinner here. Probably under $30 per person. The menu will be pre selected with a balance of spicy and milder dishes. But if you are not into hot, garlic etc, this is not the best place for you. If there is general interest I will post an event in the events section

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5 hours ago, deangold said:

Just want to gauge the interest in a dinner here. Probably under $30 per person. The menu will be pre selected with a balance of spicy and milder dishes. But if you are not into hot, garlic etc, this is not the best place for you. If there is general interest I will post an event in the events section

I'd be interested depending on date/time!

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Hi, Dean! Huge fan of Panda, not a huge fan of the location. Having dined at both Panda and sister restaurant Xi'an in Rockville, and seeing no appreciable difference between the two from a cuisine standpoint, would it be reasonable to consider seeing which venue would draw the most interest? Just an idea I wanted to throw out there. Thanks for trying to get some group dinners going!

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