Royal Panda

my boyfriend and I visited this restaurant, and the experience was horrendous!!! first, we came in, and there was no one at the counter. when someone finally came to seat us, we were basically dumped off at an overly large table for like 16. we overlooked the first two spoofs and ordered drinks and went to serve ourselves. I grabbed a plate and made my way around the buffet...my boyfriend did the same. I got to the week old desserts, and there was a long black hair interlaced in the icing of some little cake. I just walked away! I met my boyfriend at our table and we started to eat. Two seconds into it, i noticed a black insect leg in my tangerine chicken sauce..after I has eaten some of course!! I put my fork down,.went to counter, trying to avoid making a scene. I asked the hostess and.the.waiter to come to my table and check this plate. they were grossed out, they didnt know what to say, but they were obviously embarrassed. we got up paid for our drinks and left!! Never again..i am through with this place...

The Royal Panda of Lafayette, La., formerly known as the Hong Kong Inn, is one of the best Chinese restaurants I've ever enjoyed. And I spent a year in China.



A koi pond out front welcomes visitors who pass between two royal lions to enter the restaurant, styled with a pagoda look to its single floor. Etched glass scenes serve as dividers between dining areas, which include a well-appointed bar.



The service is excellent, with each member of the wait staff eager to take care of all your needs. The restaurant is always spotlessly clean (after large family parties leave, the table, chairs, walls and floors are cleaned!) with its many decorative appointments sparkling.



A separate sushi bar serves some of the best sushi you'll ever taste, always served with great presentation.



The buffet is filled with great choices, including, apart from traditional Chinese fare, excellent seafood such as snow crab legs and shrimp, as well as a salad bar. And a soft-serve ice cream machine that kids (and a lot of adults) love.



The restaurant also offers a menu and the inventive kitchen staff, run by owner Tony Lu and his brother Lou as head chef), will enjoy creating any item on the varied menu for you. Even better, they'll do their best to fulfill a request that may not be on the menu, if you help them understand which dish you're looking for.



And what delights they can prepare. A dish that sounds incredibly simple is called Salt and Pepper Shrimp. It is presented surrounded by vegetables (I've had it with steamed broccoli so crisp it snapped with each bite and with thin stalks of green onion; don't know which I liked best). It is, simply, shrimp that has been so lightly breaded you see the shrimp through the coating; lightly and quickly sauteed, spiced with salt and pepper and magical things Tony won't share with me and served up, piping hot. It is a delight.



The old stand-by Moo Goo Gai Pan is a treat at Tony's, the individual ingredients crisp and beautifully combined, not swimming in a sea of sauce as they so often are. Chef Lou's General Tzo's Chicken is a delightfully biting blend of flavors that will make your mouth and eyes water.



Reasonable prices, more than adequate parking (spillover can park in the vast space provided by the Wal-mart at the back of the Panda property) and a full-service bar make this one of Lafayette's best, of any ethnic cuisine.