Primo Familia: Panda Cuisine

I took Reid's advice from 'Ono Kine Grinz and dragged my 2 kids, Grandma and Mom to Panda Cuisine on Sunday for Dim Sum. Yes, I know I'm trying to watch my 'points' (Weight Watchers), and Chinese food is high in points, but we do not have a wide selection of awesome Dim Sum places in Phoenix. So to heck with it.

We arrived at Panda Cuisine (on Ke'eaumoku, across the street from Wal-Mart) at 12:30 p.m. Parking is either on the street (metered) or under the restuarant, where they charge $1. The restaurant was bustling, but we were seated in less than 5 minutes. Of course Alex wanted to check out the fish in the tank (a.k.a. "tonight's dinner special") but I told him we had to eat first.

First came the steamed cart. We got Char Siu Bao (my favorite!!! - steamed sweet bread with pork filling), Shiu Mai (pork dumplings), Har Gau (shrimp dumpling) and Har Gau with shrimp and spinach filling. All were delicious, but by far it was the best Shiu Mai I've ever had.

Next, they came around with a tray of steamed Choy Sum with Oyster Sauce (Chinese vegetable), which we partook in. I also ordered a plate of Char Siu, which Alex seemed to enjoy. We then ordered the Steamed Bean Curd Rolls stuffed with egg, pork, and vegetables. It didn't look pretty, but it was very tasty. Although they put too much 'gravy' on it, as it was a bit too wet.

My mom wanted to order Steamed Mochi Rice wrapped in Lotus Leaf with Pork, and Wu Gok (Deep Fried Taro with bits of meat (usually pork) mixed in). The Lo Mai Gai was delicious; the Wu Gok, I wasn't terribly fond of. The fried texture mixed with the taro and meat filling wasn't one of my favorites.

For my final dish I picked the Jin Dui (Deep Fried Mochi Balls filled with Sweet Red Bean Paste and sprinkled with Sesame Seeds) to finish the meal. Yum, yum, yum! They were perfect - not oily at all, and just the right temperature!

All in all, one of the best Dim Sum meals I've ever had. Not to mention the prices were pretty fair. We stuffed ourselves for $48 (there were 4 of us), and had some left-overs to take home. I would highly recommend Panda Cuisine for their Dim Sum, and will try to get in again for a regular meal.

For those with kids, Panda Cuisine is kid friendly. There were quite a few kids there, and the restaurant was busy and noisy enough to drown out Colin's crying and Alex's intermittent yelling. No one blinked when Alex decided to climb under the table. That's always a plus in my book!

Panda Cuisine
641 Ke'eaumoku St # 2
Honolulu, HI 96814 (808) 947-1688‎