Friends claim that Clyde and I make snap decisions about restaurants — that we draw permanent conclusions from temporary conditions. To some degree, this is true. After one really bad experience at a eatery, we may never go back.
Our last visit to Pan Asia occurred not long after the restaurant opened. While our waiter was helpful, the kitchen was slow, the food was mediocre, and the prices were too high. That was more than a year ago (how time flies!), so yesterday, when we found ourselves on the far end of County Line Road around lunch time, we stopped in to see how things had changed.
A bad sign: despite the hour, the place was mostly empty, save for a few tables of chatty Tennis Wives. We were seated immediately at a table right next to the open kitchen, and drink orders appeared a few minutes later.
Our summer roll appetizer (about $8.95) appeared about ten minutes later: a single summer roll, slightly gummy, about the length of my hand, cut into four ragged pieces. The portions were too small to hold together well; rolls tended to fall apart when lifted from the serving plate. We couldn’t help thinking of our favorite Vietnamese spring rolls, from Saigon on County Line Road. Saigon’s rolls are fresher, fatter, longer, and bulging with shrimp and greenery. They’re also just $4.95 — and you get two instead of one.
Our plates of fried rice with chicken were, frankly, salty and greasy — unremarkable in every way, until the bill came. Heaven knows I’m no miser when it comes to dining out … but $30.00 is just too much to charge for two glasses of tea, one small summer roll, and two small plates of chicken fried rice. For $6.95, I can get a heaping plate of fried rice at Peking on I-55 North (including more meat than one person should eat).
This being the second time we’ve panned Pan Asia, I think we’ve learned our lesson. The next time our lunch hour tummies suggest something from the Far East, we’ll stick with Peking, Saigon, and Thai House — authentic eateries that please our wallets as much as they please our palettes.
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