![]() ![]() Among the hot offerings, the steamed dumplings are outstanding, particularly because they are cooked in a steamer lined with cabbage leaves, which endows them with a little extra flavor. The Panda Inn offers a very long menu at dinner (and a shorter, yet still attractive, list at lunch) that begins with a rather standard selection of hot appetizers but comes into its own with the cold hors d’oeuvres. The sauce is smooth and unctuous, the meat moist yet crunchy, and the flavor as rich as the greediest Mandarin’s dreams. When ready, it is returned to the wok and toss-fried again with dried tangerine peel (for aroma and bitterness), scallions, fiery black paper peppers (these should not be eaten), honey and other flavorings. The meat is cut into fairly thick slices and braised until tender, then coated with a light batter and fried until golden and crisp. This dish is something of a group experience for the mouth, since it brings tongue, palate and all the taste buds into action each finds something different to savor in this blend of sweet, salty, pungent, aromatic and peppery flavors, with textures both rough-hewn and silky. Now for the Plum Tree beef, a dish that first lays siege to the mouth but then quickly seduces it with an irresistible array of tastes and textures. The waiters are also civil, respectful and patient, unlike many of the servers who populate this city’s Chinese restaurants, and (wonder of wonders) the Panda Inn even has a maitre d’ who will stop by the table to explain dishes and suggest ways to compose an attractive menu. One of the greatest thrills here is the service, which is almost French in style the waiters, for example, use two spoons, in the French manner, to transfer servings of food from the platters to the diners’ plates. The interior architecture, with its eye-catching, geometric lines, also suggests the Orient, in a way that could be called Chinese Style Moderne. ![]() ![]() This is not the stereotypical Chinese eatery of yesteryear instead of ceilings hung with paper lanterns and garish dragons dancing across the walls, Panda Inn discreetly displays a few good examples of Oriental art hung on walls painted in the pastel shades that have become de rigeur for Southern California restaurants. Like its neighbor, The Grand Tour, it offers a back dining room that features a wide-open view of the west side of downtown, but its other rooms have their own selling points. ![]() The Panda Inn is the latest tenant to move into the restaurant row that lines Horton Plaza’s top deck. (The Panda Inns in Santee and Clairemont, which also are rather good restaurants, are not related to the Panda Inn at Horton Plaza.) Although the Panda Inn has been in operation for just a few weeks, it seems quite safe to say that it already has assumed the leadership of our local corps of Chinese restaurants, not merely because of its cuisine, but because of its unusually high levels of service and physical comfort. The corporation that owns the Plum Tree Inn and several other L.A.-area Chinese restaurants kindly has solved the second of these problems by opening the Panda Inn at Horton Plaza, a fine, sophisticated establishment that offers Plum Tree beef as one of many excellent specialties. ![]()
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