Readers may recall my love of the Chinese food offerings at Causeway Bay Seafood Restaurant. When I was talking to a friend about it recently, they mentioned that they held the recently re-opened Panda Haus in higher regard. With praise like that, I definitely had to go check it out to see if it was worth the hype. So I gathered a few friends and made a booking for Friday night after work.
Making a reservation for 7pm, the store was fairly packed with tables spilling outside. Apparently the old store was fairly small and in comparison, the newer, bigger shopfront has caused challenges with being able to cope with a larger customer base than previously. As such, reviews online often complain about wait times. I did try to circumvent this by pre ordering food, but they didn't take pre orders other than for seafood.
Compared to Causeway bay, their menu was decidedly shorter. Prices were roughly the same and there were a significant number of dishes that overlapped. We originally ordered 11 dishes to share between 9, but only 10 arrived with us only being notified at the end that the final dish was not available.
As mentioned in the other reviews, service was very chaotic throughout. We ordered a pot of tieguanyin and it got lost when we sought a refill. Otherwise I appreciate the larger than average teapot.
Half an hour after I ordered, the food started to arrive. Our entire course arrived throughout the next hour, which was a bit longer than I had expected. Items also showed up out of order. First to arrive was the yang chow fried rice, carb dishes like this usually show up at the end when everyone needs to fill up, but instead it came first. It did have good wok hei and each granule of rice was distinct from its neighbours. The rice to topping ratio could have been better, but it was a nice way to start the meal but the portions were a bit small. Our other carb, the century egg and mince congee came next. This was bigger in size and had a good texture, with a generous amount of toppings.
Braised tofu came next. I was somewhat disappointed that this did not come in a pot but rather a plate. Portions were small but the taste was pretty good.
Seafood which should have arrived first came sporadically. This was the steamed garlic scallops. I expected them to come with vermicelli but they did not, which was strange and a disappointment for the table. The scallops were reasonably fresh and tasty though.
Our barramundi came after. This was smaller than expected and although not unfresh it was not overly fresh. I would say it is a very average steamed fish and the causeway bay iteration is far superior.
A couple of fried dishes came after, the garlic pork rips and salt and pepper white bait. Portions were surprisingly small for the price. Both were freshly fried and a fairly tasty but the flavours didn't pop as much as other places.
Highlight of the night was without a doubt the tea scented diced beef cubes. These were tender and well seasoned, the scent of tea was an unusual but welcome addition to the dish, but again we found it to be very small for the price.
Before ordering, I enquired how many prawns would be in the salted egg prawn dish. It turns out that for our group we needed more than one portion, so we ordered one and a half. The kitchen missed half our order and it took another half hour for that to come out. The salty egg yolk sauce was a highlight for us, rich and umami, it complimented the prawns well.
It was also disappointing for us that the salted egg and century egg spinach came at the end of our meal, long after we had finished our rice. We would have really enjoyed some rice to soak up the soup stock, but this dish was well seasoned, adequately portioned and well received.
Overall, despite my complaints, we had a reasonably good time at Panda Haus. The food was above average in standard. Portions are small, service is chaotic and it is not as good as Causeway Bay. It is however, better than landmark and parkland by a wide margin and I wouldn't mind a return visit.
Price Range: $40 - $50pp
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