Chinese People Try Panda Express For The First Time

(YouTube link)

Panda Express is a chain that’s sort of like a fast food version of American Chinese recipes. Buzzfeed assembled some Chinese folks of different generations to sample some dishes from Panda Express, and, to no one's surprise, their opinions varied. There's no mention of how long the taste-testers have lived in America (and we can assume they’re in America from their accents). What struck me is how the older generation is altogether less judgmental about the food. After all, whether something is “authentic” matters less than whether you like it. And at any restaurant, there will be offerings you like and some you don’t like. -via Tastefully Offensive

We dish up more neat food posts at the Neatolicious blog

I'll bet the Americanized food isn't even made with real panda.

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Yeah... I have to agree about the older folks being less judgmental. It seemed like the younger ones were overly critical hipster purist types. They seemed to start from the assumption that all the food would be poor Americanized knockoffs and, because of that fact, should be disgusting.

Meanwhile, the older people were willing to admit that half the items were pretty authentic and actually tasted good to them! Authentic and tasty chow mein and hot and sour soup, for instance. And I really loved their reaction to the orange chicken. A couple right out say that even though it's an American taste, it's something Chinese people should also enjoy.

We all know that Panda Express is knockoff Americanized Chinese food already, but that doesn't mean that it's automatically disgusting or even completely different from authentic Chinese food in every dish.

All the young people seemed like folks I would not want to go out to lunch with, anywhere, at any time. They have the power to ruin the enjoyment of any meal, I suspect. The older folks, I'd enjoy their company, as long as I had a translator. And at 34, I'm probably closer to the age of the 20 somethings.

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The only time I've eaten at Panda Express was in Las Vegas, because it was hella cheaper than eating at the hotel. I don't really recall how good the food was, just that it beat McDonalds. In my hometown, the best Chinese food is what I make at home, and who knows how "authentic" that is.

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I'm a white person but I can't say that I like Panda Express. In fact, I don't know anybody that really likes it. I don't know how it stays in business, actually. It's expensive as far as fast food goes, and not sinfully delicious the way, say, Popeyes is.