One of the nice things about Hangzhou is the variety of dining options. One of our favorites has always been Korean cuisine, but most places are casual, sit-down, dining places. They’re good, but if you’re on the go and want some bibimbap quick, what is one to do? Come on. Don’t even act like you’ve not been there. Well, as coincidence would have it, such a place has opened. It’s quick, clean, and bringing delicious, authentic, Korean cuisine to you at a price that won’t break the bank.
The adorably named, A Panda in the Kitchen,* on Jiefang Road, is located right next to Burger King and a hop, skip, and a jump from West Lake. The quaint interior seats about 20 and is pristine and well-lit. The menu is bilingual, so if you can read Chinese or Korean you’ll have no problems. For those of you who don’t, fret not because a lot of the wait staff speaks English, and the menu out front has pictures, so ordering won’t be a problem.
On the day we went for a late lunch we started with the Sweet and Spicy Rice Cakes for 28RMB. The niangao (rice cakes) were stir-fried with fresh vegetables, egg, and tofu, and spiced just right. The Fried Udon (32RMB) which was stir-fried with a full-flavored, sweet, soy sauce and tossed with cabbage, onion, tofu skin, and succulently small pieces of meat was a hearty meal by itself. We also tried the assorted, Korean-style, sushi (32RMB) which, while different from Japanese-style sushi, is still very tasty in its own right. The overall favorite though was the bibimbap. Everything, from the spices to the rice was done to perfection, and was hungrily taken down by everyone in our party with delighted abandon.
We washed everything down with a couple bottles of cool Corona (29RMB/bottle), an equally pleasing bottle of Newcastle (38RMB), and a cup of one of their signature teas. We opted for the pomelo tea if for no other reason than we’d never had pomelo tea before. It was good, but there’s such a selection, we think we’ll try something new each time we go back, and we’ll definitely be going back. From the cheery, K-Pop inspired interior (Who doesn’t love Rain?), to the friendly and attentive wait staff, A Panda in the Kitchen brings great Korean fare to you in no time flat, and in some of the nicest to-go boxes we’ve seen in China.
*No actual pandas are working in the kitchen, nor we’re any harmed during the course of this review.
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