Mandarin Express

I went there to find that this was the place that replaced Panda Express. I didn’t realize that until I got to the cashier that what I got looked like orange chicken on the outside but it was a different business. The manager was very nice and let me use the Panda Express receipt for free entrée. The staff here is very nice but unfortunately their food has no taste. It doesn’t taste bad, the food is just tasteless. It was the worst Chinese food I ever had. So I looked up the nearest Panda E and drove all the way down to Ellicott City.

So this place took over a Panda Express’ spot. I was in the mall and decided to give it a shot. Unfortunately, it wasn’t that good to me.
The majority of the items here were chicken. It’s not a big deal though as long as the food is good. The Mongolian chicken was really good (and probably why they were offering it as a sample). It was sweet, had a little bit of a wonderfully charred crust, and wasn’t overcooked. But it goes downhill from there.
I ordered the orange chicken because it was one of my favorite dishes at Panda Express (yes, I know there is no orange in Panda’s version). On the good side, this actually tasted like orange. But on the other hand, it was so so so so sweet. You’d need a starch to counteract the sweetness. Maybe rice would be good… but unfortunately, I picked the chow mein noodles.
The noodles had issues too. They were over-​cooked. Panda Express’ take has a nice bite to it… it’s not super soggy soft. But Manadarin Express’ noodles were extremely soft and mushy. It didn’t really go well with either of the chicken dishes… no textural contrast and the noodles, being soggy, also seemed to soak up the grease.
Maybe I picked the wrong stuff. Maybe I’ll give it another shot next time I’m in Towson. But I think more likely, I’ll end up at Chick-​fil-​a.

New Chinese place in the Towson Mall taking over Panda’s old spot. When I went, it was all chicken. Maybe they’ll change it later. I had all manners of deep fried breaded chicken. The orange chicken was the best. It was sweet like candy and the breading is pretty good. Crispy outside and well… bready soft inside. Turnover is pretty good so my food was pretty fresh for heatlamp. The fried rice and lo mein were pretty bad though. Flavorless. I took it home, added soy sauce and pepper, then microwaved to make it palatable. Can’t see myself going back anytime soon unless they add more non-​chicken menu items. Still, ME is worth a try if you’re in the mall.