We’ve tried to dine at Jackson’s newest eatery, Pan-Asia, three times.
The first time, Clyde surprised me with a lunch-hour forray to what I recognized as the old Brick Oven location on County Line Road. About the time I got my mouth set for a dish featuring hot chilies and chicken, we discovered the unfortunate truth: Pan-Asia isn’t open for lunch.
Undaunted, we scheduled a weekend dinner date there, summoning another couple to join us. We wound up eating sushi at Haru that evening, because Pan-Asia isn’t open on Sunday nights, either.
Frankly? After that, the restaurant dropped off my personal radar. Then, last week, a couple we frequently travel with rang us up and suggested dinner at Pan-Asia. I checked the calendar to make sure it wasn’t Sunday, and agreed to meet them there.
Patrons of the old Brick Oven will feel a powerful sense of deja-vu upon walking in. The maitre-d’s station is still just inside the door — too close to it, in fact, as it often forces the waiting line to bunch up half-in and half-out of the claustrophobic foyer.
The Brick Oven’s bar, its open kitchen (you remember: the one that runs along the far wall of the restaurant), and the dining area remain. Someone replaced the Brick Oven’s odd, jazz-inspired art with angular abstracts, and the walls have received a fresh coat of paint, but the transformation is very subtle — more along the lines of Trading Spaces than Extreme Makeovers.
The staff proved friendly … and even familiar. One of them, formerly one of SkyTel’s very best Customer Service trainers, came over and introduced himself. “I’m one of your readers,” he noted. “I’ve been waiting for you to come in and write about the place.”
And so, once our friends arrived, we settled in for our first Pan-Asia experience. Bill and Jay ordered two of the fresh seafood dishes. Clyde and I were intrigued by the idea of the stir-fry bar, which offers diners the opportunity to create custom entrees from an array of veggies and meats. In the end, though, we went with pre-fab choices: a shrimp and scallop stir fry and the Thai cashew chicken.
The pace of dining is leisurely at Pan-Asia; we nursed drinks and indulged in the night’s featured appetizer while we waited for orders to arrive. The appetizer itself was artfully arranged on the plate: a single piece of sushi, about the size of a Stay-Puft marshmallow, garnished with four sweet potato crisps. The raw tuna was firm and fresh and tasty, but at almost seven dollars, we felt the bite-sized treat was overpriced.
Entrees followed. Bill and Jay’s seafood dishes looked delicious, and they made no complaints. My chicken and cashew stir-fry also looked good, and featured a tiny scoop of white rice on the side. I was disappointed, though, that the dish was luke-warm … almost cool, in fact.
For a cashew chicken stir fry, the cashews and chicken were in short supply. While a thin layer of veggies covered the entire plate, I found only four small pieces of chicken in the entire dish.
Clyde noticed a similar situation with his shrimp and scallop stir fry, which contained five shrimp and one scallop.
Like well-behaved children, we cleaned our plates — not so much because of the quality of the food, but because we were ravenous. Thanks to what might be generously termed “healthy” portion sizes, we had plenty of room left for two decidedly un-Asian desserts: key lime pie and chocolate cake.
I don’t want to give the wrong impression: I don’t dislike Pan Asia. The problem here, I think, is that I don’t particularly like it, either, despite the fact that I really, really want to.
Thai House, while less atmospheric than Pan-Asia, serves up generous, meaty portions of intensely flavorful, remarkably fresh ethnic food. Stix, a glitzy, aggressive Asian-fusion chain opens soon on Lakeland. With options like these in town, the staff at Pan-Asia is going to have to kick things up a notch to survive.
Meantime, if friends ask us to meet them at Pan-Asia, we’ll go … but I confess, when it’s my night to “pick the place,” Pan Asia will never be at the top of my list.
Note: for a completely different view of Pan-Asia, check out this review from Planet Weekly.
My experience:I enthusiastically joined a birthday party at the restaurant approximately 2 weeks ago eager to try the eclectic cuisine.
We arrived early to ensure we had a table for 12 people. It took nearly 45mns to be seated — which was fine. We bellied up to the bar and had a few drinks that were strong enough to raise our blood-alcohol levels rather quickly. No complaints on the bar… Diverse and excellent selection of drinks as well as perfect portions.
Once seated, our waiter introduced himself and told us in advance that they only have 4 woks and the chances were high that we would be eating our meals separately due to cooking limitations. Come on! You can’t serve 12 people at the same time? Seems weak to me and disturbs the concept of communal dining.
Also, I was a little let down by the overall selection of entrees on the menu. It’s one thing to have meals that are easily customized or enhanced by the customer (as in their buffet-style plates) but the menu seemed to lack a diverse selection. As well, the prices were a little higher than I expected for the quality and portion-sizes of the food served.
I started with an order of calamari. The sauce was excellent. The squid was cooked well… But, for the price, I’d rather hit Walkers for a larger portion with a variety of dipping sauces keeping me off County Line and supporting my own city’s endeavors. Other appetizers were excellent but honestly not worth the cost.
I skipped a formal meal as it was already 9 by the time we began ordering. I figured I’d pick a few bites off the table if allowed and sample the cuisine from a different angle.
So, the meal began — ONE AT A TIME. One person received their wok-cooked meal. Then another a few minutes later. Then two more received their plates. It took well over 45 minutes for our entire table to receive its full order. No meal was complex or customized by the attending party… A single person ate isolated near the end of the meal. Her plate was served late because it was not placed by the server. She said she felt “punished” and/or “left out.”
Desert? Excellent but far from Asian as noted in your post. Still, yummy yum!
Upon receiving our tickets, we all individually paid. I’m sure the waiter hated us for that… Who likes to handle 6-8 different transactions. Still, that’s life. Do your job and pipe down and we’ll quickly be out of your hair leaving large amounts of green stuff for you to purchase a better attitude.
Then, we all experienced a prime motive to never go back. The waiter had the audacity to state to a fellow waiter that he did not make a proper tip in front of one of our party…
Now, I won’t do the math for everyone at the table but I can without doubt state that he received well over 50% on my ticket and at minimum 20% on every other ticket but one (for a not-so-great experience). When a friend addressed his greedy concern, he stated it was “ok.” Her reply, “Obviously not if you are over at the bar insulting our table to a coworker. Here’s 20 more dollars. Don’t spend it all in one place.”
In the parking lot, we calculated our totals and discovered he’d received well over 25% of the ticket in tips… Plus the $20 extra to make him feel “worthy” as a waiter.
This is one business you won’t see me visiting in the near future. I can stop by McDonald’s if I want to be treated like a door mat. For good Chinese/Asian food, I’ll stick with the authentic, “home-style” cuisine of Best Wok or the many other Chinese/Japanese/Asian restaurants owned and operated by native Asian individuals that know it does not cost $20 to produce rice and some sauce. 😉
To quote a friend that night, “You don’t go to a majority Caucasian restaurant in Ridgeland, Mississippi, to get good Asian food. That’s like going to Portland, Oregon for good ‘Soul Food.’ It simply won’t do!”
Actually I’d say the Planet Weekly review was not so different from your’s Mark when you look at the wording. “Minimalist decorating”, “the first thing you do at the bar is fill your bowl with vegetables” (10.95), and “my girlfriend was taken aback by the amount of food she received.”. HMMMM.