Finding good Chinese food has been a challenge for us since we’ve moved to Plano. Katy and I love this particular cuisine and partly because there are a couple of great Chinese restaurants in Abilene. Little Panda, located on Judge Ely on the northeast side of A-town has the absolute best Sesame and General Tso’s Chicken, and according to Katy, the best Hot & Sour Soup. They make their food fresh to order, and they give you easily two full portions of food with each order, so it’s a great value to boot. Now, Little Panda has opened a new location on the very storefront strip that Crosspoint is on. I haven’t had the opportunity to check it out, but I’m betting it’s just as good.

Along with good take-out, you need to have a good buffet-style establishment. For years, I went without one, assuming that Peking Dragon in my hometown DeSoto was the only place worth going. That was until we found China Star, located on S. 1st Street. There are three grading points for a good buffet to me: good entres, good value, and of course sugar rolls. If you don’t know what sugar rolls are, you should know that it’s the icing on the cake for me when it comes to a Chinese buffet. They’re basically bite-size pieces of donut/biscuit dough fried golden and rolled in sugar. They have to be hot and fresh for it to be worth it, but when you get that hot batch, it’s heaven. China Star had great sugar rolls (and great Sesame Chicken).

Here in the Plano/Frisco area, it’s been hard to find good Chinese food. We’ve been focusing on take-out right now, just because it’s easier to go through a phonebook and mail ads than it is to go out and look for buffets. It’s a long, slow proccess because, obviously, we can’t afford to get take-out all the time. We’ve tried three or four establishments and have had some good and some bad. One place’s idea of Sweet and Sour Chicken was of the “shake and bake nugget” variety (a disgrace). We’ve enjoyed some fairly good food too, via the Tasty Eggroll. The Sesame Chicken isn’t the best I’ve had, but it’s pretty good. And yes, the eggrolls are in fact very tasty. It looks like their sweet and sour sauce is made from scratch because it doesn’t have that bright, fake red color to it.

We’re still looking for that one, great buffet, though. With sugar rolls. There aren’t that many around and the ones that do exist seem pretty average. I don’t know why, but another big plus for an establishment is the option of chopsticks. Chopsticks are great. Again, I don’t know why. They’re definitely more difficult to use than a fork, but I guess it just enhances the experience. I’m also still dreaming for a take-out restaurant that uses those cool take-out boxes that you always see on TV or in the movies. Who wants Chinese food delivered in the same styrofoam boxes that Grandy’s Chicken comes in? Gimme those cool square boxes with the authentic Chinese writing on the side and the thin wire handle! And don’t forget the chopsticks!

The mission is far from over for us, here in Plano. There are dozens of establishments to try. We will continue to get menus wedged in our apartment door and we will probably eat a good deal of below-par Sesame and Sweet and Sour Chicken. But one day we will find that great take-out and delightful buffet, and when that day comes, we will probably have to move again.