Review: Panda, Queens Rise

Aucklander's are spoiled for choice when it comes to dumplings, which makes fine tuning the best of the best pretty difficult. There are cheap eats on Dominion Road, serving loaded plates of steaming hot dumplings, gyoza in many forms at Japanese restaurants scattered around the city, delightful asian-fusion creations at stylish nooks like Xuxu and dim-sum baskets with steamed prawn dumplings can be found at legendary yum cha restaurants. Panda entered the dumpling scene as a major contender when Queens Rise launched onto the scene just a few months ago.

Queens Rise, the newest addition to the Auckland food scene and differentiating itself as an upmarket food court, introduced a bunch of new food joints into the CBD when it opened its doors. Panda combines traditional with quirky when it comes to their identity. Stacked up next to steamed buns and pork dumplings are ambiguously filled pig and hedgehog creations, which most would agree are too adorable to consume. Panda serves up a defined and refined menu of delectable Chinese snack-food type dishes. We tried their most popular item, the dumplings. If you haven't visited Panda yet, it's a must.

The dumplings differentiate themselves from the likes of Barilla and New Flavour. They seemingly take inspiration from the Japanese steamed gyoza. The dumpling wrappers are juicy and flavourful, likely steamed with a chicken or pork stock. Panda does something glorious that most dumpling restaurants get so wrong; they don't overwhelm the dumpling with bland meat. The dumplings are presented as perfectly bite-sized, the ratio of wrapper to meat is really well balanced and it is clear the chefs at Panda have aimed to pack the dumplings with flavour, quality over mass. Panda took on a cleaver formula when it came to their menu, there are only a few varieties of dumplings to choose from; pork, prawn and a beef dumpling. The bang for your buck is a major selling factor about this place; for $10 you'll get 12 dumplings which allows you to mix their varieties for good measure. If you haven't visited Queens Rise, it's a must for Friday night group catch-ups. The vibe can be described as an elevated Elliot Stables, everyone has their choice of eateries and the food can be consumed at the different restaurants seating. Visit the Rise at lunch time and you will be surprised by how busy and bustling it is, you'll find yourself wondering if this has been Auckland's best kept secret. The line for Panda is really apparent at the peak hours, with CBD workers eager to get their hands on a box of the steamed delights. It's clear Panda has been an instant hit.