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It took a long time before I ventured away from Bay Road to look for more in the world of dining. Once I did, though, I discovered there's more to Saginaw than Burger King and Applebee's.
June 25, 2007 —
Panda House is located on 1010 N. Niagara St., just a short distance away from North Michigan Avenue. Serving Asian cuisine, this is one fancy place, complete with a pianist in the evenings on weekends. The food is similar to what SVSU students should be used to (think Forbidden City and Hunan), but better. The dinners I've had there have been nothing but excellent. Familiar standbys such as General Tso's chicken are here, as well as more exotic dishes like rock salt shrimp, which should leave any shrimp lover satisfied. A nice touch is that warmers are placed under your dish of food during dinner, so you'll never have a cold one here.
However, I was a bit surprised by most recent visit there, which was for lunch. I've never eaten lunch at Panda House before, and so I was, unsurprisingly, pleased with the lower price. Unfortunately when I got my food I found that the quality was not quite up to par with the dinners I've enjoyed there. It was good, without a doubt, but it, like all my Panda House dinners have, didn't outdo every other Chinese restaurant I've been to. I had the same dish I've had there previously (General Tso's), and the taste and consistency just wasn't the same. Coupled with eating in the smaller secondary dining room, the experience was no better than any other decent similar restaurant in town.
Maybe I had an isolated, rare lunch experience, or perhaps the magic is in the dinners at Panda House. Assuredly, there isn't a better restaurant serving Asian cuisine in Saginaw. The classy, pleasant surroundings, coupled with the excellent food, make this a great place to meet up with some friends or take a date for dinner. Price as relative to the quality is quite good, with most meals not setting you back much more than dinner at Hunan.
A place I had never been until very recently is the Davenport Grill. Adjoined with the Ramada Inn on State Street, the Grill is an absolutely outstanding place to eat. I can safely say that I don't think I've ever been as impressed with a place to eat in Saginaw. Serving a variety of steak, seafood, and some poultry, The Davenport Grill is only open for brunch and dinner.
I showed up at 5 p.m. sharp to try out their dinner, and promptly ordered the special, codfish with stuffed calamari and mussels. I'd never had any of these items, so I figured if my picky tastes - adapted to burgers and other garbage - could enjoy something so strange on the first try, then the chef would be successful. I also got tomato soup with the dinner, which was great. I don't even like tomato soup, but I cleaned it up in short order.
When my meal arrived I was struck by the visual design. It looked like something Emeril would put together. When I started eating it, I realized that I've never eaten anything so delicate. Everything was, for lack of a better word, very fancy about this meal, right down to the consistency of the food. The taste was outstanding. I did find, though, that I was unable to get used to eating the calamari. I suppose that was just a little too out there for me. I enjoyed everything else about the food immensely.
After my entree, a selection of desserts was brought out, and I couldn't resist trying their key lime pie, that being one of my favored desserts. I was subsequently thoroughly impressed yet again, this time by the best key lime pie I have had, period. Unfortunately it set me back another six bucks, but it was worth it.
The Davenport Grill is not a place many college students could afford to eat at often. I know I couldn't. Meals run from 17 dollars for an entree to upwards of 25, with desserts around 6. There's also an expansive wine list which I didn't sample. For a dinner out on a special occasion, though, I can't imagine a better place in the area. Highly recommended.