Red Pavilion Mandarin Cuisine

The red pavilion was good, maybe even great but not excellent. The complimentary rice chips with sweet and sour sauce is not going to make me give this place a five star rating. The service was good but not excellent. The food was good but not excellent. The pricing was a bit much for what you get and for the type of restaurant. We tried a few different items and then felt like we were being rushed to leave. I know a much better place in Meridian if your looking for larger quantities of food at a better price and the food is actually pretty darn good too. Although it is not fancy looking like the red pavilion. So…do you want great food at a great price with great proportions? Or do you want smaller portions that are more expensive and not quite as tasty, but in a fancy setting? Sorry, but I prefer the better food regardless of the price and quantity. So I’m giving the pavilion a four star rating and I’m sticking with my favorite.

I haven’t been to all the Chinese food restaurants in Boise by any stretch of the imagination but I’ve been to a few, and this is one of the best I’ve had so far. The staff was very kind as soon as we entered the restaurant, and had no issue with us needing a while to find out what we wished to eat. They came and refilled our waters very often, and checked in often to make sure we were all set and content. Everyone there was quite amiable. Unfortunately, the dish of one of the members I was dining with took a very long time to arrive, about half an hour after the first members of our group ate theirs. It was frustrating how long it took, because it was just a skillet dish and didn’t even need to be plated. Thankfully, we had ordered lo mein and she was able to eat that until hers arrived. Although, all but two of the entrees for our group arrived after two other groups nearby who had arrived about 20 minutes later, but it wasn’t that big of an issue. The food was FANTASTIC. I chose the Ruby Red Chicken as my entree (orange chicken) and it was outstanding. There was plenty of sauce pooled up in the plate so that you can make the pieces extra saucy. As for the human street fry, one of the entrees ordered by my group, super flavourful, very spicy, and includes thinly sliced habaneros. For the Iron Beef Sizzler, tasty, with well cooked vegetables and meat. For the General Tso’s Chicken, tasty, and the group member who got it requested mild, but wished that she had gotten medium because the mild level was VERY mild. For the Beef Crown Broccoli, very very good, and the beef was very flavourful. As for the Rice Stick combo was a fantastic dish, gluten free and tasty along with it. But, the fried rice was a bit of a let down, it didn’t seem fried at all, but more like steamed rice with vegetables. There was plenty of food, not just on my plate but on the plates of the others in my group; leftovers were taken home. Overall, everyone enjoyed their food throughly. There are complimentary chips, known as “Chinese Chips and Salsa”. It’s technically not salsa, but it is sweet & sour sauce along with wonton chips, and it was stupendous. The pot stickers are a MUST GET!!! These may be the best pot stickers I have ever had; the dough was perfect, it wasn’t greasy, and the soy sauce was great. I cannot quite put into words how good these pot stickers were. My group also ordered the Crunchy Calamari, which I did not try as I am not a fan of seafood, however those who tried it in my group very much enjoyed it. Our initial water tasted slightly papery, (I did not use a straw so it could not have been that) but honestly, I was really thirsty and it wasn’t THAT noticeable, and my refill did not taste like paper, so it was maybe nothing. No one in my group seemed to notice it, but I thought it was worth mentioning. Please come to this restaurant, eat, and enjoy! You will enjoy it, there’s something on the menu for every variation of Chinese food lover!

I ordered garlic eggplant Mapo tofu And steamed fish We ordered ahead on the phone and the food was ready in less than 30 mins. Such speedy service !! I ordered everything At medium and high spicy level And it was absolutely delicious ! First time there and definitely will be a regular returning happy customer The food will make you feel warm and happy inside. The aroma of the food itself was already satisfying before I even tasted it. The service was wonderful as well, Miss Lu was friendly and answered all of our questions about the menu. If you want authentic Chinese food this is the place to go in Idaho!

Put in a to go order around 8 PM. When I arrive I was told they were out of hot and sour soup which was no big deal. They replaced it with egg drop. However we had takeout so the Lettuce wraps have four small Romain pieces that were baby Romain couldn’t even put a scoop on them.. The food was by far the blandest Mandarin cuisine I’ve ever had. No spice, no flavor, no nothing the rice with chicken was served to the dogs and the noodles were all stuck together. I had the fried pork, if it wasn’t for the sweet-and-sour sauce it would’ve just been 😕 blah. Overall will not be coming back $60 wasted but you don’t know until you try it. The kids are currently making Dino nuggets!!

We have tried the Red Pavillion four times and we do not plan on returning. The food is mediocre and lacks flavor. We ordered the egg rolls and crab rangoon stars, both were very dissapointing. We didnt like the hot and sour soup. The General Tso and Honey Almond Shrimp was lacking.