The Kung Pao Test: Mee Sum Pastry

Mee Sum Pastry
4343 University Way NE
Seattle, WA 98105

Kung Pao Chicken meal $7.25
Asked for extra spicy
Honey Sesame Chicken meal $7.25
Each came with a little bowl of Hot and Sour Soup.
Total Bill: $15.88


Service: Very friendly.  The place was packed.  It is a pastry/boba tea format.  You go to the register, place an order, and are given a number.  You can dine in but I was there for take out.  I came here because I needed a late night dinner and this place fit the bill.  They're open to 11:30pm, I got there at about 11.
They were serving primarily young people in small groups getting drinks, though there were a couple large groups eating there as well.
It took about 20 minutes for them to prepare the food I think.  Wasn't a bad wait at all.

So their Kung Pao appears basic; celery, bell peppers, onions, carrot, peanuts, dried chilis.  But my initial bite revealed the truth.  The only thing that could make this actual Kung Pao (in my opinion) was the inclusion of peanuts.  Don't get me wrong, it was not bad.  The sauce didn't resemble a Kung Pao sauce, I don't even think there was soy sauce in it.  Anyway it was decent, though on the low end take out food.
As for the Sesame Chicken, it was alright.  Typical take out, though the sauce was a lot less sticky than the typical Sesame Chicken sauce.
The Hot and Sour Soup was ok, though I personally do not like Hot and Sour Soup, so I wont say anything about it.

Spicy Level:  Sesame Chicken had no spice (expected).  The Kung Pao had a decent level of spice.  To accommodate my extra spicy request it seems like they added a few more dried chili's, which is fine, what are they supposed to do?

Ingredient Quality: Very Good.  The chicken was very nice, and the veggies were all crisp and tasty.
Would I come again?  Definitely.  There aren't a whole lot of choices at 11pm and this place is probably one of the better late night options.  It looked like a great place for bubble tea, and considering their Kung Pao was a very different from the norm, I would like to try some other things to see their take on it.  They're probably also good for the typical American Chinese dishes.