PF Changs

I don't know about you, but I was never overly excited by Chinese food. Much
of it was bland with far too many vegetables, until PF Chang's that is. The food
here is fabulous. The locations are all so very different, clean, artful and trendy.
People flock here from all over, ensured a pleasurable experience. It's social
atmosphere doesn't promote romance, but who cares, there's hardly time for
that with food this distracting. Before we knew that they had several locations
in California we would make their Las Vegas place a mandatory stop. Once we
had an hour wait next to a couple who drove an hour and a half to eat here on a
regular basis, how crazy is that? With food so good I'm always disappointed to
leave trying only half of what I'd planned on. During our most recent trip,
returning to their Newport Beach location, we were impressed with a couple of
tasty and refreshing drinks. This first was the Shanghai Lemonade with
Absolute Citron, raspberry liqueur and lemonade, very refreshing and
guzzleable. Their version of sangria is the Changria, a very tasty combination of
Robert Mondavi Pinot Noir, Port Wine, Malibu Rum, Absolute Citron, pineapple
and orange juice with a float of Razz. This one is so good it really creeps up on
you. All the appetizers so far have been worth mentioning, with our favorites so
far being the Crab Wontons with a pocket filled with crab and cream cheese and
served with a slightly spicy marmalade sauce, and the unusual Salt & Pepper
Calamari with breaded, extremely tender, strips of calamari served with a spicy
sauce and a small bowl with a mix of sea salt and fresh ground pepper for
dipping. We never really cared for calamari before this dish, but ever since here
we order calamari everywhere. The pork filled, pan-fried Peking Dumplings was
a close runner up, served with a soy based sauce for dipping. Until here we
really didn't care much for scallops either, but we figured with food this good so
far, it would be the place to give them another chance, and what a gamble! The
Chang's Lemon Scallops made fans out of us, lightly breaded, with no pesky
vegetables. Although I love the hoisin sauce that accompanies Mu Shu Pork,
there's never enough pork in them for me, they're still tasty though. The
Mongolian Beef, is like none other that we have ever tasted. They use an
excellent cut of beef, so tender and thinly sliced with a light crispy coating that
soaks up the rich and flavorful sauce, and the garnish of fresh scallions makes it
another one of our favorites. The Crispy Honey Shrimp was good, but more of a
sweet & sour dish than sweet with honey. As far as the noodle dishes go, we
approve of the Dandan Noodles which are topped with seasoned ground chicken
and tossed with bean sprouts and julienne cucumber. Throughout every trip
here we notice the many orders of the Chang's Chicken In Soothing Lettuce
Wraps being delivered to other tables, and I suspect it's their most popular dish.
If you like spicy, as I do, make ample use of their "bar sauce" to put on this dish,
it's "out the nose" amazing! The Banana Rolls are a perfect way to top off a
meal here with banana wrapped in wonton wrappers, deep fried till crispy, cut
into bit size pieces and placed around a scoop of coconut pineapple ice cream
on a plate that's drizzled with vanilla and caramel sauces, well done!

Prices are more than reasonable for the quality of food here, the Crab Wontons
were $5.95, Banana Rolls $3.95, the Honey Shrimp $12.50 and the rest
somewhere in-between. The Shanghai Lemonade was $6.75 and the Changria
$8! We've visited the Newport, Irvine, San Diego, and Las Vegas locations, but
there are so many nationwide.

Website: www.pfchangs.com