Restaurant Review: Pei Wei

I love Chinese food. The way it is cooked (quickly in a wok), the spices (chilis, ginger, garlic) and the variations of veggies and noodles (rice noodles, bok choy, snow peas). Unfortunately, the land I live in is filled with down right awful fast food Chinese.

When a P.F. Chang's finally opened a couple of years ago, I was excited at the prospect of quality food. Unfortunately, this particular outlet served the same slop as the mom & pop establishments at twice (or three times) the price.

I wasn't even going to give P.F. Chang's little sister concept, Pei Wei, a chance when one opened around the corner a couple of weeks ago. However, my insatiable appetite for Chinese food overtook me (especially since my wife has banned our standby Chinese restaurant after a bug, no a beetle, was found in the vegetable lo mein).

In preparation for our feast, I went online and checked out the menu. I was extremely disappointed to find out the menu is exactly the same as P.F. Changs, but scaled way down. You see, Pei Wei is designed as a quick meal establishment with more than half their business as take out. It has plenty of seating and an open kitchen for those wanting to eat on-site, but no waitress service. You approach the counter, order, given a number and wait 15 minutes for your food.

All my biases were set aside when I actually tasted the food. It was fantastic (a feat difficult for most new restaurants). We started off with the appetizer that has made the mothership famous, minced chicken lettuce wraps. Absolutely perfect. Crisp leaves of iceberg lettuce that you stuff with chopped chicken that has been simmered in a variety of spices, mushrooms, water chestnuts and scallions. The balance of textures is amazing with the crisp lettuce and chestnuts contrasting with the soft chicken and mushrooms. The other appetizer was their version of crab rangoon called crab wontons. This was the first time ever that there was more crab than cream cheese. Better yet, these fried treats tasted great even after sitting for quite some time.

For main courses, we shared the following:

• Shrimp & Scallops in Asian Coconut Curry. I am a huge fan of curry and this hit the spot with a silkiness of the coconut milk against the gentle spice of curry.
• Beef & Ginger Broccoli. The beef was thinly sliced, almost shaved and incredibly tender. I am not a huge fan of ginger, but the flavor was incredible. The broccoli was crisp and well seasoned.
• Spicy Korean Beef. If you like pepper sauces, this is the entree for you. A great level of heat (even the kids will enjoy this one). The long beans were perfectly cooked, still crunchy with a nice selection of other vegetables.
• Pei Wei Spicy Pork. This was the only let down. The pork was breaded a little too much and there was nothing spicy about it. Instead, the vinegar sauce overpowered the dish. Oh well, 3 out of 4 isn't bad.

The great think about this place is you can get any of the entrees or noodles with your choice of shrimp, scallops, pork, chicken, beef, vegetables and tofu. You can also choose between white and brown rice. We went with the brown rice (it still contains the important fiber husk).

In short, I was so excited about our dinner that I cannot wait to try other menu items. The menu is so affordable (most dishes cost around $7) it may become a weekly outing. Shoot, I may even give P.F. Chang's another shot. They are opening locations all over the country so check this place out. Let me know some of your favorite Chinese restaurants or recipes. Post a comment below.