PF Chang's - Sort of Chinese

Some friends and I went out to dinner a few nights ago.  They have never been to PF Chang's, so we decided to help them out of the rock they were living under and dined around 7:30 this past Monday.

P.F. Chang's is an Asian-inspired restaurant who claims to give a modern "twist" to their food.  This rings true for a few menu items.  The one menu item I refuse to eat are the lettuce wraps.  Growing up in a Korean household, we know what REAL lettuce wraps are... and the wraps at Chang's are not it.  We can talk about that another day!

Getting along with our evening, the group let me be the food guide for the meal, so after ordering my Coconut yummy goodness (non-alcoholic), I decided we would order three appetizers and three entrees.

The first appetizer was the garlic noodles, easy on the spicy (we had a younger palate with us).

These were a hit with everyone!  The cucumber was refreshing in the mix of the noodles, garlic and chili pepper flakes.

Up next were the shrimp dumplings.

These can be ordered pan fried or steamed.  Pictured are the pan fried.  These dumplings are filled with shrimp and drizzled with a light chili sauce, not too spicy at all.

My all-time favorite was next... Dynamite Shrimp

This tempura-battered shrimp is drizzled in a spicy sriracha aioli that I could bathe in, it's so good!  Yumm!

The three of us were already heading to full bellies, so when our entrees came, we knew it was going to be party of three - 0, entrees - 3.

I ordered the Lemon Chicken (for the youngster), Mongolian Beef and the Shrimp with Lobster Sauce.  The Lemon Chicken was my least favorite because it was the least inventive dish and lacked flavor.  It looked like a piece of fried chicken with a side of sauce.  I loved the other two dishes.  The Mongolian Beef reminded me a tiny bit of bulgogi and the Shrimp with Lobster Sauce is the one dish I order the most.

My friends took home lots of leftovers and really enjoyed their first trip to Chang's.  I won't likely come here again if it were my choice, but I won't turn my nose at it if friends are interested.

The service was excellent.  The restaurant was clean, not too noisy and the wait time on our food was reasonable.  The temperature of the food was great and the portions were normal.  You can find reviews and more information about P.F. Chang's on Zomato.