Eating out... PF Chang's

[kinnip]

London had some nice Chinese.

 

[tackyrama]

Glad to say we don't have PF Changs here in Minnesota. We are blessed with several excellent locally owned Chinese/Asian restaurants within easy driving distance. The best by a mile for asian food is Sawatdee's. There is one in Mpls. and one in St Cloud. It is Thai food and it is fabulous!

My personal favorite as a genre is Phillippine food. We had many Phillippine friends when in the Navy and had many opportunities to sample the real rio. Super! They eat LOTS of chicken!

 

[Rosalind]

It's not real Chinese food. It's the kind that comes out of a jar. My Chinese boss says there is basically one distributor for a particular type of "Chinese" restaurant, and they sell vats of sweet-n-sour sauce and frozen pre-breaded meat/shrimp to various restaurants--the restaurant owners just hire line cooks, and the quality of the food varies according to the skill of the line cook, who might dress the food up with fresh veggies or chopped herbs. PF Chang's is in this vein, only instead of the frozen pre-breaded stuff they actually use fresh meats and bread them in house. But it's the same sauce-from-a-can base with spice-from-a-jar and veggies added, so it's better than the line cooks who do only the frozen pre-breaded stuff with plain canned sauce.

Seriously, if you want to make it at home, the secret is getting the right canned sauce from the Asian market. Most Thai restaurants, even the spendy ones, use sauce from a can.

Out this way, if you want real Chinese food, you go to Boston's financial district and be prepared to pay good money. But the dumplings and dan dan noodles, they are as good as any you'd find in Chengdu.

 

[ams3651]

we have a couple Chinese Buffets here and they are genuine but the best place is the little take out place. You go in and order, they turn around and make it right there and then and send you home with it. Its the best. We got from there Christmas Eve, too icy to make it up the hill to church so lets do Chinese.

 

[Kesta]

ive never even heard of this resteraunt chain!

 

[I have WHAT in my yard?]

Ate in two - hated both of them. The food was way too American and the staff was all american and could not even pronounce the names of the dishes correctly.

Best Asian cuisine I've had was at a local Vietnamese restaurant in Newark DE of all places. I adored that place until they knocked down the building to make room for a highway!

I never did find out where that family went. But, Newark has another really good one in a strip mall. Very authentic.

Other than that I go to China town in Philly.

 

[sundance]

Murfreesboro has one and personalty I do not like it, Looks good bad food. marrie

 

[rufus]

This brings up the issue of "barnyard flavor" of some Chinese food. It is something that Asians and American Indians cannot taste, but European and Black people can. It is totally gross.

It appears that the ability to taste it is genetically linked. I can taste it and one of my sons can taste it. However, my wife and other son cannot.

I had a hard time telling a friend that was the reason their restaurant wasn't making it. They just couldn't taste it.

Rufus

 

[tackyrama]

Quote:
I don't believe that!

 

[SewingDiva]

Quote:
When I was in grad school one of my professors asked me to be his TA and he took me to lunch once a week in Boston's Chinatown. He liked only the the hole-in-the-wall-down-a-flight-of- stairs-from-the-street types of places. I was usually the only non-Asian in the place and it was the best Chinese food I ever had.

And the most eye opening dish I ever had was Chow Fun done the right way; no wonder I never liked Cantonese style up till then; it was never prepared properly!

See now you've made me hungry...

Phyllis