From time to time like most Americans we have dinner in one of the popular chain restaurants described as having “casual dining”. Few surprises happen in any of these restaurants but there are there are a few we have found that rise above the normal mediocrity of this restaurant class. The typical chain’s food mostly fits the comment by Rocky Balboa in the final Rocky movie when he describes the food in his restaurant to a couple of fight promoters; ‘It’s all edible”.
P.F Chang’s China Bistro is a chain that rises above the usual chain restaurant’s presentation.
We received a gift card to a nearby P.F. Chang restaurant and recently had a meal there.
I didn’t approach the meal with great enthusiasm since as a fan of Asian food in general and Chinese in particular, I couldn’t envision a Chinese “chain” being very good.
I was wrong. P.F. Chang China Bistro in one meal sprang to the top of my Chinese list
We started with a shared Spicy Calamari dish that was simply great.
Moo Shu Pork and a Shrimp and broccoli dish were the main courses. They were beautifully prepared and served with professional excellence. The restaurant was attractive and the prices were reasonable. The wine list was satisfactory and the table setting was a step above what is ordinarily expected in a chain restaurant.
The Calamari must be tried if you go to Chang’s. It is crisply fried after being coated with potato starch (Gluten free). It is accompanied with small rice sticks, a spicy red chili bean sauce and a course sea salt and ground pepper mix. The squid come from New Zealand and the tentacles are not used, just the body, sliced into small bite sized pieces. Our gift card was for $50 and with two glasses of wine the tab was $37. We look forward to using the remaining gift card amount soon.
The Cheese Cake Factory is the other chain that is in a category deserving a description other that of a “chain”- but it is a chain. We have never had a meal that we didn’t enjoy in The Cheesecake Factory. I have only gotten to their excellent cheesecake once since the portions of everything are so generous. The service is always excellent and every one of their restaurants that we have visited is very attractively designed.
Our visits are often for lunch. More times than not we order the same dish for lunch and that is a Cobb Salad. Everyone knows what is in a Cobb Salad but the Cheesecake factory takes the presentation to a higher level with the greens finely shredded. We order the diner size salad and split it which is more than enough for each of us
I was never to The Brown Derby in Hollywood where the Cobb Salad originated but the Cheesecake Factory has a version that is so good I don’t feel the need to search for the Brown Derby original. The Brown Derby is long gone but it’s Cobb Salad lives on the daily Cheesecake Factory menus.
Maybe the China Bistro for dinner and the Factory for cheesecake afterward would be am interesting evening
