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Pete Tittl: F for fresh at P.F. Chang's
High-quality food, variety of options put Chinese chain a step above rest
| Wednesday, Nov 15 2006 9:15 PM
Last Updated: Wednesday, Jan 3 2007 4:57 PM
On my first visit to P.F. Chang's in Bakersfield, I felt I had moved from a shabby apartment to a magnificent, luxurious new house. The bar is small and mostly a convenience to waiting customers, but the fabulously appointed, high ceilinged great room that serves as the main dining room made me feel like I had arrived. It was spectacular. I felt like I was at a party with only the most influential people in the city.
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I know it's just a chain restaurant, but it is one that has inspired devotion and loyalty in many, who have told me how excited they are that P.F. Chang's has arrived in Bakersfield. Often when chains inspire such high praise, I don't always get it, especially restaurants like Chili's or Claim Jumper. They're OK but don't live up to the hype. P.F. Chang's does, succeeding on all levels during our visit.
Of course we had to wait, even though we waited a few weeks to visit for this column and chose what we thought would be the best time to visit, early on a Sunday evening while the late NFL games were just wrapping up. They told us the wait would be 30 minutes, but we had our table in 15. That's a great start.
You'll find a lot of things that are familiar if you love Chinese food, but as our waiter explained, what makes P.F. Chang's special is the execution and innovative twists they put on the staples of that great cuisine, to say nothing of the first-rate ingredients. For example, Great Castle on Union Avenue makes some excellent shrimp with candied walnuts. P.F. Chang's adds the presence of honeydew melon, an inspired twist, both in small balls mixed in with the shrimp and into the sauce. Sure, you'll pay more pretty much across the board, but if you appreciate fine food, you'll find the product a fair value. For example, the orange peel chicken we sampled was $11.95, about $3 to $4 above what other local restaurants charge. But the fresh orange peel was cut in julienne strips, there was a nice heat from chili peppers mixed in the dark brown sauce and there were no bitter tones, no greasiness at all. This particular menu item is a favorite of my son's and even he was impressed.
We also ordered the Chang's chicken in soothing lettuce wraps appetizer ($7.95), the garlic snap peas ($4.95) from the vegetables menu, Sichuan from the sea from the seafood menu ($13.95), and the Tam's Noodles with savory beef and shrimp ($13.95).
Like a great trip to a foreign land, our meal offered many satisfying and new delights. Let's talk about Tam's noodles, which are gnocchi-like noodles sliced thin to resemble water chestnuts. You look at them and expect the crunch of the chestnuts, but instead get the slippery texture of pasta. I wasn't crazy about beef combined with shrimp, but, in the abalone sauce with the chili peppers, it all worked. The snap peas stir-fried with garlic sound simple, but somehow I wondered if I'd ever had anything like that before. I know I've had something like the lettuce wraps before, which everyone was insisting I needed to try, but the P.F. Chang's variety of minced, spicy chicken that you load into lettuce leaves like a taco had a winning charm. The "Sichuan from the sea" offers you a choice of scallops, shrimp or calamari. We chose the shrimp, and they had a fresh, nutty taste. If I had to pick one distinguishing characteristic of what we sampled at P.F. Chang's, I'd say it was the quality and freshness of the ingredients.
I should mention that there are many options at P.F. Chang's for vegetarians, both sprinkled into the regular menu and in the special vegetables section. And the dessert menu holds many delights, including the banana spring rolls ($6.25), a flourless chocolate dome with raspberry sauce ($5.95), the great wall of chocolate ($7.95) and the Lucky 8 ($8). We ordered the Lucky 8, and it was a fantastic, original delight: eight crispy chocolate cream-filled sticks (think of Pepperidge Farm Pirouette cookies) with a warm caramel and peanut butter dipping sauce and bits of toffee brittle on the plate.
One of the chain's hallmarks has been great service, the sort you find rarely in chains. It's somewhere between the casual style so many chains use and the formal presentation you get in high-end restaurants. I must say I was impressed with the staff, dressed in black shirts, and how well they were trained. How often do you go to the front desk to get your name on the list and wait to be greeted? The woman at P.F. Chang's was as professional as they come, as was our waiter, who had real knowledge about both the restaurant and the offerings on the menu.
I think I've run out of superlatives. Our waiter asked us at the end, "Was it everything you hoped for?" Yes, it was.
P.F. Chang's can be recommended for a fine dining experience.
P.F. Chang’s
10700 Stockdale Highway
664-8100
Hours open: 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. seven days a week. Reservations recommended (taken three hours in advance only).
Prices: Appetizers $3.50 to $7.95, soup and salad $2.95 to $8.95, lunch menu $7.95 to $11.95, entrees $9.50 to $16.95, noodles, meins and rice $$6.50 to $13.95, vegetarian menu $4.95 to $7.95, desserts $5.95 to $8. No child’s menu.
Payment options: MasterCard, Visa, American Express and Discover accepted. Does not accept personal checks or The Californian’s Press Pass.
Dress: Casually dressy
Amenities: Wheelchair accessible; full bar service; many vegetarian options.
Food: Four stars
Atmosphere: Four stars
Service: Four stars