Restaurant Review: P.F. Chang’s China Bistro, Seattle

Seattle (Alaska Post Cruise) . 2012 . September 25

This post is part of our Alaska Pre and Post Cruise Report and follow-up of our popular Alaska cruise series. Do check out our Alaska Cruise story too if this is your first time here! :)

P.F. Chang’s China Bistro is one of those restaurants where we walked by, felt hungry, saw that the price and menu was alright and decided to walk in on the spur of the moment, without reading any reviews.  It’s a chance that we took, but we were somewhat encouraged by the number of Asian dinners in the restaurant, so it couldn’t be that bad, could it?  Let’s find out...

Ever since we started this blog, the first thing that we do nowadays when we enter a restaurant is to take photos of the menus...:)

P.F. Chang’s has a very nice and relaxed dining environment, but it is just a little too dim! That explains why our menu photos are so dark and blur..If you are interested in visiting the restaurant, you may visit their website where there is a printable online menu.

Selection of Condiments to go with your food. Mustard, chili sauce, and soy sauce.

More condiments. You can also try their Rice Vinegar and Chili Oi. In case you are wondering, the iced water is complimentary too.

 Dim lighting in the restaurant.

We ordered the P.F. Chang’s for Two four-course Prix-Fixe Menu for USD$39.95 (Excluding Tax and gratuity).  You might want to check out the full menu for this set here. The four courses for two persons basically consist of 2 cups of soup, a starter, 2 entrees and a dessert, which you can choose from the menu.

Here comes the food…..

Hot and Sour Soup, with chicken, silken tofu, bamboo shoots, mushrooms and egg.  In Singapore, this will be known as the Sichuan Hot and Sour Soup (Si Chuan Suan La Tang).   We were impressed with this dish, as the level and combination of spiciness and sourness was just right.  There were ample ingredients in the broth, and it is so tasty that one bowl was just not enough. 

Egg-drop Soup, with julienne carrots and green onions. If you can't take spicy or sour stuffs, you might want to go for this instead. This is as tasty as the hot and sour soup minus off the spicyness and sourness. For this $39.95 menu for two, you are entitled to choose 2 soups. We chose one of each as we wanted to try both.
You may choose 2 Egg-drop soups if both you and your partner are not lovers of spicy and sour stuffs.

Chang’s Chicken Lettuce Wrap, the restaurant’s signature appetizer.  We simply love this dish.  The chicken is fried to perfection and the lettuce balances out the taste so that what you get is a fragrant, crispy and tasteful chicken topped with great sauce wrapped in a cool, crisp lettuce.  Unforgettable. If you are at P.F. Chang’s, you absolutely must try this! 

Orange Peel Shrimp, tossed with a mild chili sauce and fresh orange peel.  It’s a unique combination of ingredients, even by Asian standards, but we must say, the result is great!  We love the subtle hint of orange peel and it surprisingly complements the taste of the shrimp very well.

Kung Pao Chicken, Chicken breast stir-fried with peanuts, chili peppers and scallions.  We are big fans of Kung Pao Chicken, and this is the kind of dish we would order back in Singapore.   The Kung Pao Chicken here exceeds all expectations and ranks amongst the best we ever had.  

The portions were so big, we could not finish it and had to ask the waiter to pack it for take-away so that we can save our stomach space for the complimentary desserts.

The Great Wall of Chocolate and Tiramisu.  Both yummy!

The total bill comes up to USD$43.75 with tax, which we thought was quite reasonable for the quality and portions of food that we had.

Verdict:   We did not have much expectations for a Chinese restaurant in a western country, but P.F. Chang’s exceeds all expectations.  In fact, the standard, taste and quality of food at P.F. Chang’s is way better than some chain restaurants in Singapore.  At such an affordable price for a hearty meal and a nice dining environment, we will definitely come back again.   It is a must-try if you are in Seattle.

P.F. Chang's China Bistro

Westlake Center
400 Pine St. Suite 136
Seattle, WA 98101
(206) 393-0070

Monday-Thursday:    11:00 AM to 10:00 PM
Friday:    11:00 AM to 11:00 PM
Saturday:    11:00 AM to 11:00 PM
Sunday:    11:00 AM to 10:00 PM

This post is part of our Alaska Pre and Post Cruise Report and follow-up of our popular Alaska cruise series. Do check out our Alaska Cruise story too if this is your first time here! :)

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