PF Chang's Review - ON IN LONDON

PF Chang has been creating quite a stir since it first arrived in London in August, over from the States. We celebrated with them at their launch party and last week headed on down to experience a Pan-Asian three course dining experience. PF Chang prides themselves on overing fresh gourmet cuisine at affordable prices, each dish is made from scratch which you can see if you peek your head into the open plan kitchen at the back of the restaurant. It’s always a delight to see your chefs cooking fresh food, no re-heating here at PF Changs…

For starters we went for the Lobster and shrimp spring roll which is exclusive to the London venue (and we all love a bit of exclusivity) and the shrimp dumplings. I’ll tell you what the Yanks are missing out big time, the lobster and shrimp spring roll tasted like no other spring roll I’ve tasted. I’ll start by saying it’s not the traditional one you’re thinking of… (See photo above) it’s a chunky spring roll filled with a generous amount of juicy lobster and poached shrimp, marinated to perfection.

For the main I had the fried rice and Chang’s Chicken, slices of wok-fried chicken marinated in the signature sweet-garlic chili sauce. the chicken was nice and tangy with a spicy kick to it, which I liked. It reminded me of sweet and sour chicken (which I also love) but a more sophisticated older sister, which tasted more refined. My guest had the crispy prawns and the chilli aubergine. The crispy prawns were a real treat, they had the right amount of batter, enough to coat and give them the tasty crisp outer layer without being soggy or fatty. The aubergine which I had, was covered in Thai basil, ginger, spring onions, Fresno peppers and sesame seed powder, Another absolute treat, I loved the spicy kick and how flavoured and fresh it tasted.

At this point we were both pretty full, we sipped on our cocktails and waited a while until we ordered the Apple dumpling to share. It’s one impressive dessert to look at and when you break into the dumpling with a fork, you get a warm poached apple, with a nice surprise of chocolate at the bottom. It also came with vanilla ice-cream on the side and toffee sauce. Needless to say we were in dessert heaven, as we both fought over how much we were both going to take. I should have ordered my own, it would have been worth feeling over-stuffed for.

I found out afterwards you could have watched your dessert being made fresh downstairs, it was a bit of a shame that we were not told at the time by our waitress, as I would have jumped at the chance! So that’s a little tip from me to you, go check it out!

Upstairs you are greeted with a gold vinyl record lined bar – inspired by co-founder Philip Chiang’s love for music, and the former jazz bar, Studio 51. They have an impressive Asian inspired cocktail menu to tantalise your taste buds. If you prefer something a little more comfy, you can head on downstairs and slide into one of their comfy booths with friends. PF Chang’s is high on my list for when I’m in central London, we are happy they skipped over this side of the pond to be in London.

Website: www.pfchangs.co.uk

Address: 10 Great Newport Street, London WC2H 7JA

Twitter: @PFChangsLDN
Instagram: @pfchangsasiantable
Facebook: @PFChangsAsianTable

Written by Nyla Sammons