P.F. Chang's Home Menu - Dan Dan Noodles

Since I'd already had real PF Chang's, I thought I might as well give this new product at my grocery store a try. I'm always looking for a nice asian noodle, but this didn't quite fit the bill. As always, it was too liquidy, and really this didn't taste anything like anything I'd had before. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but it wasn't what I hoped for. It was a decent portion, but not super big, considering the 500+ calorie count! The noodles were good, and the sauce was salty and a bit spicy (despite the 1 pepper spice indicator on the front). There were lots of little sausage-looking pork curds, which were also salty but otherwise fine. Also some mushrooms and onion or chive bits. It was OK, but I don't think I'll get it again, I don't look back in adoration on it.

Overall
Cost: 4/10 (About 5$ at my store, though it IS new)
Taste: 6/10

P.F. Chang's

Chinese restaurant? On THIS blog? It's more likely than you think! I love Chinese food, and I've tried pretty much every frozen option I can, most of which are gross. Sadly that includes the PF Chang frozen meals. But I've heard from various allergy blogs and websites that P.F. Changs the resto is actually good about nut allergies, keeps the nuts segregated and only puts on at the end, and will use separate pans and stuff. So I found my lil courage and went to check it out (Epi-Pen in hand of course). It was true: I led with my allergies, and the waiter gave me a print out of everything without tree nuts & peanuts in it (which was a decently big selection). I'm not sure how much he told the chef or if that info is automatically transferred to the order, but I felt pretty safe. Also they have a big drink menu and I got a drink to calm me down, hehe. So, we ordered a few things:

Sangria: This was the drink, it was small and quite alcoholic, but with a cherry and strawberry and orange slice and it was good. 8/10

Sweet and Sour Chicken: This was OK, I don't LOVE breaded chicken but I wanted to mix it up. The sauce was good, the chicken itself was good, the pineapple and peppers were OK. 7/10

White rice: a normal side of white rice. Good to have. 6/10

Beef and Broccoli: I'd rather have chicken and broc, but this was better than I thought it would be. The beef tasted almost like BBQ spare ribs, it was a little sweet/spicy and the texture was nice and tender. Broc was fine. 8/10

Pork fried rice: Really nice, although not quite like my platonic ideal of fried rice. There was egg in it, which was cool, and the pork bits were big but good. Also a strong ginger taste, some carrot and some bean sprouts. Overall nice. 7/10

I will definitely go back if I find a willing partner! I love Chinese food and I know this isn't "authentic" (and it definitely isn't as good as my little girlhood chinese takeout past) but it was really great to have those flavors in a restaurant setting. I hope I can get some carrot/mushroom/bamboo/baby corn/sauce type entree and maybe lo mein with no peas in the future. :)

Overall
Cost: 5/10 (Pricy but not CRAZY)
Taste: 8/10
Fear factor: 6/10

Q says: It was pretty good, 7/10