RAVE OF THE WEEK
By Helaine Williams (Contact)
LITTLE ROCK — For my birthday, we went with seafood. For our wedding anniversary, we went with New Orleans-style food. For his birthday, my husband wanted to return for the Hot Fish dinner at P.F. Chang’s China Bistro.
We’ve been to Chang’s several times since its arrival in Little Rock in 2005, and except for one very busy Friday, we’ve had great experiences. On our early evening June 13 trip, we realized just how much we’d missed the place.
We split a flavorful appetizer of Harvest Spring Rolls ($5.50 for four), crispy rolls filled with shredded veggies; and Dre ordered his Hot Fish ($15) which consists of crispy fish du jour in a Sichuan sauce with stir-fried vegetables.
The menu also includes Cantonese Shrimp or Scallops ($14.50) stir-fried with garlic and snow peas in a pale sauce. I decided to try the scallops and was given shrimp and scallops.
Not that I complained. We enjoyed our own, and each other’s, dinners over brown steamed rice, exchanging frequent grins over the sumptuousness of the meal and also grinning at our efficient waitress, who stopped by frequently to make sure everything was OK.
Unfortunately, the restaurant doesn’t acknowledge birthdays anymore - “You guys got tired of people lying” about it being their Special Day, I jokingly said to the waitress - but we didn’t mind. We just topped the visit off by sharing raspberry cheesecake ($6).
I still say nothing quite beats the authentic, mom-and-pop Chinese restaurants. But Chang’s can cast quite the spell.
P.F. Chang’s, 317 S. Shackleford Road, Little Rock.
Open 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 11 a.m.-11 p.m.
Friday-Saturday; 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Sunday (501) 225-4424; pfchangs.com.
This article was published Friday, June 27, 2008.
Weekend, Pages 80 on 06/27/2008
