P.F. Chang's Summer Seasonal Menu

 Grilled Prawns with Chilled Peanut Noodle Salad.

I recently had the opportunity to sample P.F. Chang's summer seasonal menu at the Phillips Place location in Charlotte. This location, along with several others, have been recently remodeled, with the new dining room now lighter and brighter, with a comfortable feel. The large horses inside are gone but there are still terracotta statues around the restaurant. We had a fabulous server for our meal - very upbeat, nice and attentive without being overbearing. The summer menu can be found here and includes several dishes in addition to what we tried such as Korean BBQ Chicken stir fry, Quinoa "fried rice", Smoked Duck spring rolls and sushi selections. 

We tried the heirloom tomato and basil salad to start, which was very tasty and fresh. That, along with the grilled prawns dish (above) were my favorites that we tried. The sauce on the swordfish was also very good - I think they could add a bit more of it to go over the rice. For dessert we tried the mandarin key lime sweet treat, a delicious after-dinner selection that is essentially key lime pie with a twist. I like that P.F. Chang's has these smaller desserts since you are often too full to enjoy anything too substantial after partaking in all of their other tasty dishes. 

Wine pairings and seasonal cocktails are available as well to complement the summer dishes offered. Come try the summer menu before it is too late!

Inside shot - love the remodel!

Heirloom tomato and Thai basil salad with avocado.

Grilled Pineapple-Citrus Swordfish with Summer Rice.

Mandarin Key Lime Sweet Treat.

 Disclosure: The meal described in this review was complimentary.

China Wing - Korean in Charlotte

Haemul pajeon - Seafood and scallion pancake.

One of the biggest food disappointments in Charlotte as compared to Atlanta is the Korean cuisine - or rather the lack of it! In Atlanta there are literally hundreds of options including full Korean BBQ restaurants, simpler Korean restaurants which specialize in particular dishes, Korean bakeries and even Korean shaved ice shops. In Charlotte there are only a small handful of places that serve Korean cuisine and many of them are quite far from my in-town neighborhood. This puzzles me because Charlotte has a decent number of Vietnamese and Thai restaurants. There are certainly fewer people of Korean descent living in Charlotte than in the Atlanta area but not so few that there should not be more options for Korean cuisine. In any event, I was extremely excited to finally visit China Wing, which to my knowledge is the closest place to me where Korean food is served.

China Wing looks like it used to be a Long John Silver or similar fast food joint. In order to make it the Korean owners serve a variety of American fast food in addition to the full Korean menu. You want the Korean menu, which has detailed descriptions of the dishes and photographs of most of the options, making it less intimidating for first-timers.

I was pleased with everything we ordered including the delicious Korean seafood and scallion pancake, the noodle dish japchae, the BBQ pork and the bi bimbap, a personal favorite. One disappointment was that the selection of banchan or panchan - tiny dishes, often pickled served with the meal - was limited to just 2: tasty kimchi and pickled radish. At other places (of course I'm comparing to Atlanta) you get at least 4-5 different options or possibly more. Still, I can't complain since the main dishes and the banchan we were given were delicious and definitely hit the spot and satisfied my craving for Korean food. I look forward to returning to China Wing and to visiting the other Korean restaurants in the area. I also look forward to visiting my favorite Korean spots back in Atlanta when we visit! Where have you had Korean cuisine in Charlotte? Super G Mart and Cho Wan Garden are on my list.

Make sure you get the Korean menu!

Japchae - delicious noodles.

BBQ pork.

Bi Bimbap - so hot the egg cooks in the dish!

Vietnam Grille - Charlotte

House Special Vermicelli.

Last time we were in Charlotte I dined with my parents at Vietnam Grille. We usually go to Saigon Palace, which is only a few blocks away, but this time we wanted to try something new. Vietnam Grille is fairly small and homey and is obviously family owned. It would be difficult to accommodate a very large group here but it is a nice and cozy place for a couple or family.

The menu is ranges from soups, noodles and rice dishes to traditional Vietnamese dishes and beverages. We tried the pictured house special vermicelli, which was very good - lots of picked carrots and radishes and tasty meat - as well as the seafood noodle soup (not pictured). The soup didn't stand out as much as the vermicelli, but the fresh spring rolls were very good - one of my favorite foods! I don't think Vietnam Grille has the yellow pancake (banh xeo) we like so much on the menu. For that (and for large groups) I will keep going to Saigon Palace - or back to Vietnam - I hope to finally put some food photos from my SE Asia trip up soon! If you are in Charlotte Vietnam Grille is a solid choice for reasonably priced tasty food. I look forward to trying additional menu items on future visits.

Shrimp and pork rolls.

Gu's Bistro Dim Sum - Unfortunately Disappointing

Smoked chili tofu - the first (and best) dish of the meal.



Sweet rice porridge with dried fruit.

As part of Calvin's birthday weekend I planned a special dim sum brunch at Gu's Bistro. We were served about 12-14 items for $15 each - definitely a good deal. Unfortunately the selection was not what I was hoping for and was rather disappointing compared with Gu's regular menu. The items were very starch/noodle heavy and while we enjoyed many of the items, it was too much of the same thing and included no seafood and very few vegetables. Several of the items were very interesting, however, including textures not commonly eaten in the US. It wouldalso be helpful to have a printed menu of the selections since the servers were not too good at explaining each dish. Next time we'll definitely go back to the regular menu, which is wonderful and unique for Atlanta.

Dumplings in broth. Tasty.



Very interesting cold noodle.



Beef noodles with greens.