A Review of Pei Wei in Houston, Texas

Pei Wei opened their first restaurant in 2001, and now they have over 150 locations throughout the U. S. Pei Wei serves wok-seared pan-Asian cuisine (including Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, Korean and Thai) that is quick and inexpensive. They are more casual than their parent company, P.F. Chang's, yet offer the same attention to quality while still maintaining a menu where no item is more than $10. In addition to different types of tea and fountain soda, Pei Wei also serve beer and wine.

Pei Wei is fast because you place your order with the cashier, who provides you with a round plastic disc which has a number on it. You then find a table and place your number on the table so the server can find you when your food is ready. It's that easy; and when you're done eating, you simply leave the cleaning up to the staff. Pei Wei is always crowded, but if you can't find a table and are in a hurry, you can always place your order to go.

My husband ordered two spring rolls as his appetizer which cost $3.75; each one was filled with shredded cabbage, ginger, carrot, onion, black mushroom, and glass noodles before being deep fried.

I ordered the Mongolian Chicken which is stir-fried sliced chicken sautéed in a sweet garlic soy sauce, with scallions and white mushrooms. This entrée is served with rice - either brown or white, so I chose the white. The rice was tasty and fluffy, and the sauce to the entrée was incredible. I only tasted the sweet portion of the sweet garlic soy sauce, and thought the chicken was tender but not as juicy as it could have been. The portion was quite large - enough for two people - and it only cost $7.75 so I was able to take the leftovers home. The leftover Mongolian chicken however, couldn't be salvaged because the chicken was too dry to eat the following day.

My husband ordered the Pad Thai with shrimp (which cost an addition dollar,) and although we were supposed to share this dish, I disliked the taste so much I couldn't eat my portion. The dish is supposed to have wide rice noodles in a sweet and sour sauce, tofu, bean sprouts, scallion, egg, crushed peanuts, lime, and cilantro - no smoky flavor. While we were waiting for our food, we noticed there was a large contained fire in the kitchen, and after tasting our smoky Pad Thai noodles, we could tell it was our food that was affected. The noodles weren't very good because of the rogue taste that did not resemble an authentic Pad Thai flavor, but the shrimp somehow escaped the smoky flavor and was worth the extra dollar. This dish (which cost $7.75) was also enough for two people, and fortunately I was able to salvage the taste the next day when I cooked the leftovers by adding a few oriental sauces.

Pei Wei states that they do not add MSG but that doesn't mean the sauces they use don't already come with monosodium glutamate; so if you have an aversion to this particular ingredient, be sure to ask about the sauces used. Soy sauce is placed on every table but you can also get chii and mustard sauces which are located by the fountain drinks.

We dined at the Pei Wei located at the Plaza in the Park, 5110 Buffalo Speedway, Houston, Texas, 77005. Their phone number is: 713-661-0900. The company's web site is: http://www.peiwei.com/