This is one that I never thought I'd be writing up. I'd never been to one of this chain's outlets, and had no particular intention to do so. I happened to be a couple of blocks away, planning on lunching at a different spot, a Chinese restaurant someone had recommended, which turned out to be closed during posted open hours, for whatever reason. And so, I found myself wandering into what I'd imagined to be a bastardization of all things Chinese. As a solo diner, I was directed to the bar, "unless I insisted on a table". Given that there were tables in the bar, it wasn't a big deal, just slightly off-putting. The place is huge, and it was busy. I sat at one of the tables in the bar, the bartender looked at me from behind the bar, and, clearly not happy about having to come out from behind it, since I wasn't sitting at the bar proper (no one else was in the bar area at the time, though it filled up later), came out and brought me the menu.
I went simple - shrimp dumplings (220 pesos), and the somewhat famed Chang's spicy chicken (300 pesos), their corporate take on General Tso's chicken. The former, decent dumplings, the latter, a bit too sweet and not particularly spicy, but acceptable. Iced tea, with free refills, that's a plus, and especially as it was unsweetened with the sweetener options served on the side (75 pesos). PFC's doesn't put chopsticks on the table, at least at this branch, and a request for them turned into a roughly five minute hunt for some that required two bartenders leaving their post and scouring the restaurant until they found some.
I'd noted that there were these little groupings of sauces on the bar - vinegar, soy, hot sauce, but not on the bar tables, and asked if I could have those. I was informed that those were for the bar itself, not for the tables, but they would see what they could do. Another five minutes waiting ensued, until one of them returned from the kitchen with a small plate carrying the same three, plus three little ramekins, one with Chinese mustard, one with a soy-vinegar sauce, and one with chili paste. As he set them down, he picked up the little spoon and started mixing the three together. I stopped him and asked him what he was doing - he explained that it was best to combine the three, he'd been working there for some time, and that was the way to do it, not have them separate. I told him I was capable of making that decision myself, and he told me that he knew these things better than I, and I should eat my dumplings the way he suggested if I wanted to enjoy them properly, and then turned and walked away.
So, okay food. Sucky service. Kind of the reverse of what I expected. Expensive for what you get - the above two dishes and iced tea, with tip, 650 pesos. Not a place I'll be going back to. read more
