I went northeast yesterday to spend some time with my sister and to make
a stop at Ready Meats (http://www.readymeats.com/) for beef bones and
chicken backs for soups. The plan was to shop at the meat market, have
dinner with sis and then proceed to a book reading by Al Sicherman,
reading from his book, "Geezer Salad."

I was ahead of my schedule ("It's a murrcle!!") and killed some time at
whatever they're calling the retail & residential development where
Apache Plaza used to be. I scoped a possible place for dinner, Pei Wei.
I'd never heard of it and was surprised to see that it's affiliated with
P.F. Chang restaurants. You order at a counter and your food is
prepared and delivered to your table, like Culver's.

My udon noodle bowl with shrimp was $7.50, Julie's beef lo mein noodle
bowl was $6.50. She had a coupon for an order of free spring rolls. I
was dismayed at how greasy the spring rolls (a deep fried egg roll)
were, how greasy my udon dish was, and how greasy her lo mein was. Just
about slid out of the place. The lo mein sauce was sweeter than my udon
sauce. Next time I'd order the lo mein except that I don't think there
will *be* a next time. Table service was prompt, the order-taker was
efficient and friendly; no problems with staff.

Overall, though, I'd have been more satisfied if we'd gone to Culver's ‹
and I forgot that there is one very near to where we were.

Live and learn.
--
-Barb, Mother Superior, HOSSSPoJ
Notes about our meals in Tuscany have been posted to
http://www.jamlady.eboard.com; 10-16-2007

On Nov 3, 11:38 am, Melba's Jammin' >
wrote:
> [snip] .... I scoped a possible place for dinner, Pei Wei.
> I'd never heard of it and was surprised to see that it's affiliated with
> P.F. Chang restaurants. You order at a counter and your food is
> prepared and delivered to your table, like Culver's.
>
> My udon noodle bowl with shrimp was $7.50, Julie's beef lo mein noodle
> bowl was $6.50. She had a coupon for an order of free spring rolls. I
> was dismayed at how greasy the spring rolls (a deep fried egg roll)
> were, how greasy my udon dish was, and how greasy her lo mein was. Just
> about slid out of the place. The lo mein sauce was sweeter than my udon
> sauce. Next time I'd order the lo mein except that I don't think there
> will *be* a next time. Table service was prompt, the order-taker was
> efficient and friendly; no problems with staff. [snip]

Too bad, but not a big surprise. I was once shanghai-ed (so to speak)
to a dinner at P.F.Chang after a story had appeared about how popular
it was. Six of us ordered what we thought would be a good variety of
dishes and shared them all. None made any pretensions to being
traditional, so falling short of authenticity was not the problem.
Rather, the problem was that everything tasted way too similar, nearly
everything was too sweet, some things were greasy. The room was full
of happy people, so maybe they had a good fix on what was popular, but
I didn't like it at all. Haven't been back since. -aem

In article >,
Melba's Jammin' > wrote:

> I went northeast yesterday to spend some time with my sister and to make
> a stop at Ready Meats (http://www.readymeats.com/) for beef bones and
> chicken backs for soups. The plan was to shop at the meat market, have
> dinner with sis and then proceed to a book reading by Al Sicherman,
> reading from his book, "Geezer Salad."
>
> I was ahead of my schedule ("It's a murrcle!!") and killed some time at
> whatever they're calling the retail & residential development where
> Apache Plaza used to be. I scoped a possible place for dinner, Pei Wei.
> I'd never heard of it and was surprised to see that it's affiliated with
> P.F. Chang restaurants. You order at a counter and your food is
> prepared and delivered to your table, like Culver's.
>
> My udon noodle bowl with shrimp was $7.50, Julie's beef lo mein noodle
> bowl was $6.50. She had a coupon for an order of free spring rolls. I
> was dismayed at how greasy the spring rolls (a deep fried egg roll)
> were, how greasy my udon dish was, and how greasy her lo mein was. Just
> about slid out of the place. The lo mein sauce was sweeter than my udon
> sauce. Next time I'd order the lo mein except that I don't think there
> will *be* a next time. Table service was prompt, the order-taker was
> efficient and friendly; no problems with staff.
>
> Overall, though, I'd have been more satisfied if we'd gone to Culver's ‹
> and I forgot that there is one very near to where we were.
>
> Live and learn.

I was underwhelmed by P.F. Chang's the one time we went there. It
bamboozles me why the place is so popular here in Seattle, where we have
lots of good to excellent to sublime Asian restaurants. Just the least
common denominator, same as with the Olive Garden.

Cindy

--
C.J. Fuller

Delete the obvious to email me

In article >,
Melba's Jammin' > wrote:

I posted this to the wrong group. Sorry. Posted at least one other
here to the wrong group, too. Sorry about that one, too. I'll cancel
it.

--
-Barb, Mother Superior, HOSSSPoJ
Notes about our meals in Tuscany have been posted to
http://www.jamlady.eboard.com; 10-16-2007

On Nov 3, 3:38 pm, Melba's Jammin' > wrote:
> I went northeast yesterday to spend some time with my sister and to make
> a stop at Ready Meats (http://www.readymeats.com/) for beef bones and
> chicken backs for soups. The plan was to shop at the meat market, have
> dinner with sis and then proceed to a book reading by Al Sicherman,
> reading from his book, "Geezer Salad."
>
> I was ahead of my schedule ("It's a murrcle!!") and killed some time at
> whatever they're calling the retail & residential development where
> Apache Plaza used to be. I scoped a possible place for dinner, Pei Wei.
> I'd never heard of it and was surprised to see that it's affiliated with
> P.F. Chang restaurants. You order at a counter and your food is
> prepared and delivered to your table, like Culver's.
>
> My udon noodle bowl with shrimp was $7.50, Julie's beef lo mein noodle
> bowl was $6.50. She had a coupon for an order of free spring rolls. I
> was dismayed at how greasy the spring rolls (a deep fried egg roll)
> were, how greasy my udon dish was, and how greasy her lo mein was. Just
> about slid out of the place. The lo mein sauce was sweeter than my udon
> sauce. Next time I'd order the lo mein except that I don't think there
> will *be* a next time. Table service was prompt, the order-taker was
> efficient and friendly; no problems with staff.
>
> Overall, though, I'd have been more satisfied if we'd gone to Culver's €¹
> and I forgot that there is one very near to where we were.
>
> Live and learn.
> --
> -Barb, Mother Superior, HOSSSPoJ
> Notes about our meals in Tuscany have been posted tohttp://www.jamlady.eboard.com;10-16-2007

Glad we're not the only ones who were underwhelmed by Pei Wei's. The
first time we ate there, they messed up our order, and gave us a $10
card as an apology. Food was ~ok~ nothing to write home about. Went
there a couple of weeks ago, and my udon noodle bowl was way too
salty--no other flavor could be found. Manager said that was the
canned sauce they always use.

DH is happy with them, and went there tonight with the $10 card. I
stayed home and finished up some trout chowder left over from Thursday
(YUM!), and the kidlet hasn't deigned to ingest anything yet.

maxine in ri

Oh pshaw, on Sat 03 Nov 2007 03:35:28p, Melba's Jammin' meant to say...

> In article >,
> Melba's Jammin' > wrote:
>
> I posted this to the wrong group. Sorry. Posted at least one other
> here to the wrong group, too. Sorry about that one, too. I'll cancel
> it.
>

Shame, shame, shame. Whatever will we do with you?

Hey, everything you said was food related, so what's the big deal?

:-)

--
Wayne Boatwright

(to e-mail me direct, replace cox dot net with gmail dot com)
__________________________________________________ ____________

It's lonely at the top, but you eat better.

On Sun, 04 Nov 2007 00:13:55 GMT, Wayne Boatwright
> wrote:

>Oh pshaw, on Sat 03 Nov 2007 03:35:28p, Melba's Jammin' meant to say...
>
>> In article >,
>> Melba's Jammin' > wrote:
>>
>> I posted this to the wrong group. Sorry. Posted at least one other
>> here to the wrong group, too. Sorry about that one, too. I'll cancel
>> it.
>>
>
>Shame, shame, shame. Whatever will we do with you?
>
>Hey, everything you said was food related, so what's the big deal?
>
Yeah, I know. It's not like she was posting a computer question in a
food group.

--
See return address to reply by email
remove the smiley face first

maxine in ri wrote:
> On Nov 3, 3:38 pm, Melba's Jammin' > wrote:
>> I went northeast yesterday to spend some time with my sister and to make
>> a stop at Ready Meats (http://www.readymeats.com/) for beef bones and
>> chicken backs for soups. The plan was to shop at the meat market, have
>> dinner with sis and then proceed to a book reading by Al Sicherman,
>> reading from his book, "Geezer Salad."
>>
>> I was ahead of my schedule ("It's a murrcle!!") and killed some time at
>> whatever they're calling the retail & residential development where
>> Apache Plaza used to be. I scoped a possible place for dinner, Pei Wei.
>> I'd never heard of it and was surprised to see that it's affiliated with
>> P.F. Chang restaurants.



One of our PF Chang's is superior. The other is...mediocre.
I guess it depends on who's in the kitchen.

Never heard of Pei Wei, but the name would set me off. (Peewee???)

gloria p

In article >,
Puester > wrote:

> maxine in ri wrote:
> > On Nov 3, 3:38 pm, Melba's Jammin' > wrote:
> >> I went northeast yesterday to spend some time with my sister and to make
> >> a stop at Ready Meats (http://www.readymeats.com/) for beef bones and
> >> chicken backs for soups. The plan was to shop at the meat market, have
> >> dinner with sis and then proceed to a book reading by Al Sicherman,
> >> reading from his book, "Geezer Salad."
> >>
> >> I was ahead of my schedule ("It's a murrcle!!") and killed some time at
> >> whatever they're calling the retail & residential development where
> >> Apache Plaza used to be. I scoped a possible place for dinner, Pei Wei.
> >> I'd never heard of it and was surprised to see that it's affiliated with
> >> P.F. Chang restaurants.
>
>
>
> One of our PF Chang's is superior. The other is...mediocre.
> I guess it depends on who's in the kitchen.
>
> Never heard of Pei Wei, but the name would set me off. (Peewee???)
>
> gloria p

I was thinking Pay Way -- the kids' menu has something that makes me
think that's how the 'wei' is pronounced. I should give them a call and
see how they answer the phone. :-)
--
-Barb, Mother Superior, HOSSSPoJ
Notes about our meals in Tuscany have been posted to
http://www.jamlady.eboard.com; 10-16-2007

In article 4>,
Wayne Boatwright > wrote:

> Oh pshaw, on Sat 03 Nov 2007 03:35:28p, Melba's Jammin' meant to say...
>
> > In article >,
> > Melba's Jammin' > wrote:
> >
> > I posted this to the wrong group. Sorry. Posted at least one other
> > here to the wrong group, too. Sorry about that one, too. I'll cancel
> > it.
> >
>
> Shame, shame, shame. Whatever will we do with you?
>
> Hey, everything you said was food related, so what's the big deal?
>
> :-)

The big deal is that it wasn't showing up where I thought I'd posted it.
:-) The other, related, posts were more pertinent to Meen-a-soh-ta.
--
-Barb, Mother Superior, HOSSSPoJ
Notes about our meals in Tuscany have been posted to
http://www.jamlady.eboard.com; 10-16-2007

Oh pshaw, on Sat 03 Nov 2007 06:37:48p, Melba's Jammin' meant to say...

> In article 4>,
> Wayne Boatwright > wrote:
>
>> Oh pshaw, on Sat 03 Nov 2007 03:35:28p, Melba's Jammin' meant to say...
>>
>> > In article >,
>> > Melba's Jammin' > wrote:
>> >
>> > I posted this to the wrong group. Sorry. Posted at least one other
>> > here to the wrong group, too. Sorry about that one, too. I'll cancel
>> > it.
>> >
>>
>> Shame, shame, shame. Whatever will we do with you?
>>
>> Hey, everything you said was food related, so what's the big deal?
>>
>> :-)
>
> The big deal is that it wasn't showing up where I thought I'd posted it.
>:-) The other, related, posts were more pertinent to Meen-a-soh-ta.

'sokay...

--
Wayne Boatwright

(to e-mail me direct, replace cox dot net with gmail dot com)
__________________________________________________ ____________

It's lonely at the top, but you eat better.

"Melba's Jammin'" > wrote in message
...
>I went northeast yesterday to spend some time with my sister and to make
> a stop at Ready Meats (http://www.readymeats.com/) for beef bones and
> chicken backs for soups. The plan was to shop at the meat market, have
> dinner with sis and then proceed to a book reading by Al Sicherman,
> reading from his book, "Geezer Salad."
>
> I was ahead of my schedule ("It's a murrcle!!") and killed some time at
> whatever they're calling the retail & residential development where
> Apache Plaza used to be. I scoped a possible place for dinner, Pei Wei.
> I'd never heard of it and was surprised to see that it's affiliated with
> P.F. Chang restaurants. You order at a counter and your food is
> prepared and delivered to your table, like Culver's.
>
> My udon noodle bowl with shrimp was $7.50, Julie's beef lo mein noodle
> bowl was $6.50. She had a coupon for an order of free spring rolls. I
> was dismayed at how greasy the spring rolls (a deep fried egg roll)
> were, how greasy my udon dish was, and how greasy her lo mein was. Just
> about slid out of the place. The lo mein sauce was sweeter than my udon
> sauce. Next time I'd order the lo mein except that I don't think there
> will *be* a next time. Table service was prompt, the order-taker was
> efficient and friendly; no problems with staff.
>
> Overall, though, I'd have been more satisfied if we'd gone to Culver's <
> and I forgot that there is one very near to where we were.
>
> Live and learn.
> --
> -Barb, Mother Superior, HOSSSPoJ


Barb,

Pei Wei is one of my husband's favorite lunch spots...but he eats only a few things
there. We've never done any of the noodles so I don't know if the greasiness is a
Minnie Soda thing or what. Brian likes the Kung Pao chicken with the brown rice
instead of white. We also like the Asian Chopped Chicken salad. They put in alot of
shredded chicken, but it's rather finely shredded so it's easy to eat with a chopped
salad. And the won tons add a nice texture boost. When I go, which is rare, I get the
lettuce wraps and a Buddha's Belly, which is a pot of steamed veggies. I love that
because they don't over-cook them at all. And they always have orange slices up by
the tea, which I like to squeeze a couple over the veggies.

So...if you do go back, get some lettuce wraps and the chopped salad...and if you
like spicy, try the Kung Pao. It's not breaded like so many places do nowadays, and
comes with snap peas.

Oh, and, next time you find yourself at P.F. Changs, if you do, they have the *best*
vegetarian dumplings I've ever had.

kimberly

Oh my goodness ... talk about old times! I grew up a block away from
'Pache Plaza (that's what my late brother called it). Ready Meats was
Ted's store. My, how things change (of course I moved away from
Minnesota in 1979 ...so it's to be expected).

On Sat, 03 Nov 2007 14:38:37 -0500, Melba's Jammin'
> wrote:

>I went northeast yesterday to spend some time with my sister and to make
>a stop at Ready Meats (http://www.readymeats.com/) for beef bones and
>chicken backs for soups. The plan was to shop at the meat market, have
>dinner with sis and then proceed to a book reading by Al Sicherman,
>reading from his book, "Geezer Salad."
>
>I was ahead of my schedule ("It's a murrcle!!") and killed some time at
>whatever they're calling the retail & residential development where
>Apache Plaza used to be. I scoped a possible place for dinner, Pei Wei.
>I'd never heard of it and was surprised to see that it's affiliated with
>P.F. Chang restaurants. You order at a counter and your food is
>prepared and delivered to your table, like Culver's.
>
>My udon noodle bowl with shrimp was $7.50, Julie's beef lo mein noodle
>bowl was $6.50. She had a coupon for an order of free spring rolls. I
>was dismayed at how greasy the spring rolls (a deep fried egg roll)
>were, how greasy my udon dish was, and how greasy her lo mein was. Just
>about slid out of the place. The lo mein sauce was sweeter than my udon
>sauce. Next time I'd order the lo mein except that I don't think there
>will *be* a next time. Table service was prompt, the order-taker was
>efficient and friendly; no problems with staff.
>
>Overall, though, I'd have been more satisfied if we'd gone to Culver's ‹
>and I forgot that there is one very near to where we were.
>
>Live and learn.

On Jan 16, 7:18*pm, Linda Smith > wrote:
> Oh my goodness ... talk about old times! *I grew up a block away from
> 'Pache Plaza (that's what my late brother called it). *Ready Meats was
> Ted's store. *My, how things change (of course I moved away from
> Minnesota in 1979 ...so it's to be expected).
>
> On Sat, 03 Nov 2007 14:38:37 -0500, Melba's Jammin'
>
>
>
> > wrote:
> >I went northeast yesterday to spend some time with my sister and to make
> >a stop at Ready Meats (http://www.readymeats.com/) for beef bones and
> >chicken backs for soups. *The plan was to shop at the meat market, have
> >dinner with sis and then proceed to a book reading by Al Sicherman,
> >reading from his book, "Geezer Salad."
>
> >I was ahead of my schedule ("It's a murrcle!!") and killed some time at
> >whatever they're calling the retail & residential development where
> >Apache Plaza used to be. *I scoped a possible place for dinner, Pei Wei.. *
> >I'd never heard of it and was surprised to see that it's affiliated with
> >P.F. Chang restaurants. * You order at a counter and your food is
> >prepared and delivered to your table, like Culver's. *
>
> >My udon noodle bowl with shrimp was $7.50, Julie's beef lo mein noodle
> >bowl was $6.50. *She had a coupon for an order of free spring rolls. *I
> >was dismayed at how greasy the spring rolls (a deep fried egg roll)
> >were, how greasy my udon dish was, and how greasy her lo mein was. *Just
> >about slid out of the place. *The lo mein sauce was sweeter than my udon
> >sauce. *Next time I'd order the lo mein except that I don't think there
> >will *be* a next time. * Table service was prompt, the order-taker was
> >efficient and friendly; no problems with staff. *
>
> >Overall, though, I'd have been more satisfied if we'd gone to Culver's ‹
> >and I forgot that there is one very near to where we were. *
>
> >Live and learn.- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

I grew up near Apache plaza too.

Tell us more about Sicherman's book. I use to read Uncle Al's column
online at the Strib site until he retired. How was the Geezer Salad?

Luann Wolfe
Albuquerque, NM

In article
>,
" >
wrote:

> I grew up near Apache plaza too.
>
> Tell us more about Sicherman's book. I use to read Uncle Al's column
> online at the Strib site until he retired. How was the Geezer Salad?
>
> Luann Wolfe
> Albuquerque, NM

Since the rest of r.f.c. doesn't give a rip about our childhood days,
put a dot between my first and last names in the reply-to address to
bypass Earthlink's spam filters and the three of us can discuss The Good
Old Days in The Village. Do you post with a valid mail address?
Yesterday I mailed my reply to your copyright issue to you as well as
posted it.
--
-Barb, Mother Superior, HOSSSPoJ
Notes about our meals in Tuscany have been posted to
http://www.jamlady.eboard.com; 10-16-2007