P. F. Chang's China Bistro

I hope no one gets up in arms about what I’m about to say. Chinese-American food is probably my least favorite, widely popular (restaurants everywhere) ethnic cuisine. Chinese-American food is not offensive; it’s just that I prefer spicier, more in-depth seasoning. I’ve never eaten “real” Chinese food, and don’t know if I ever will without traveling to China, so I can’t comment on that front.

So, why did I dine at P. F. Chang’s, a Chinese-American chain in the suburbs? Because when I drive past the place, the smell permeating the air is phenomenal. I also have a friend that is a server there who vouches for their food, and added that they have many vegetarian dishes. Plus, I wasn’t hanging in restaurant-rich Philly that night.

I was impressed with P. F. Chang’s before I even stepped in the door. As I often do, I checked the restaurant’s web site to see if there is anything on their menu I can eat. P.F. Chang’s web menu is exceptional. They are up front about the ingredients and nutritional information for every dish on the menu, and make it very easy to access this information. They clearly emphasize that their vegetarian oyster sauce contains no animal products, and they even have a gluten-free menu and an athletic training menu. This is something that, apparently, a lot of national chains do, and I like it. I do understand that this information is absurd to expect from independent restaurants, as they have a much smaller budget, and flexibility as to what comes out of the kitchen.

The wait for a table at P. F. Chang’s sans reservation on a Friday night is not pretty. Our thirty minute wait was more like a fifty minute wait, but out in the suburbs there’s always a Pier 1 and Borders next door in which to while your time away. I also compulsively check all horse statues for anatomical correctness, but only a mere two seconds were spent confirming that P. F. Chang’s overbearing statue was not molded correctly.

Once in, we sat in our friend’s section and took all ordering cues from him. We started with a mighty good mixed drink (a separate post coming on that one), pan-fried vegetarian dumplings (only 40 more calories and 4 more grams of fat than steamed), and vegetarian lettuce wraps for appetizers. The dumplings were like most dumplings at most Chinese-American joints – filled with a mash of various vegetables, mushrooms, and seasonings –not at all bad, but nothing out of the ordinary.

The lettuce wraps were the star of the appetizers. Small cubes of fried silken tofu seasoned with Chinese Five Spice, mint and lime came with four large lettuce leaves in which you spoon as much or as little of the filling on top, and wrap up. A soy and vinegar dipping sauce accompanied the dish. The lettuce wraps were the star because the seasoning had punch, and normally squishy silken tofu was crisp and enjoyable due to the fact that the tofu cubes were small, so had a greater crispy fried surface to squishy center ratio. I’ve never enjoyed silken tofu (outside of dessert applications) more than at P. F. Chang’s. Our friend said that many people order this large sized appetizer at lunch as a main, and I can see why.

Our friend’s most recommended vegetarian entrée is the stir-fried Japanese eggplant in a chili pepper sauce. The tender eggplant melts in your mouth, and while the description “chili pepper sauce” makes you think “hot,” the sauce is more garlicky, and has a depth of flavor that makes me happy.

We decided to go with the Singapore Street Noodles with curry sauce, a dish recommended by our friend but not listed as vegetarian. A quick check with the chef, and we had tofu substituted for shrimp and chicken that normally comes with the dish. I always make the mistake of envisioning Thai coconut curries when I see curry on a Chinese-American menu, and am disappointingly awakened when the dish arrives with a curry that tastes like generic curry seasoning from a spice jar. P. F. Chang’s Singapore Street Noodles are such a curry, but one of the better Chinese-American curries I’ve had. In fact, I went straight for the noodles the next morning for breakfast (we had plenty of leftovers).

Even though I regularly discount Chinese-American cuisine, I would definitely choose to dine at P. F. Chang’s over other national chains that populate the suburbs. The food we had at P. F. Chang’s was good, and there are an impressive amount of vegetarian options – many more options than say…Chili’s or Applebee’s.

Other top vegetarian recommendations from our friend: Sichuan green beans, and vegetarian ma po tofu.

P. F. Chang's China Bistro, PA locations and NJ locations.

Devi

Why haven’t I found an Indian restaurant in the city of Philadelphia that I like? I don’t even have to love it, just like it. I prefer Southern Indian cooking, with its fresh, light, hotter dishes that are more vegetarian friendly, to Northern Indian cooking, which tends to incorporate a lot of cream sauces and paneer. I want dosas, dahi puri, and bhel puri, but I can’t seem to find these foods any where around here because, unfortunately, most Indian restaurants serve Northern Indian cuisine.

One Southern Indian restaurant I do know of and have visited a few times is Devi out in Exton, PA. I have no reason to drive the 30-45 minutes it takes to get to Exton, except to dine at Devi, which serves vegetarian Southern Indian food. A few years back I had a client that lived in those parts of the woods, and was always excited to wrap up work in time to hit the lunch buffet. I have not visited in probably two years, so took a detour from King of Prussia to see what Devi was up to.

Starting at 9 o'clock: raita, sambar, pakora, naan, biryani, channa masala, vegetable khorma.

Starting at 9 o'clock: moor kalumbi? (not sure), channa masala, rice, naan, vada, and pakora.

Dosa.

Gulab jamun, and kheer.

The Saturday buffet was much busier that the weekday buffet, and most of the diners were of Indian origin – a good sign. Everything on the buffet is vegetarian, so dig in without trepidation. On the main hot buffet I found idly (rice and lentil patties), vada (lentil donuts), naan, sambar (soup), pakora, rice, biryani, about four or five curries, and some odds and ends I cannot remember at this moment. The salad buffet had raita (yogurt sauce), fruit, lettuce, and vegetables. The dessert buffet had ice cream, kheer (rice pudding), and gulab jamun (fried balls soaked in rose water and syrup).

Important to know as you pile your plate is that a server will come to your table and ask if you’d like a dosa (thin, crisp crepes typically filled with spiced potatoes) that is included in the buffet price. This is a nice touch, as many buffets don’t include this quintessential Southern Indian dish because they are time consuming to make, and if left on the buffet become a soggy mess. Devi prepares the dosas to order and brings them to your table. The potato filling in the dosa is on the skimpy side, but this is a buffet, cheapo! Plus, you’ll be busting the seams of your pants half way through your first plate anyway.

I was disappointed to see channa masala, vegetable khorma, and palak panneer on the buffet, since these curries can be had at most Northern Indian restaurants, although the channa masala and vegetable khorma were the best executed curries on the buffet. The kheer was a little thin, but the gulab jamon were excellent, and this ultra sweet dessert with sometimes overpowering rose water flavor is not my favorite Indian dessert. The balls of dough were soft and rose water did not overpower.

While Devi has the best Indian food I have had in the Philadelphia area yet, I wish there was a Southern Indian restaurant closer. Devi is still not up to par with the best Indian restaurant in the world – Touch of Indian in Columbia, South Carolina – which, coincidentally, is run by a woman named Devi. I will be having the pleasure (hopefully) of dining at Touch of India in a few weeks and proving my rants to be true to my boyfriend. I can’t wait to share such food beauty with someone.

If anyone has testimonials of Southern Indian restaurants in the area, let me know – I’m dying here. In the last few weeks I found out about Uduppi Dosa House in Bensalem, and their menu looks very, very promising (I spy bhel puri!), but have not tested the waters. It’s on “the list.” I'll get at ya...next time I'm in Bensalem? I've never been to Bensalem.

Devi, 151 W. Lincoln Hwy, Exton, PA 19341
(610) 594-9250

Talula's Table

Living on the outskirts of Kennett Square, Pennsylvania for two years while attending school for horticulture, I can’t say that Kennett Square and its historic Main Street held many attractions for me. Kennett Square is the sort of place that excites your mother when you mention “quaint town.”

Thanks to the previous owners of Django restaurant in Philadelphia, Aimee Olexy and Bryan Sikora, who closed up shop in Philly to move to the country, there’s now a place in Kennett Square that excites me – and your mother.

Talula’s Table, a gourmet food shop with prepared foods, take away dinners, and catering, sits smack in the middle of historic Kennett Square’s main drag. Talula’s Table prides itself on making fresh foods daily with consideration to the season and local ingredients. They also make a concerted effort to prepare a few vegetarian options.

Recessed shelves and coolers are filled with gourmet goodies perfect for a picnic, or to take home and make a meal. Gourmet crackers, preserves, pickles, teas, chocolate, and other foodie fodder line the shelves. Fresh breads and pastries are made daily, and a wide selection of artisan cheeses is displayed in a case along with sides and entrees just waiting to be taken home and heated for dinner. Sandwiches made daily are stacked in a cooler and ready to grab and go. A coffee bar and bottled drinks will quench your thirst.

While Talula’s Table is set up for grabbing and going, there is a large farmhouse table in the middle of the store that can be booked for occasions, along with a round table tucked in the front corner and a couple of bistro tables on the sidewalk, if you would rather enjoy your eats in situ. That’s exactly what I did.

I sampled the goat cheese and beet salad with glazed pecans. The beets were perfectly tangy from a marinade, and I was delighted with the beet's different red hues. Sometimes it’s the little things that impress.

The only vegetarian sandwich option was egg salad on focaccia. I love egg salad, but am very cautious about eating boiled eggs at restaurants. I’m scared about rubberiness and freshness, so almost never eat boiled eggs that I don’t cook myself. I wasn’t afraid of the freshness at Talula’s table, so decided to take the gamble on rubberiness. The eggs were fresh and cooked perfectly. After all the deliberation, the egg salad turned out to be disappointingly bland. A couple of cranks of the pepper mill and some sweet relish mixed in would have livened things up. (All sandwiches come with a free little bag of chips.)

The mac and cheese is the style that can be cut into squares and retain its shape – just the kind I prefer. They heated that baby up, since I was dining in, and, let me say, the mac and cheese was absolutely dreamy and creamy. (I didn’t want to make that rhyme, but… it’s true.) As per my usual complaint about mac and cheese, I wish Talula’s Table’s mac and cheese had a sharper cheese mixture. That aside, I’d put Talula’s Table in a tie with Morning Glory’s mac and cheese as one of the best I've sampled in these parts.

For dessert I chose a banana cream cake solely for the reason that I had bananas on the brain. Those bananas are now on my hips.

Even though Talula's Table is not quick-lunch cheap (all of this food, plus two drinks, were split between one hungry person and one not-so-hungry person, and rang up to just under $30), I wish a gourmet food shop like this had been around when I was living in the area. I do drive through Kennett Square about twice a month for work, so maybe I'll forget to pack my lunch on those days.

Talula's Table, 102 W. State Street, Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, 19348
Phone: 610-444-8255
Open daily, 7am-7pm