With nearly 200 in the US and just four restaurants here in the cities, the Asian diner called Pei Wei has been quite the rave lately.
At Pei Wei, they serve delicious Asian cuisines made to your order. Unlike other Asian chain restaurants, they don’t use any heat lamps or microwaves. This means you don’t see your food sitting there under a heat lamp wondering if it’s been sitting there for a few minutes or a few hours. They’re all about keeping their food freshly made, so instead you’ll see the chefs preparing your food in the open kitchen right before your very eyes.
The Pei Wei I went to was in Uptown near Costco. This specific restaurant had been around for nearly six years already, so I was surprised I had never heard of it because I travel to that area often. My theory as to why I hadn’t heard of it is because, unfortunately, this Pei Wei wasn’t located where it’s easy to see; it was tucked away at the end of a strip mall.
As soon as I walked in, I felt as if I were at a low key P.F. Chang’s: fewer lights creating a darker atmosphere with red and black accents of color splashed around the room. All in all, the mood was very relaxed and chill.
When you go to order, they have a ginormous screen with their menu glowing upon it. I’m pretty sure it’s the biggest glowing menu I’ve ever seen. I swear, if they had some angels singing in the background you’d think it came from heaven. I mean, at least you can read it from a mile away.
Speaking of menus, at Pei Wei they offer dozens of gluten free and vegetarian options, so people with gluten allergies or people who don’t eat meat can enjoy the food as well.
I tried three different entrees containing chicken and a plate of lettuce wraps, all of which came out within five to ten minutes after sitting down. At Pei Wei, they promise the chicken is free of any chemically enriched hormones, and there’s no added msg either.
The lettuce wraps came out first, and they were just like P.F. Chang’s. The only difference is that it doesn’t come with all the other sauces, it comes with only one sauce, and they make it ten times faster than the people at P.F. Changs.
The first meal included Honey Seared Chicken over noodles. When I ordered noodles, I was thinking they were going to taste like the ones at hibachi grills, but it wasn’t like that at all. The noodles are just like ramen noodles, and with absolutely no flavor what-so-ever. So I felt like that was a bit disappointing, but the chicken was very tasty. It wasn’t savory or spicy, it was just sweet with a little tang, but sweeter than sweet and sour chicken.
The second meal included Orange chicken and a vegetable medley consisting of pea pods and carrots over fried rice. To my surprise, their rice is 100 percent US grown, so it isn’t being shipped from other countries. The chicken was actually orange in color, so it looked promising, but the first bite was not good at all. It tasted like fried chicken with a hint of vomit. The only orange-y part you could taste were if you ate part of the orange peels they threw in with it. It wasn’t Orange chicken at all. It was barf chicken with orange peels. The fried rice was a lot better though. It was savory and slightly salty, but still very delectable.
To kick it up a notch, my third meal was Spicy chicken over fried rice. Now, I don’t like many spicy foods, but I promise you this meal wasn’t spicy at all. I was expecting to have this spicy chicken open up my nasal passage and make my eyes water, but it didn’t do that at all. It was just like your average sweet and sour chicken. So if you’re looking for something hot, this isn’t the meal to get. I thought it was very tasty though for someone who doesn’t like spicy foods
Overall, I thought the experience at Pei Wei was enjoyable. The service was pretty attentive.
On their website it said, “Simply ask and you shall receive. Because it’s your world. We just wok in it.”
The food was tasty, except for the Orange chicken, and I would definitely recommend it to anyone from Orono going to that area anytime soon.
