P.F. Chang's opens its first Canadian location at Shops at Don Mills

Ahead of today's public opening we were able to check out P.F. Chang's first Canadian location at Shops at Don Mills, Toronto's first open-air mall. In terms of food / drink recommendations, my favourite dish (and we tried many) was Chang's Spare Ribs, which were fall-off-the-bone tender with just the right amount of deep, rich sauce and a sprinkle of white and black sesame seeds.

Chang's Chicken Lettuce Wraps were a close second - they were so fresh-tasting and I loved the rice noodles which added some crunch.

At our table, our server made the restaurant's special sauce (perfect for dipping the lettuce wraps) by combining some Chinese mustard (it has a bit of a spicy wasabi kick) with a soy potsticker sauce and chili oil - it is customizable for how hot or mild you'd like it.

You can also add vinegar to it if you wish, but we left ours the way the server made it and it was a delicious accom-
paniment. Another unique, and apparently very popular, dish was the Shrimp with Candied Walnuts - it also had melon balls in it which I found added a softer texture and flavour aside the crunchy lightly-battered shrimp and the walnuts.

One thing I must praise P.F. Chang's for is their lighter batter - they use a starch (I think in some cases I heard potato starch, in others corn starch) to make a light coating rather than a really heavy thick batter.

As for their signature cocktails (they have quite a few) we really liked the Organic Agave Margarita (Mark and I aren't generally big tequila fans, but this drink was incredibly smooth). A couple other good cocktail choices: the incredibly fruity Jade Martini (coconut rum, pineapple juice, melon liquer) and the Asian Pear Mojito (Bacardi limon, fresh mint, slight hint of pear). The one pictured below wasn't one of our favourites, it was a bit too sweet, but the colour was phenomenally photo-worthy!





If you're over at  Shops at Don Mills it's worth popping in, even if just for a taste of those ribs (they are actually listed as an appetizer) and a signature cocktail.





Yours in food,
-Stacey