Why did we end up in PF Chang?
We have never set foot in PF Chang; not in Korea, not in the States, not in any countries we've been where they have a branch. But we did last night and it's an act of desperation.
The first simple reason is that the stove in the hotel is just not hot enough to cook any food properly. Hence, the best way to have decent Chinese food is "off the menu".
The second reason is in Abu Dhabi mall, where we were in, the choices of eateries are very limited. They are mostly cafes, food courts or restaurant chains. None of them could be called fine-dining (this is true about most of the malls here, they mainly offer fast food). So if you are starving, yearning for a plate of fried greens and don't want to eat in the food court, you might end up in a place like PF Chang like we did.
Where I came from, we are not a great fan of mainland Chinese products, especially their food. There have been too many horror stories regarding their food scares. So far, I've only found two Chinese supermarkets in my neighbourhood and they are both owned by mainland Chinese people. I found myself staring at their shelves of food, all in simplified Chinese characters, thinking why should I buy something that I would avoid back home?? And based on these two mainland-Chinese-owned supermarkets and what they are selling, I think it would be safe to assume that the Chinese restaurants nearby might either be associated with them or get ingredients from them. In that case, the chance of having an MSG overdose and weirdly processed food would be high in these restaurants.
So, we ended up having Singaporean fried noodles in a form that we've never seen before -- with gravy!!!
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| For those of you who haven't heard of PF Chang before, it's a US chain restaurant selling "Chinese" food which normally, no Chinese people would visit. |
The first simple reason is that the stove in the hotel is just not hot enough to cook any food properly. Hence, the best way to have decent Chinese food is "off the menu".
The second reason is in Abu Dhabi mall, where we were in, the choices of eateries are very limited. They are mostly cafes, food courts or restaurant chains. None of them could be called fine-dining (this is true about most of the malls here, they mainly offer fast food). So if you are starving, yearning for a plate of fried greens and don't want to eat in the food court, you might end up in a place like PF Chang like we did.
Where I came from, we are not a great fan of mainland Chinese products, especially their food. There have been too many horror stories regarding their food scares. So far, I've only found two Chinese supermarkets in my neighbourhood and they are both owned by mainland Chinese people. I found myself staring at their shelves of food, all in simplified Chinese characters, thinking why should I buy something that I would avoid back home?? And based on these two mainland-Chinese-owned supermarkets and what they are selling, I think it would be safe to assume that the Chinese restaurants nearby might either be associated with them or get ingredients from them. In that case, the chance of having an MSG overdose and weirdly processed food would be high in these restaurants.
So, we ended up having Singaporean fried noodles in a form that we've never seen before -- with gravy!!!
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