P.F. Chang’s Explores New Dimensions but Stays Flat in Places

The new Imax theater is bound to attract hungry throngs to the Irvine Spectrum Entertainment Center, so the popular P.F. Chang’s China Bistro should continue to be a tough table. After the movie, I’m bringing my Imax 3-D goggles into the restaurant. That will keep me from ordering anything, er, one-dimensional.

I’m not implying all food here requires the goggles. The chain has made some impressive strides since opening in Fashion Island two years ago, extending the menu to include long beans and monkfish and deleting some problem dishes, such as a chicken salad dressed with enough Chinese mustard to make a grown man cry.

And the buzz surrounding the new bistro is exciting. For one thing, the restaurant is packed every evening, justifying PFC’s no-reservations policy. For another, this place is simply stunning. The main dining area, as big as a Vegas showroom, includes a parquet floor, replicas of Xi’an terra-cotta statuary standing guard on pedestals, stylish Diva lights and--one of the chain’s design trademarks--giant off-white canvas disks hanging suspended from the ceiling, otherworldly shapes with an odd iridescence.

The inspired concept of this place is to fuse authentic Chinese cooking with the amenities of a fine Western restaurant. To that end, owner Paul Fleming (who owns three Ruth’s Chris Steak House franchises and will open a fourth this summer in Irvine) retains well-known Chinese food consultant Philip Chiang. (Fleming is the P.F., Chiang is the Chang, get it?) Chiang has helped create the restaurant’s menu. Fleming’s wife, Kelly, is responsible for the engaging design.

There’s more. The food is served by an attractive, gung-ho team that seconds all your decisions (“Good choice!” “That’s my favorite dish!”). There is also a snazzy patio for outdoor dining and people-watching, plus a long, curved counter facing the kitchen, great for getting an overview of the action.

It’s a pity, then, when a P.F. Chang dish falls victim to too much seasoning or erratic preparation. I’ve eaten Chiang’s food at the Mandarin in Beverly Hills and the Mandarette in West Hollywood, and this just doesn’t represent him at his best. Despite all the good ideas and a few truly noble efforts, the overall feeling I get is that something is missing.

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Taste the Singapore noodles. They’re a classic stir-fry of the wispy rice noodles known as mai fen and slivered carrots and celery, flavored, if you want, with curry spices. I tried the curry version and got a plate of noodles that tasted as if a heap of spice powder had been dumped in at the last minute.

And consider the spicy ground chicken with eggplant. The fleshy part of the vegetable has been scooped out of the skin, mixed with lean ground chicken and finished in a wok with a piquant Sichuan sauce. Removing the skin robs the dish of needed texture. It also encourages the eggplant to absorb oil. When my order arrived, you could see oil separated from the sauce around the perimeter. We spooned the chicken over steamed rice, and left the eggplant.

A few other dishes would be better if they were a touch more ethnic. The cold cucumber salad--crisp sliced cucumber splashed with soy and topped with toasted sesame seeds--is pleasant, but a few drops of sesame oil would make it a lot more grown-up.

The finely minced filling of the shrimp dumplings is quite bland. How about putting big chunks of shrimp inside the dumpling wrapper, the way a real dim sum kitchen would do it?

A few appetizers are reliable. Peking ravioli are crescent-shaped dumplings with a satisfying pork and vegetable filling, good either fried or steamed. You doctor them to your taste from fancy cruets of soy sauce, chili oil and rice wine vinegar. The familiar Cantonese-American spareribs are sweet, sticky and meaty, brushed with a red sauce that clings stubbornly to the fingers.

Northern-style spare ribs, by contrast, are dry-marinated ribs that you dip in spiced salt, very Chinese.

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Cantonese duck is probably worth the $12.95 the restaurant charges for it. This slowly roasted bird has far less fat and skin than you’d get at an authentic Chinese barbecue house such as Irvine’s Sam Woo, and it is easy to eat. The duck has been rubbed with spices and chopped with almost clinical precision. It has also been boned for your convenience, but for the same reason it will be less flavorful than a Sam Woo duck.

Other dishes worth a try are “chived” chicken, lemon pepper shrimp and Sichuan-style Chinese long beans. The chicken, sliced thin and sauteed with bean curd, yellow chives and cloud mushrooms, has always been one of my favorite dishes on this menu. The shrimp come on a bed of sauteed chives and bean sprouts and don’t taste Chinese, but they are pleasingly eccentric, like shrimp sprinkled with lemon pepper.

And the long beans are earthier and more exotic than Western string beans. Be warned that the beans are sauteed with preserved radish, making this a powerfully salty dish (the radish really should have been soaked properly to remove some of the salt), but the problem is easily taken care of. Just mix the vegetables with more steamed rice.

P.F. Chang’s has decent wines, good beers and tropical drinks such as a real Trader Vic’s mai tai. Among the desserts, a fudgy flourless chocolate cake served warm plays the starring role, but it is nicely supported by a textbook pear tart and a rich macadamia nut pie with a pecan pie-like consistency.

You can take off your goggles now.

P.F. Chang’s China Bistro is moderately priced. Appetizers, soups and salads are $2.95 to $7.95. Entrees are $4.95 to $12.95.

* P.F. CHANG’S CHINA BISTRO

* 61 Fortune Drive, Irvine.

* (714) 453-1211.

* Open daily, 11 a.m.-11 p.m.

* All major cards.