By Umer Nangiana


Their popular dynamite shrimp, Mongolian beef and Chicken Lettuce wraps, with unswerving taste, has spread to 21 countries, selling big at 270 locations. Qatar was their latest destination and it seems the people here were just waiting for it to open.
Customers have swarmed the Villaggio Mall outlet of P.F. Chang’s, the award-winning Asian bistro, since its opening a few days ago. Encouraged by the response, the restaurant is planning to open another branch at Gulf Mall soon.
A fusion of Asian cuisine and American-style service, P.F. Chang’s signature dishes like the Dynamite Shrimp, Chicken Lettuce Wraps, Mongolian Beef and the Great Wall of Chocolate have been flying out of the kitchen, much to the delight of co-founder Philip Chiang, who was in town this week to showcase the menu to local media and foodies.
“Bringing our food and concept to Doha is a big step forward for us. We are confident that our diverse, delicious and fresh menu, combined with our stylish yet laidback ambiance, is a perfect match for the selective taste and lifestyle of the Doha community,” said Chiang.
Speaking about the concept of the restaurant, Chiang first explained the name in which P.F. stands for Paul Fleming who was the founder and Chang is from his name.
“Flemming was my customer at my restaurant at Los Angeles and he was into restaurant business in Arizona. So he asked me to help him open a Chinese restaurant in Pheonix where he was living and that is how it started,” said Chang.
Back in the 60s, Chiang’s mother opened a Chinese restaurant in San Francisco called the Mandarin. In the early 80s, art student Philip took over operations when his mother went to China for a visit, and he never looked back, opening his own casual restaurant.
There he met Fleming and the first P.F. Chang’s opened in Scottsdale shopping mall in 1993.
His food is a lot simpler and cleaner and that is the main difference between P.F. Chang’s and some other Chinese restaurants, suggested Chiang.
“Seventy percent of our current items come from the original menu 22 years ago. We are more consistent than ever before and we have it very organised. The quality is consistent throughout all our global restaurants,” Chiang said.
He personally likes spicy food but Chicken Lettuce wrap, Mongolian beef and Chang’s Chicken from the menu are his personal favourite.
The new P.F. Chang’s is trendy and upscale, with eye-catching décor, lively ambience and warm hospitality. The restaurant’s cuisine is inspired by the major regions of China and its neighbouring countries, and most dishes are cooked in a northern-style Chinese wok at a 900-degree temperature, creating a “wok hay” or “breath of wok”, which brings a mix of unique smoky, caramelised flavours and crispy textures that can only be achieved using this age-old traditional technique.
The taste and presentation both are important, said Chang. “The flavour is very important and the texture too. Again the care we put into the detail about preparing our food, cutting it a certain way and we have very high standards for the kinds of things that we do,” he added.
“For the popular dishes, the recipe has not changed at all but our concept has evolved over the years because originally we were mostly Chinese and now we are more Asian. We have more South East Asian food now, Korean, Japanese, etcetera. We have integrated dishes from other parts of Asia but the majority of our dishes are still Chinese,” said the co-founder of the restaurant.  
Chiang explains the concept behind P.F. Chang’s as being a “casual bistro offering full service Asian-inspired dining that is innovative, fresh and delicious.”
The restaurant promises to be a perfect balance between Asian tradition and modern American style, with a focus on customer comfort, warm hospitality and service. In terms of décor, the restaurant is adorned with rich colours as well as wood and stone textures, giving it a warm and inviting feeling.
Those warm colours are complemented by distinct metal accents that provide a sleek and hip atmosphere. As the restaurant’s centrepiece, the panoramic, hand-painted mural, which depicts ancient China, is visible from the main dining room, while several terracotta warriors stand guard, commanding attention.
Today, P.F. Chang’s has spread across the world, with its Villaggio Mall branch joining a Middle Eastern roster of successful branches in Kuwait, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Manama, Jeddah, Beirut and Amman.
It’s been a great success story. The global Zagat restaurant survey voted P.F. Chang’s most popular among casual dining US restaurants in 2011, and the Nation’s Restaurant News Consumer Picks study named the bistro one of the top US restaurant chains in 2011. Regionally, P.F. Chang’s was ranked ‘Best Casual Dining Restaurant in Dubai’ for 2012 and 2013, and ‘Best Casual Dining Restaurant in Abu Dhabi’ for 2014 by Ahlan readers; as well as ‘Best Chinese Restaurant’ by BBC Good Food Dubai for 2012 and 2013.