Hit or Miss: Pei Wei Asian Diner

For those who aren't aware, Pei Wei Asian Diner is the younger, fast-casual sibling of P.F. Chang's. Most vegans know that P.F.'s has some pretty safe choices, and we all appreciate that they have a section of their kitchen (at most locations) that is a designated meat-free zone. I find it surprising then, that so few vegans and vegetarians know about Pei Wei.

Pei Wei is an order at the counter and have your food brought to you type of place, so it's much cheaper than P.F.'s. All the menu items can be ordered with either chicken, beef, or tofu and veggies. The items that are vegetarian when ordered with tofu and veggies have a leaf next to them on the menu so they stand out to us herbivores. I'd be careful about some of the sauces as they may contain contain honey.

My go-to at Pei Wei for a long time was the Spicy Korean, which features garlic, mushrooms, onions, carrots, long beans, toasted sesame seeds and of course tofu in a Korean hot pepper sauce. Usually when a place calls something spicy, I scoff, but this is the truth. If you're sensitive to spicy foods I would look to other items.

Pei Wei recently made a few minor menu tweaks, which brought some good news and some bad news. My beloved Blazing Noodles dish disappeared, but up popped the Thai Dynamite, and the latter is my new favorite. Sriracha chile sauce, soy, fresh lime, scallions, red bell peppers, carrots, Thai basil, broccoli, long beans and tofu combine in a citrusy spicy explosion that can't be beat. I mean, who doesn't love tofu and Sriracha?

Pei Wei keeps it real with a brown rice option and the portion for under $8 could easily be split between two people, or make a nice leftover meal. I like my tofu, so I usually end up devouring the whole thing in one sitting, but I've known many who make two meals out of PW's large serving size.

Delicious tofu, brown rice, spicy goodness and a huge portion for under eight bucks? For this I'm obviously giving Pei Wei a HIT rating.

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