Pei Wei's Big Adventure

Saturday Uncle Joe asked me if I had heard of a restaurant called Pei Wei. I had because a drug rep catered it in for us last year. Then yesterday I had a fabulous idea: go try it. I knew exactly where it was, and it was easy to find for us country folk so off we went after CassiJo and I got in from Sunday School.

We bribed the children into staying home so we could have a nice lunch alone with Subway. Gotta love Subway!!

We arrived at PeiWei and were lucky enough to get a parking spot on the front row. :o)

We were greeted just inside the door by a man serving samples of honey seared chicken; a very tasty little tidbit to get our appetites whetted.

If you have never been to Pei Wei here is the proper procedure. (do not vary from this procedure or their may be consequences. All the dear folks in line with us complied with all the protocol so no one was hurt during our dining experience. ) A line is formed from the door to the cash register where your order is placed before you are seated. The menu appears on panels in the line area. You are to review and select your food choices before arriving at the cash register. The cash register is attended by a Soup Nazi. Do not dillydally or lollygag while ordering. You are allowed one question. Answer quickly any question asked of you, pay and get on down the line and wait for your seating assignment. Take your seat and wait for your food. Do not make eye contact.

We were seated right by the fountain drink station. Something that later I appreciated.

I ordered Shrimp Thai Coconut Curry with fried rice. (wish i had gotten white sticky rice, but that guy at the register scared me!) Joe ordered Thai Blazing Noodles with Beef and for our appetizers (we went a little crazy) Lettuce Wraps and Crab Wontons. Our appetizers arrived minutes after we were seated and they were very tasty.

When our entree's arrived we admired them a minute before digging in. Mine was very pretty with all the red peppers and greenbeans and Joe's was very colorful as well with quartered tomatoes and carrots and lots of noodles with a reddish tint. After the first taste he realized the reddish tint was Hell Powder.

Now let me tell you UJ has a tough tongue and a palate for hot and spicy things. ;o) After several bites of these hot noodles UJ wiped his brow and commented how hot they were. I tasted of them and I must have had some noodles off the bottom or some that escaped the Hell Powder because mine were not that hot. Apparently the heat is a cumulative effect because with each bite the heat multiplied exponentially until I saw steam coming from Joe's ears and nose and sweat beading up on his brow. He took several bites of my dish to cool his palate(or jump up to the fountain drinks that we were seated near) and would bravely dig back into his Blazy Beefy Bowl until he had just had enough. He couldn't finish it. I was famished and totally ate every bite of mine save the extra rice. By the time we left both our stomachs were on fire. We were in need of something to cool them down, so after a short trip to Sam's Wholesale Club we stopped at a custard shop called Freckles and UJ chose a Chocolate Alley for us: Chocolate frozen custard with smashed Snickers topped with whipped cream and chocolate chips. Mmmmm very nice coolness for the tummies on fire. :o) I was driving so he fed me and didn't even get any on me. Way to go Joe!

So in conclusion: Pei Wei's is a great place. The prices were very reasonable and the food was tasty. I would love to go again and try my favorite Thai dish: Pad Thai. (I am pretty sure UJ is done with Thai Blazing Noodles too, wouldn't you agree?) We had a nice day out and came home for a rest before our nocturnal walk and the movie Vantage Point.

A very good day was had by the Joe's

Today my laboring efforts were extinguished when the carpet steamer we rented Saturday will not work. Great. Lesson #1...always check to make sure the unit is working BEFORE filling with water. Now I have to move all the furniture back into the living room from the kitchen. Yay. They better give me a really good deal to make up for this.

Have a great day! Take a nap! You deserve it........I think I will.