PF Chang’s Asian Table: ‘It takes me back to the Eat As Much As You Like Chinese Buffet’ – restaurant review | Felicity Cloake

Most of the staff have the crepuscular air of people reluctantly working out their notice in purgatory

In its US homeland, the “casual dining” chain PF Chang’s is the kind of restaurant the real housewives of New Jersey might end up in after a hard day at the shops, for its dependable roster of Chinese-American classics, cocktails and New York cheesecake (intelligence suggests if you find yourself stranded in a high-end suburban mall in Chattanooga, you could do an awful lot worse). But for its first European outpost, Chang’s has chosen a central London location– a former jazz club on the edge of Chinatown – hired a Nobu-trained chef and a hip drinks consultancy, and added a breakfast menu and on-site bakery. Clearly they’re hoping to be more than just the place you go to argue over John Lewis curtain swatches.

Inside, there’s not a stone horse or Chinese lantern in sight; instead, the dining room has the carefully neutral glamour of a high-end airport restaurant – though, unlike any airport restaurant ever, it’s almost empty. Not that this makes it any easier to order; most of the staff (with the honourable exception of the charming woman on the door, whose springy enthusiasm may well stem from her proximity to an escape route) have the crepuscular air of people reluctantly working out their notice in purgatory.

Related: Harborne Kitchen, Birmingham B17: ‘This is a kitchen with ambition’ – restaurant review | Felicity Cloake