RESTAURANT REVIEW: New Pei Wei in Little Rock off to wokky start

Pei Wei Asian Diner has come a long "wei" in Little Rock.

Ten years since it opened at the Midtowne Little Rock shopping center, the fast-casual Asian offshoot of P.F. Chang's is still going strong. And a second location opened farther west in the Promenade at Chenal shopping center in October, just in time for holiday shopping crowds in need of a quick, zesty bite.

The menu has expanded since we last visited the chain known for its various "Wok Classics" of chicken, steak, shrimp or vegetables and tofu served with rice or noodles (a quinoa blend is now available). Pei Wei now also serves hand-rolled sushi, as well as several new noodle bowls.

The Promenade location is more spacious and inviting than its older Midtowne counterpart, where diners can often feel on top of one another.

But based on three recent visits -- two dine-in and one carryout -- the new outlet, while promising, still has a "wei" to go.

Diners can order at the counter and have their food brought to them at tables (however, they'll pick up their own napkins, forks, fortune cookies, etc.; soft drinks dispense from two Coca-Cola Freestyle machines, although one was always out of order). Or they can order meals via phone or app and pick up to go.

Three words of advice: Avoid the sushi.

After sampling a dry, lifeless Spicy Tuna Roll ($3.99 for four pieces, $7.49 for eight pieces) that was too cold to have been freshly made, we're not likely to try any of the other rolls (Mango California, Teriyaki Crunch, Wasabi Crunch and Kung Pao Shrimp). It's on par with the supermarket stuff.

One takeout dinner was off. The food was packaged and ready to go when we arrived. But we would have returned one dish if we had dined in.

We expected the new Japanese Steak & Shrimp Chile Ramen ($9.99), with noodles tossed in a Japanese sauce with garlic, onion, carrots, scallions, cilantro and lime, would be fiery by the little flame icon next to it. But we didn't expect it would be inedible. It was as if someone dropped a container of red pepper flakes into the dish.

Interestingly enough, the Blazing Bangkok Peanut Noodles ($8.49), which also had a flame icon and a hot-sounding name, was on the mild side. The noodles, with chicken, Thai chile peanut sauce, ginger, red bell peppers, onion, Swiss chard, garlic, chile paste, Thai basil and peanuts, didn't have much pizzazz (though a squirt of lime helped) and it was quick to get gummy.

One dine-in visit was a bit off too, from a service perspective. We might have guessed that our entire order -- Crispy Potstickers, a cup of Thai Wonton Soup, Teriyaki Steak with noodles and a Thai Dynamite Chicken with white rice -- would all come at the same time. But the server was clumsy, calling dishes by the wrong names while indelicately placing items on the table, and -- ew! -- putting fingers in the serving dishes. The same employee also was quick to clear dishes away without checking first.

We liked the potstickers ($2.19 for two, $3.99 for four, $5.99 for six), fried pockets of pork with notes of ginger and scallion, served with a salty dipping sauce. But they sort of got lost when all the food arrived at once. We should know by now that "appetizers" don't really exist at fast-casual restaurants. In fact, Pei Wei categorizes them and items like a new Edamame Hummus, egg rolls, spring rolls, lettuce wraps and soups under the heading of "Small Plates and Shareables."

Also arriving at the same time was the Thai Wonton Soup ($2.49 cup, $4.29). Flavors of Thai basil and lemongrass redeemed the soup that didn't look like much -- broth with bunches of floating shrubbery (including spinach) and the occasional mushy chicken dumpling. My first thought: If President-elect Donald Trump wishes to drain the swamp, he might start with this soup.

My Thai Dynamite Chicken ($6.99 small, $8.99 regular) was a pleasing portion of chicken with carrot shreds, red pepper slices and scallions in a Sriracha chile soy sauce with a hint of Thai basil. More plentiful was the heap of white rice (brown is another option, as are lettuce cups and salad; fried rice or noodles are a 99-cent upgrade).

My date was delighted with his sesame-seed-studded Teriyaki Steak ($7.49 small, $9.99 regular), slices of sweet-soy-glazed beef with a colorful array of onions, Napa cabbage, carrots and spinach that he ordered with noodles (99 cents).

At the dine-in lunch during which I suffered through the sushi, a friend tried the Korean Spicy Tofu ($6.99 small, $8.99 regular) with quinoa (99 cents). She reports: "Strangely, the star was the quinoa, which had a lovely grilled flavor and was packed with carrots and edamame. The tofu was OK, but not spicy in the least, and filled with huge pieces of green onions that ended up stacked on the side of my plate."

Thanks to being members of the eatery's My Wei Rewards loyalty program, we were each the recipient of a free individually wrapped cookie (choices: chocolate chip and Snickerdoodle, usually 99 cents). The chocolate chip was substantial, even if it lacked that homemade buttery base. I probably would have been just as happy with a fortune cookie, and those are always free.

Weekend on 12/08/2016