An Asian Diner Delight

Many people probably aren't familiar with Pei Wei, which is too bad because you're missing out! Pei Wei is owned by the same company who started P.F. Chang's and serves similar food but offers a more casual dining experience. While the menu isn't quite as broad as P.F. Chang's, Pei Wei still offers many of the popular items from the P.F. Chang's menu and they also feature lower prices and little wait time.

When I first heard about Pei Wei, I must admit I was quite skeptical. When I think of quick service asian restaurants, I come up with images of places like Hibachi Express, Panda Express, and other mall restuarants serving their numerous versions of teriyaki chicken. However, after eating many times at a couple different locations, I'm happy to say Pei Wei is quite a few steps above any of those places in virtually every way.

I haven't tried everything on the Pei Wei menu, but I do feel like I've tried enough of their menu to offer a reasonably informed opinion on the food they serve. As for appetizers, there are a couple different choices I would be happy to have every day of the week. I love their lettuce wraps with minced chicken as well as their crab wontons with duck sauce. The lettuce wraps are a popular menu item at P.F. Chang's, but at Pei Wei you can enjoy the same flavors without having to wait an hour to get a table and they are $1.50 less expensive! And the crab wontons are $3 cheaper!

If I ever decide to skip the appetizers, it's not a big deal because there are plenty of great entree choices that offer large portions. The noodle bowls are excellent, and I especially enjoy the Chicken Pad Thai bowl and the Chicken Lo Mein bowl. You can pick from chicken, beef, shrimp, or vegetables to put in the different bowls, but I usually prefer chicken as my meat of choice in Asian cuisine. The amount of food offered in the bowls is plenty for two people to share, or a good choice if you want to take home leftovers for another couple meals. Not bad when two people can share a meal for about $8.

Pei Wei also features a section on the menu called "Signature Dishes," which I'm guessing are the popular entree items offered at P.F. Chang's. These dishes offer a good combination of thai, chinese, japanese, and korean cuisine, along with a good mix of spicy and mild variety. I've tried the Honey Seared Chicken and the Mongolian Beef and enjoyed both. These dishes come with either brown or white rice and the concept is similar to P.F. Chang's in that they are big enough for one person or you could order a few dishes with a group and share all of them.

When I look for a good restaurant, I want to find a place where I enjoy the food and I feel like I'm getting what I pay for. While P.F. Chang's is a restaurant I love to eat at, it's a place that is normally in my budget. If my wife and I go to P.F. Chang's, we can get a great meal but it'll probably cost us about $30. When we go to Pei Wei, we can get a great meal with similar food and it'll cost us half the amount. Pei Wei is a place where I love the food, love the convenience, and love the value.

PS. Their fortune cookies are great!

The Award Goes To...

Mirror, mirror, on the wall, which is the fairest Disney park of all? Is it the Magic Kingdom, where you can venture into places like Tomorrowland, Adventureland, Frontierland, and others? Could it be the Animal Kingdom, where you can experience thrilling rides and then watch beautiful animals in what feels like an African wildlife reserve? What about Epcot, where you can experience cultures and cuisine from around the world? Or maybe it's the Hollywood Studios, with it's thrilling rides and rich history of cinema and entertainment.

As someone who has been fortunate enough to attend all four Disney parks, I can genuinely say that I really enjoy all four of them. I've been coming to Disney my entire life, and I have probably changed my mind about which park is my favorite as many times as I've been to the parks. I wouldn't consider myself to be a person who absolutely adores anything and everything Disney, but I always look forward to any opportunity to visit any of the parks, even if it's crowded or bad weather or both. I've been to the parks with my family on vacation, with friends for a night of hanging out, on romantic dates with my wife, and I've gone by myself - and I always have a great time no matter who I'm with - although some more than others.

I truly believe that each of the parks has something that everyone can enjoy. Whether it's exciting rides like Splash Mountain at the Magic Kingdom or Expedition Everest at Animal Kingdom, you can find thrills at each of the four parks. Maybe you're looking for fun interactive shows, like Turtle Talk with Krush at Epcot or The Indiana Jones Stunt Show at Univerisal Studios. Or perhaps you want to go to a park where you can enjoy the food, which all of the parks have plenty of great options for quick service or more formal dining. I guess the only thing the parks don't really offer are rides that will scare you to death and leave you in pain and feel like you should go throw up - but if that's what you're looking for, find a different park because Disney isn't really looking to provide that kind of experience. If you are looking for something like that, I'll throw in my recommendation for Islands of Adventure at Universal - leave Six Flags over anything for the rednecks and thugs.

Now, onto my answer to the question I originally posed, what's the best park? While I understand it's a matter of opinion and people enjoy different aspects of each park, my personal favorite is Epcot. At one point in my life, I think Epcot was my least favorite of the four parks because I felt like there was nothing to do and there weren't any great rides. Now that I've gotten older and I have different things I want to enjoy, Epcot has many of the things that really appeal to me.

For me, Epcot features the best ride out of all the Disney parks, which is Soarin'. Soarin' is a simulated glider where you feel like you're flying through various scenes in California, and the ride does a great job of appealing to various senses to provide an awesome experience. I've ridden Soarin' enough times to know all of the scenes and what will happen, but I still look forward to when I'm next in line to buckle up for the flight. It may not be the fast-paced thrilling experience you get with Rockin' Rollercoaster or Everest, but it's still my favorite.

The other key for me that puts Epcot at the head of the class is the numerous dining options that are offered. I can find a great meal for a decent price in The Land, where much of the food is grown on location, or I can sample the food from the various countries featured around the World Showcase Lagoon. Although I don't have budget for it, I would love to be able to eat in all the restaurants in the countries at Epcot. If I'm looking for a fancy meal, I have options like Le Cellier Steakhouse in Canada, Tutto Italia in Italy, or a number of other great restaurants. If I want something quick, I could head to the Yorkshire County Fish Shop in England or the Fife and Drum Tavern in America. And if I'm needing something sweet, there's my favorite French bakery Boulangerie Patisserie, which holds a special place in my heart. If you can't tell, food is a big part of the experience for me.

Finally, I always enjoy the nightcap at Epcot, which is the fireworks show, Illuminations. While it's probably not my favorite show (Wishes wins by default since I did propose there), I really enjoy the setting at Epcot, the music, and the actual fireworks. It's cool to watch fireworks over the water with the combination of the countries lighting up at various points throughout the show. I could be biased, but I think Disney has this whole fireworks thing figured out.

Like I said, my opinion on why Epcot is the best park could be countered by someone else who has ten different points on why Animal Kingdom, Magic Kingdom, or Hollywood Studios is the best Disney park. My hope is that when people come to Disney, they take advantage of every opportunity offered and they find things that make each park a great experience for people of all ages.

-BD

An Unhappy Ending...

I will admit that I am not a diehard Orlando Magic fan and I'm probably not as disappointed in last night's loss as much as many Orlando fans are. Yet, since they drafted J.J. Redick and I've followed Dwight Howard more and more, I have become a bigger Magic fan. Usually, I will watch part of their games when they're on television and I'll read the postgame recaps online, but I've never been to a game in person, and I've had plenty of opportunities. Still, if there's a team that I'm pulling for most to win an NBA Championship, it'd be Orlando.

However, after following this team throughout the season and especially the playoffs, I'm thinking that I won't be able to pull for them in a championship series because I don't think they'll make it that far. If there has been a more inconsistent team in the playoffs this year, I don't think I've seen them. And while Orlando is unbelievably streaky and inconsistent during games, it's remarkable how consistent they are in giving up big leads.

Last night, when they had a 10 point lead with about 5 minutes to go, I figured they were in good shape to pull out the victory. I am a believer in the statistical probability aspect of the game where if a team has a lead that is equal to the amount of minutes left in the game, their probability of winning is around 80%. Therefore, even if the Magic had only been up five points with five minutes to go, I still would have thought they'd have a great chance at winning the game. The reasoning behind this probability is that the lead is too great and there is not enough time left for the trailing team to get enough defensive stops and have enough offensive opportunities to win the game. Unfortunately, Stan Van Gundy and Hedo Turkoglu cause me to constantly question my belief in those statistical probabilities because they always seem to lose the lead at an unbelievable rate.

I really don't know what the thinking was behind the Orlando offense in the last five minutes of that game, not that it really matters whether or not I know or understand. If the idea was to run the clock out, then why where they hoisting 3's with more than ten seconds on the shot clock? If the idea was to attack, why weren't they moving the ball around and creating open perimeter looks by giving the ball to Dwight Howard inside? Either way, turnovers and taking quick contested shots is the easiest way to lose momentum and a comfortable lead.

Last night was an example of a team that has plenty of talent, but they don't have an experienced leader who has been in those situations before. Rashard Lewis and Dwight Howard are great, but neither of them have been very far in the playoffs. Hedo Turkoglu thinks he's great, and he's been there with the Kings - but Hedo has the wonderful European characteristic of losing control on a drive and then blaming the officials for his own mistakes. And Stan Van Gundy...bless his heart. I like Van Gundy and I want him to succeed, but he seems the most panicked when his team struggles at the end of games. It's ironic that Shaq's comments about him earlier in the year related to his team choking at the end of games when it really matters and now that might spell the end of the season for Orlando.

I'll continue to hold out hope because this series is not over. The two teams return to Orlando for game six and the Magic have been strong at home this season. I thought last night's game was a must win for Orlando because I don't see them returning to Boston and winning game seven, but if these guys can get on a consistent hot streak, they're definitely good enough to win two in a row against the Celtics.

-BD