Pei Wei Asian Diner

I decided to truck it through the snow to Pei Wei Asian Diner in St. Louis Park. I hadn't had Thai food in what seemed like years and was eager for some curry!

Pei Wei was almost exactly like Noodles & Company, but the Asian version! I couldn't believe I hadn't heard of this chain until seeing it on Urbanspoon. The atmosphere was fun and quite busy for being a snowy night. The waitstaff was helpful, but I realized that there was a drive-through (!) and wished I had seen that before going through the trouble of parking, etc.

I ordered the Thai Coconut Curry with vegetables and tofu (we use green curry with coconut milk to give this dish a nice, velvety texture and a smooth curry kick. Fresh ginger, Thai basil, red bell peppers, onions and long beans combine to give this dish wonderful flavor). I was impressed that they offered brown rice (healthy me ordered it!) and tons of vegetables. The tofu was tasty, but different then any other tofu I'd ever seen. It had dark edges and was long and flat, similar to lasagna-type noodles.

I asked for my dish to be prepared extra spicy and while it had some kick, I was definitely disappointed with the lack of burning lips!

This would be a cute place to meet a friend or bring a date and is definitely reasonable with most dishes under $8.

Decor: trendy

Price: cheap (under $10)

Spice level: blah

For more information:

Pei Wei Asian Diner
5330 Cedar Lake Road
St. Louis Park, MN 55416

www.peiwei.com