P. F. Chang's Asian Table comes to London

If you're from the United States, or indeed, if you've ever been there, there's a good chance you'll have heard of P. F. Chang's. It's an up-market restaurant chain, like Carluccio's (although clearly not Italian), and fairly ubiquitous across the USA. It's also big in Mexico, Brazil, Canada and – curiously enough – Beirut.

Five Guys and Shake Shack successfully managed to travel across the pond, now it's P. F. Chang's turn to make a foray into the UK. And their first London opening is, of all things, right next to Culture Whisper towers on Great Newport Street.

P. F. Chang's British off-shoot is in the hands of chef Deepak Kotian, who previously worked at Nobu, the famous Japanese restaurant group which opened it's Shoreditch venue last month. He's taking over a menu that includes Mongolian Beef, Orange Peel Lamp Chop and Fish and Lotus 'Chips', from a variety of inspirations.

Expect a South Asian menu boasting Brunch with an 'Asian Kick' (their words) that includes a Lobster Benedict (a toasted muffin topped with a herb lobster mix, poached-egg and house-made hollandaise) and a determination to 'change the whole dumpling game in London'.

Some of the more popular P.F. Chang's dishes will also be on the menu, meaning that Chang's Chicken Lettuce Wraps and Dynamite Shrimp will be on offer. Our favourite dish from the USA menu is the Chang's Lobster and Shrimp Rice (crisp pieces of lobster and shrimp with fresno peppers, shiitakes and egg), and we'll be interested to see whether that makes the grade and, if so, what Kotian does to it.

The sultry new venue has a fully-functioning cocktail lab on a bar that's lined with gold vinyl records, and a menu by cocktail consultants Fluid Movement. Expect to find fresh and light cocktails to complement the hotter dishes, and an attractive sounding in-house bakery so that wonton and dumplings may be prepared by hand, daily.

We can't wait to see how this staple of American life works in London. Fortunately, we'll be well placed to tell you how it goes!