Talking Fork

So the great Asian fusion battle begins.

In one corner you have the veteran P.F Chang and the gang and in the other - the upstart Mamma Fu. Sitting just doors away from each other in Dubai Festival City you can expect more fire works than DSF and Chinese New Year put together.

First up, the ultimate battle of the starters: Dynamite Shrimp.

Chang has this down pat so it's going to have to be extremely good to beat it, alas at 40 dirhams and about half the size it's falls short in the value stakes, taste wise it also doesn't exceed, it's good but not better and far too small. So Chang wins...(in Street Fighter voice).

Next up the Crab Rangoon, this was a real surprise packet of crab and cheese with a nice little crunch and the sweet chili sauce definitely added something different, leveling the score 1 all.

Moving on to the Kung Pao Chicken and it's a tough one because it was good and definitely had a real Sichuan kick but is it enough to kick Chang from the pedestal? Bottom line; it was good with plenty of peanuts and crunchy veg and brown rice and the chicken was cooked pretty darn well. For some reason though it just felt like Chang’s had the edge.

As for the Lo Mein it was good but with a very small portion of (beautifully cooked) beef it’s a little pricey. This probably brings back the score to an even 2/2.

So if the cuisine scores are basically even what is the defining difference? The service.
Everyone at Mamma Fu's was excellent, welcoming and knowledgeable about the menu. You can tell that they care and that they know what they're doing.

This is worth an extra point every time.

Was the food better? Probably not by a slim margin but overall it was still a great lunch time meal with good service and that's what you're always looking for.

So was it really a battle, is it even fair to compare? Well kind of, there's a few shared menu items and both are mall based fusion Asian cuisine, seems like where one is strong the other is slightly weaker and they do have some core differences with the menu offering. P.F Chang's is definitely trying to take the high road while Mamma Fu's is going for a slightly more funky, streetwise approach.

Both are good for what they are and have their plus points, I'm sure its a case of personal preference.