Can China acquire the taste for American Chinese food?

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P.F. Chang's opened its first restaurant in Shanghai last month serving their menu with a twist. Even though in America it is a Chinese restaurant, in China P.F. Chang's is an "American Bistro."

“Our food is a perfect fit with the Chinese palette and the way China is headed," P.F. Chang’s CEO Michael Osanloo told CNBC. “I think there’s a dynamic in America where they want to have their taste buds challenged a little bit and that’s how it’s been in China recently, too.”

In China, the menu is considered to be more American-inspired than Chinese original, allowing PF Chang’s to market itself as American cuisine. It serves what Americans have basically always thought of as Chinese food.

P.F. Chang’s American Bistro just opened in Shanghai. / P.F. Chang's

The logo of P.F. Chang’s in Shanghai says “An American Bistro,” as opposed to the logo that reads “Asian Flavors” in the US.

Despite the difference in how the restaurants are being marketed, the menus and interiors are almost exactly the same.

So far it seems, diners in Shanghai even have similar taste buds to their Western counterparts. Since opening, the top three items on the menu in Shanghai have been three of the top four dishes in the US: Chang’s chicken, lettuce wraps, and dynamite shrimp.

Menus for the P.F. Chang’s American Bistro that just opened in Shanghai are pretty similar to those at U.S. locations of the restaurant chain. / P.F. Chang's

Is palate the same?

While Americans love Chinese food, Professor Yong Chen admits the dishes they crave the most are not really made in China. When we spoke to the professor of history at the University of California, Irvine, and author of “Chop Suey, USA: The Rise of Chinese Food in America” last fall he told us Chinese food served in America was created for a different palate.

“When Chinese restaurateurs started to carry their food to non-Chinese neighborhoods, they also modified it to make it more suitable to the taste of Americans,” Chen told CGTN Digital. “Over time, such modified dishes became a distinctive tradition itself, known as American Chinese food, which is found in areas that do not have a large Chinese community.”

P.F. Chang’s American Bistro just opened in Shanghai. / P.F. Chang's

Acquired taste

P.F. Chang's is not the first American Chinese restaurant to serve up a dish in China. In 2011, two American friends opened Fortune Cookie restaurant in Shanghai. While it built a reputation for quality food, friendly service and a hospitable dining room it closed in 2016.

Not everyone was a fan of Fortune Cookie's menu. American Chinese food certainly has its critics. Some say the food is too sweet, its sauces too thick and gloopy - a world away from the complex flavors of the vast array of foods found across China's mainland.

This is why P.F. Chang's is trying to win fans in China by introducing them to American dishes with Chinese characteristics.

With more than 300 restaurants in 23 locations worldwide and annual sales of over 1 billion US dollars, the restaurant is hoping Chinese consumers have acquired the taste.

P.F. Chang's plans to open an additional 14 to 16 restaurants globally by the end of 2018. As for continued expansion in China, Osanloo said P.F. Chang’s hopes to open at least 10 more locations in Shanghai in the coming years.

“Shanghai is a very cosmopolitan, big city with a great food scene,” Osanloo told CNBC. “I’m very optimistic that in the not too distant future, we will look back and say, ‘Wow, that was a great move, and now we have hundreds of restaurants in China!’”

(with inputs from news agencies)

(Cover photo: The Dynamite Shrimp (left) and P.F. Chang's chicken lettuce wraps are two of the restaurants most popular dishes in Shanghai, according to the company. / P.F. Chang's)