Sunshine Moon Peking Pub

The Peking Pub offers nothing special. The food was fine. The atmosphere was slow. Also, when I ordered my meal and the waitress asked if I wanted white or brown rice, I asked if I could have fried rice. She said «yes»… but neglected to mention there would be a $ 12 charge! Drinks were overpriced. Meal was expensive. I see no reason to return.

What happened to this place? The food was good and seemed to have passionate folks who worked there.
What a shame! I think many were only just discovering it.

I had a great dinner on Friday night, but must give my review with a caveat. The restaurant was offering a deal as a fundraiser for Japanese relief, so we ordered from the specialty menu, which was different from the regular menu.
First, great bartender (Casey?) and great drinks. He made a great cocktail with sweet tea vodka, very summery, not too sweet, and recommended a great wine for dinner.
For dinner, we started with edamame (hard to screw up, and they didn’t), then had a five-​course menu for $ 20 — just a ridiculous deal. Miso soup, cucumber salad in vinaigrette, stuffed squash blossoms with cream cheese and seafood, battered and deep fried, then garnished with caviar. Just incredible! Fourth course was seared, thin-​sliced ahi and the final course was a marinated bass, very tender, perfectly cooked.
Great, friendly service. I was surprised how empty it was for a Friday night. The regular menu looked tasty (which is why I went in the first place, but the fixed menu was too good a deal to pass up) and the prices seemed reasonable. I will definitely try it again — seems like a great spot to sneak into when the rest of Old Town is packed.

First impression, the place looked really nice. It smelled authentically Chinese too.
But ultimately it’s about the food and that’s why it gets 2 stars. Small portions, high prices and frankly, weak food with poor service are a bad combo.
The Kung Pao was unlike any I’ve had before. Hard, small, dry, fried bits of chicken with some peanuts and a half pound of dried red peppers with no sauce and no veggies was somethng I’d not like to have again.
The black bean chicken, had no veggies and the sauce was thick and gelatinous; almost slimy. In fact it was so gelatinous, after a few minutes it actually acquired the semi-​solid jiggle of actual Jello.
It should be called corn starch chicken, not black bean chicken.
The service was uncomfortable and odd. It was a farily dead Sunday afternoon, yet the bartender dropped and broke three items at 3 different times while we were there.
Someone, a manager looking guy, was yelling from the kitchen to the bar (all the tables are located in between there) asking who had his Sharpie.
My daughter asked if she could substitute plain noodles for rice with her kids meal and the waiter just said «No.» Then later he mumbled some comment about «everything being pre-​portioned»
Pre-​portioned? Is this just microwave food? A Chinese place that doesn’t have any «unpackaged» noodles?
At $ 55 for 2 chicken entrees, 2 dinky kids meals and 2 iced teas with nothing else, I was robbed!
Then my biggest pet peeve– the 20 minute disappearing act after they cleared our plates and we confirmed we didn’t want anything else. Meanwhile the waiter walked around looking busy and doing nothing while avoiding eye contact and not giving us our check.
Honestly, It just made me crave some superior Chinese fare, along the likes of Panda Express.
Pei Wei and Changs? You can laugh this challenge off.

Still the best! Stopped in for a Sunday evening dinner with friends and it was a great time! Portions were generous, served hot and very tasty!!! Pass up Sunshine Moon at your own risk! This place rocks!
Tonight the service really made it a great experience! Thank you Sunshine Moon Peking Pub!

Bacon wrapped asparagus & Tito’s vodka!
This place is a win all the way. I cannot say much more at this point other than go there, tell them what you like & they will make it happen.
This is the best undiscovered placed in Old Town. Go, get some food, & enjoy the fabulousnous of it.

As a lover of all Asian food I was so looking forward to a great meal. I am yet to be disappointed by any Groupon that I bought, but boy was I not expecting such a disappointment
First off, I’ll give SMPP props for the nice décor (hence the 1 star) but thats about all i have positive to say
The hostess had no idea if it was still lunch hour and neither did the server (isn’t that their job?).
The waitress openly admitted she had not tried most of the food and had trouble recommending any dishes (note to servers… lie to your patrons that you think something is good and make a recommendation!) Not sure if she was new but she was terrible.
Onto the food…
–the potstickers where nothing to write home about… you only get 4 and for the price it was not worth it
–the mongolian beef tasted like donkey… I hate to say it but Panda Express is a 5 star restaurant compared to this shit
–the peking pub burger was ok… but really if a burger is the best thing you can make at a chinese restaurant… convert yourself to a burger joint
–the best part to me was hearing a microwave beep and seeing the serving go grab our brown rice out of it! I could tell it was right from trader joes.
Bottom line, what a HUGE WASTE OF MONEY AND CALORIES!

My review rating is somewhere between eww me thinks not and meh I’ve experienced better.
The layout is fine. Nothing special although the chair I was sitting in was super rickety, I don’t know if it was part of the ambiance or just an old chair. I told the hostess I was waiting for a friend and she attempted to seat me in the rear of the restaurant. I don’t know if it was a lack of fore thought or a race thing, but if there are gobs of empty tables and I am waiting for someone, why sit me in the back where she might not be able to find me.
My friend and I just went for appetizers. We ordered spring rolls, won ton soup and cucumber salad.
At no time was there an offer for tea. Most asian restaurants especially with the vibe this place was giving off like it wanted to be reminiscent of the Chinese Restaurants back east where you are loaded up with all the crispy fried noodles you can eat and some smooth black tea. We just had our water refreshed regularly which was nice, but nothing special.
We received the spring rolls assuming that they weren’t fried, they were. As a matter of fact all of the appetizers were fried. And the spring rolls were pretty much soaked in oil, maybe they just weren’t fried long enough.
The won ton soup was good, The cucumber salad was refreshing, but nothing we ate stood out and said I MUST come back here for this item.
The prices weren’t that great either. 6 dollars for the regular sized bowl of won ton soup. and 10 for the large… Its broth, chicken and essentially a piece of pasta.
Maybe if they dropped the prices reconsidered the appetizer offerings I would return but for now I have no plans to frequent SMPP

Love this place. I continue to return and enjoy trying something new each time. The vibe of the restaurant is comfortable and allows one to feel at home. Love the different range of the music that plays in the background. Yes, finally Old Town Scottsdale has given me a restaurant that I can be comfortable stopping by and having a bite to eat by myself.

I really wanted to like this place since I love 5^th & Wine. What a disappointment. The Shrimp Dumplings were so average and $ 10 for 4, is a little steep. The place was not even fun, so I didn’t even finish my glass of wine and we decided to go somewhere else.

Went here on Saturday night (²⁄₁₉), and I was not impressed, but also not super disappointed. The service was just OK, and the food was meh… just average for Americanized Chinese food. I used a Groupon there, so I don’t feel so bad.
After arriving, they had just finished a big turn, so while there were only 7 tables occupied, we had to wait about 5 minutes to be seated… no biggie. After being seated we perused the menu, and noticed that nothing really stuck out, and the prices were just a bit high for some items. Fried rice is $ 12. Chow Mein is $ 13. They aren’t astronomical (like the places on the Strip in Vegas), but usually these staple items are around $ 8 – 10, unless you put shrimp in them (here shrimp is an extra $ 3).
We went with Sweet and Sour Chicken ($ 12), Generals Chicken ($ 13), and garlic snap peas ($ 7). The sweet and sour was good, but nothing special. My wife noted the use of canned pineapple. The generals chicken was good… pretty spicy, but again, nothing that blew me away. The garlic snap peas were very oily, and there was barely any garlic. Luckily I really like snap peas, but I seriously couldn’t taste the garlic at all… just oil and peas. If someone is ordering a dish that has garlic in the name, they are expecting a lot of garlic… this had very little. The dish was big though, so props to them on that.
The fried won ton strips you get when you sit down are good. Our server said she would bring more, but never did. Not that it mattered… we were so hungry that we would have eaten anything, and why we ate everything they put in front of us. The other issue was the rice. The server informed us upon ordering that they were out of white steamed rice. They only had brown rice. Both my wife and I don’t care what kind of rice we get… we usually order one of each. But we were there for a full 60 minutes. You would think that they would have cooked some up in that amount of time. I have worked at a Japanese teriyaki joint before, and rice only takes about 45 minutes. So if they were truly out of white rice (meaning the restaurant didn’t have any more in house), then they need to take someone from the kitchen (dishwasher) or host, and send them to Fry’s or Basha’s to get some rice to cook for the rest of dinner service.
So overall, they didn’t give me a great reason to go back. I have some of my other favorite Chinese joints in town, and I will probably just go back to them for the time being. If they put something truly revolutionary on the menu, I might pop back in. But for now, it just seemed similar to the typical Americanized Chinese joint. Might be fancier on the inside, but not any better.

The ambiance at the restaurant was great.
I was a little disappointed with the mushroom purse, but that was probably because I was expecting something totally different.
My favorite was the kung pao shrimp. Perfectly battered and well seasoned!

Took my best girlfriends to SMPP last night for our Girls’ Night Out and we had a blast! It was their first time and all 3 were very impressed. We love 5^th and Wine and I knew they would love SMPP just as much since it’s owned and operated by the same fantastic people! We had a Groupon which was taken with a smile as well.
Our server was friendly, fun, and took our GNO behavior like a pro. :) He nearly became part of our family by the time we left.
The food, in a word, was just spectacular. We had the Crab Wontons and the Vegetable Spring Rolls to start. Both had interesting and appropriate dipping sauces We always eat Family Style so we shared the Mongolian Beef, Shrimp in Lobster Sauce, Soft Noodle/​Fried Egg and the Kung Pao Shrimp. I wasn’t sure about the Soft Noodle/​Fried Egg because it just seemed strange, but it was absolutely heavenly. Everything was perfectly made. The shrimp seemed to snap when you bite into them. The Kung Pao was spicy without being overpowering. The Shrimp in Lobster Sauce was decadent. The Mongolian Beef was tender and perfectly seasoned. Everything just tasted FRESH. Clearly the ingredients hadn’t been sitting around and nothing had been premade or had sat under a heat lamp. Everything was nicely seasoned with a nice mixture of flavors without being overpowering.
We topped off the meal with the Tempura Fried Ice Cream and the Peanut Butter Chocolate Mousse. We loved both equally and they were perfect endings to a really great meal.
Can’t wait to go back again and bring more friends to this jewel. Thank you for a fun, fabulous experience!

Food is so delicious! Service was fantasic! Wings are surprisingly amazing. Loved the Kung Pao Scallops the best!

I heard from a few friends at work about this place, so I wanted to give it a try. First out the atmosphere is great, very modern, very open. The staff was fantastic, hostess, bar tender, server, and even the manager stopped by to see how we were doing!
The food arrived quickly and looked amazing! We all ordered something different and all the dishes were delicious! So yes, good food, great place, I would highly recommend!
The only thing I’d like to see added is a good happy hour menu!

Sunshine Moon Peking Pub — say it real fast and it might sound like you’re speaking Chinese :) I can’t say this is authentic cause my mom would kick my ass. However, I must admit the food here is pretty good. I had their special of the night Seabass dish — Yum and done right! I can’t say their appetizers were to die for but I’ll live. The other dishes we ordered were your typical Asian-​American fusion cuisine — Mongolian Beef and General Tso Chicken — Who is General Tso? Anyways, the ambience is pretty relaxing and chill. Chinese writings on the pillars… well maybe they ripped some random pages from a book and started writing — «it make sense no» Service was great our waiter was kicking butt and kung paoing along the way — whatever that means — Enjoy!

Just another Asian restaurant. The food was good, but nothing spectacular. My husband and I commented on how the food was very PF Chang’s-esk. If this is truely a PF Chang’s concept restaurant, then I would have to say the food was predictable. If this is just owned by a former PF Chang’s associate, then I would say the food was unoriginal.
During our visit, something strange happended. I ordered white rice with my meal and received brown rice. Which is fine… no biggie. Immediately the kitchen noticed and brought me some nice white rice, but in a to-​go container. Weird? We were just starting our meal and we get our rice served to us in a to-​go container? Random to-​go container living on our table for the entire meal as if it were bidding us a fond fairwell. Thankfully we had leftovers and could use this random to-​go container, saving our friendly server a trip to her wait station.
The restaurant was nice, the décor was nice, but we’ve seen this a 1000 times. Cookie cutter upscale chain food that’s available at every mall in America; dressed as a smaller, hipper version of what we already know so well. The menu was smaller than the big-​shot chain up the street, yet it seems the distinguishing factor may have been three sandwiches added to the menu. Was this their qualifying factor for the use of the term Pub?
Don’t get me wrong, the restaurant was comfortable, the food was good, and the beer was fresh. If you like a chain style version of Asian with a scaled down menu, then this could be your new favorite place to eat. Myself, I’m not impressed. I would say the food was boring and predictible.

Is it illegal to have good Chinese good in Arizona? We went tonight having high hopes of having high quality, fresh Chinese food and we were sorely disappointed.:(
We opened our take out bag and the white rice had been left off of the order… we were going to give them a pass for that… but on the flavor issue… there are no excuses…
The Peeking Dumplings were wilted and flavorless. The sauce that went with them could not revive them. The Chinese mustard was in little packets and had no heat… Viagra needed:(!
The Mongolian Beef was so salty it tasted processed.
The snap peas were stringy and overcooked.
The General Chow’s Chicken… it tasted old like it was off an all you can eat buffet.
Honestly…Panda Express is better… as least you know what to expect in a mall food court.
It wasn’t cheap… and I’m not a food volume person but the portions were small… I was fine with it because who would want more of this plate of shame!
I hope they can get there act together… but I fear the owner may be in over his head…
Isn’t there a Chinese Chef in town who needs a job!

«You are an artistic person — let your colors show.»
That’s what my fortune cookie said during my first meal at Sunshine Moon Peking Pub the other night. I say «first meal» because I know there will be more… (and hopefully better fortunes than that one too!)
Rich and his team did a great job renovating this restaurant where Bacon used to reside. It’s now got a cool Asian vibe while still casual and welcoming. Service (from Kelly and James) was friendly and attentive.
We took their recommendations and ordered the following:
*Veggie Spring Rolls
*Chilled Cucumber Salad
*Soft Noodles (with Chicken and a fried egg)
*Mushroom Purse
*Shrimp in Lobster Sauce
I know… that’s a lot of food for two people, right?!
Well, it sure was but we were hungry, and we did pretty well with it. We polished off the spring rolls, cucumber salad, and mushroom purse and ended up taking home leftovers of the soft noodles and shrimp.
I really enjoyed the spring rolls and cucumber salad; I probably could’ve made a meal on those two menu items alone! I also liked the mushroom purse — it includes all kinds of funky mushrooms prepared in what I think was a paper «purse» of some sort. I tasted ginger with the mushrooms, which is a good thing if you’re like me and like ginger! I love the concept of the soft noodles with a fried egg on top — everything is better with an egg on it! This dish was lacking a bit of zing, but we added hot chile sauce to it and that did the trick. The shrimp was tasty but similar to every other «shrimp in lobster sauce» dish I’ve had in the past.
The one thing I’d like to see added to SMPP’s menu is eggplant; I’m a huge eggplant fan and order it pretty much where ever I go! Regardless, even without eggplant, I’m really happy to have another Chinese option close to home.
SMPP is currently open for dinner six days a week (they are closed on Mondays). They plan on opening for lunch in 2011.
Oh… and the point of me starting this review with my fortune? There was none; just wanted to share. Feel free to share yours too!

Drove by this place and hadn’t seen it before so a couple nights later we decided to go check it out… I did a little internet research and found out it’s a PF Cheng’s restaurant concept so I was a little nervous because I’m not a fan of big chain stuff be decided to give it a shot. Super impressed, they’re newly opened so there was a lot of staff there but everyone was super friendly, nice and gave great suggestions!
We started with cocktails-​honestly I can’t remember the name of the one I had but it was amazing, very refreshing and smooth. As for dinner I typically like to do the appetizer samplers at new places and see if I like those and then if I do I’ll come back again and do the main course… the coconut shrimp are to die for along with the peking ravioli. We shared the kids sweet chicken dish (just like PF’s but still yummy) and then we had the twice wok’d noodles with chicken… Delicious! I already know what I want to try when I go back-​the noodle soup :)
Price was reasonable with a cocktail involved and I will definitely be back. I loved the atmosphere, it’s like the whole in the wall chinese restaurants you’d go to with your parents as kids without the whole in the wall feel… despite the chain affiliation-lol-I’m a fan but don’t tell anyone ;) haha