Sunshine Moon Peking Pub ~ Scottsdale, Arizona – What do you get when you cross P.F. Chang’s with a family-friendly neighborhood pub?

Answer:  The Sunshine Moon Peking Pub.

Dr. Julie Chandler and her husband, Rich Sullivan are the owners of Sunshine Moon Peking Pub.  Rich was one of the creators behind the P.F. Chang’s China Bistro concept and helped expand the P.F. Chang’s China Bistro concept into southern California, Colorado, Nevada and New Mexico.

Emilio Morales, head chef and partner in the restaurant, brings a long history of Asian cooking accomplishments, including Chef Partner at P.F. Chang’s, Director of Culinary for Pei Wei, and Chef Partner at Sen of Japan in Sag Harbor, NY. Chef Morales was most recently Director of Culinary for Fox Restaurant Concepts’ Sauce.

Scott Yanni, a partner in the restaurant, will manage the wine and cocktail program. Mr. Yanni brings with him an immense knowledge of wine and spirits developed over his career as the Operating Partner of Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse and Wine Bar in Scottsdale.

Rich Sullivan told us that the name of the restaurant came from the couple’s two-and-a-half-year-old daughter, who was pointing at objects in the sky. First she said “sun,” then “moon.” When she said, “sunshine moon,” he knew that he had the name of his restaurant.

We were recently invited to a “foodie bash”, at Sunshine Moon Peking Pub, hosted by Susie Timm of Girl Meats Fork (pictured left), and Kirti Dwivedi of Diya Marketing (pictured right) to sample this unique concept and fare.

Our evening started out with a nice Pinot Noir.  Just as we began to take our first sip, out from the kitchen came a wave of food which included: the best Chicken Wings ever, Veggie Spring Rolls, Crab Wontons, and Bacon Wrapped Asparagus.  YUM!

Next, just to really mess with our minds, we continued with the Peking Pub Burger which was served on a steamed Brioche bun accompanied by grilled onions, kewpee mayonnaise, with a soft-fried egg on the burger!  Wow! That was good!

Next came samples of Orange Peel Chicken, Black Bean Chicken, Peppered Beef Crispy Noodles, and (pictured to the left) Chicken and Soft Noodles, wok-fried, topped with another soft-fried egg!  Holy wonderful melt-in-your-mouth goodness Batman!

Just as our eyes were about to roll back into our sockets from pure Asian culinary joy, accompanied by blood running north from our now tight belt-lines, out comes Fried Ice Cream and rainbow-colored Sherbet.   Well, I suppose a guy’s gotta have a-little-sumpin-sweet to polish off the palette…right?

To be honest, I had no idea what to expect as we walked into Sunshine Moon Peking Pub.  But this I can tell you from the bottom of my heart … if my wife wasn’t already half-way done cooking dinner, I’d load us up in the buggy and head south for some more of that Chicken and Soft Noodles with the egg on top!

A great casual place for dinner and we heartily recommend it!

Disclosure:  our wonderful dinner was provided by the really cool folks at Sunshine Moon Peking Pub.  Thanks!