Pearl
Location:
207 Queens Quay West, Toronto
Cost: $50 for two
www.pearlharbourfront.ca
Unfortunately I don't have any pics of this experience...I did take one shot with my phone but that didn't do any good without a macro setting.
So, we were looking for a place to dine that wasn't pub fare and remembered this Chinese restaurant in the area that we'd never tried.
We were seated at a nice table with a lovely lake view but our server was a tad impatient while taking our order. We really wanted to try the crispy potato nest dishes (either chicken or shrimp) but were told that they weren't anything special, and so we asked him which dishes he recommended. As you know, I like spice, so his suggestions were the chicken in a homemade hot n sour sauce ($15.50) and the Country Style E-Mein (soft) noodles with chicken, shrimp, scallops and veggies ($16.50). This sounded good to us and we also wanted the chicken won ton soup ($5.25). We almost got the grouper as well but our server said it would be a lot of food.
At this point, with the nice view (what you're really paying for) and the fancy dishes on the menu (and fancy prices!) we were really expecting something...fancy.
[And maybe there's something that we missed out on here but we did ask about the best items on the menu, so it should have been great.]
So, the soup was pretty good (although the mushrooms tasted canned) but then, I found a stone in my soup. When we (discreetly) told our server about it he said we should have told him before eating the soup. I guess he's right, if only stones floated! Too bad I had bitten into it on my last spoonful which scooped it from the bottom of the bowl! He was not happy with us! But nor were we.
I must say the noodles were really tasty although they were also really greasy (ring-around-the-mouth-grease) and the chicken dish we got lacked flavour (supposedly the best chicken dish on the menu). We used up all the hot sauce in our little serving dish.
They did take the soup off of our bill so that was nice I suppose, but otherwise I didn't think it was worth it for greasy chinese food. The portions weren't that significant either, but maybe that was the point. Certainly a disappointment for dinner, although not sure how well it fares for its dim sum lunches, which I've read is good.
5 Comments | Share Article | tagged Chicken, Chinese, Soup, Urbanspoon, dim sum, greasy, greasy spoon, harbourfront, pearl, pearl harbourfront, stone, won ton | in Chinese, Dinner, Toronto | Wednesday, August 5, 2009 at 2:18PM
Reader Comments (5)
Great review Foodhogger - I'd rather save the money and eat in Chinatown and then walk off some of the calories on the way down to the Harbourfront to enjoy the view as Pearl is not worth the $$ - a similar meal would have been under $10 for 2 at lunchtime at Lucky Dragon (near College St) or any nearby restaurant.
Thanks for the comment J.C.B - I agree, any lunch in Chinatown would have looked and tasted the same and cost a fraction of the price at Pearl. Way overpriced for mediocre fare.
I will have to try Lucky Dragon - thanks for the tip!
Hey there Foodhogger I stumbled onto this blog when I was web surfing and I must say its pretty kick ass. I've been to Pearl once for a wedding banquet and I found the food to be quite delicious but I do agree that their prices are expensive. I think if you dare to try Pearl again (after your experience I wouldn't go again either) I suggest that you order some seafood, maybe stir fry beef or even the bird's nest you wanted to try.
I find that the waiters in Chinese restaurants give very bad suggestions for food to customers who are not of Chinese decent. I myself am Chinese and I see many waiters in Chinese restaurants who suggest terrible dishes to non-Chinese patrons. They often suggest Sweet and Sour Pork, General Tao's Chicken etc. It is quite sad because the restaurant is not showing customers the best food that they have. Foodhogger if you know any friends that are Chinese I suggest you ask them for places to eat or even dine with them because they usually know good places to eat and what to order.
I'm going to suggest another Chinese restaurant to you. It is far cheaper than Pearl and it tastes much better. It is called Royal Chinese Seafood Restaurant and it is located in Scarborough. I suggest you try to avoid their dinner rush which is around 6-8pm because the quality of the food isn’t as great but if you’re going on the weekdays it should be ok. I usually go there for a late night snack with friends. Since you like spice you MUST have the Spicy Crab, they are known for it and it is delicious. They also have huge deep fried crab claws which are one of my favourites. Their fried rice is pretty good too.
Hopefully this restaurant will be more enjoyable than Pearl.
Cheers,
Kevin
Kevin, hi and thanks so much! Really appreciate the compliment on the blog and your recommendation to try Royal Chinese Seafood - will definitely go there and try the spicy crab! I agree, it's common to find that servers often suggest the 'tourist-friendly' items on menus - my friends always get the 'try the butter chicken' at indian restaurants even if they can handle spicier dishes. Guess it's common everywhere. I also find that if they suggest the 'daily special' it's sometimes what's left over in the kitchen and often not that good. Hahaha!
I'll post my experience on Royal once I go - thanks again!