**** Pearl has closed
Having already visited the "Convoy Dim Sum" trinity of Emerald, China Max, and Jasmine, with mixed results, not to mention a horrible experience at Lucky Star. We decided to finally retry Pearl in Rancho Bernardo:
We'd first set foot here back in '04 when they first opened. At that time I thought they took a back seat to their sister restaurant Emerald; but based on recent comments here, I was made to believe that Pearl has overtaken Emerald.
We arrived and were immediately seated:
And in a flash we had tea, ice water, and the first carts arrived! Needless to say, I was impressed. We got some shrimp and chive dumplings:
These were very tasty with a nice shrimp and chive flavor, though the wrappers were a bit dry, but not a bad start.
Vegetarian Bean Curd Roll:
These rolls were filled with bamboo shoots and cloud ears fungus, the soy based broth was so very rich, and the chilies added a mild heat. These were excellent, both in taste and texture.
Fried Chive and Shrimp Dumplings, one of my favorites:
These were cold, which made them taste somewhat greasy, and the shrimp rubbery. I also noticed that these dumplings were somewhat smaller then I'm used to seeing, although there were 4 of them instead of the usual 3.
Shrimp Cheong Fun:
We really noticed the size difference with this dish. Though the noodle was cooked perfectly, slightly chewy, with a nice "pull" to it. These were quite small, and only had 2 small shrimp in each. About this time I noticed something; all these hard working servers were smiling; our water was being refilled on a regular basis. I really only needed to make eye-contact with a Dim Sum Lady, and she would make her way to our table. I was in total shock, was there some mind-altering hallucinogenic substance in my tea?
I was snapped out of my trance by the next cart with the Beef Tripe:
Now this was the tripe I remembered from Emerald, nice and crunchy, with a slight amount of heat from the chilies, in a slightly chicken flavored broth. Very nice!
Chao Zhou Dumplings:
These dumplings are a real challenge. In many cases the wrapper is not cooked correctly, and ends up being a sticky mess, with all the filling(chopped bamboo shoot, etc) falling all over the place. Not in this case, though. These were cooked well, and there were nice whole dried shrimp in each dumpling. Very well done.
At about this time, one of the Waiters came up to use and asked if everything was alright. What!!! In a move that I thought was tempting fate; the Missus mentioned that she hasn't seen any Fried Taro (Taro Gok). The Waiter quickly asked one of the "Ladies" something; turned to us, and said "We don't have any right now, but we can make some for you, how many would you like…." As soon as I was able to pick my jaw up off the floor, I choked out "Just one will be fine…".
As the Waiter left we were immediately scanning the room; this service made us really want to get more Dim Sum. Wait A Minute! That's what it was; Pearl was using "reverse psychology" to try and get us to order more Dim Sum!
Tofu in Chili Sauce:
Beautiful aren't they? But these are best admired from a distance. This had to be the sweetest chili sauce I've ever had. In fact, I couldn't taste anything for a while after eating this. Ick!
The Missus flagged down the dessert cart and got some desserts:
You'll have to ask the Missus how they were.
She said they were "just okay", before inhaling them……
Our blessed Fried Taro Ball:
These were brought to our table piping hot! Though on the smallish side each one of these were topped with Masago (Flying Fish Eggs), which added a nice saltiness, and hid a scallop inside! The pork and taro filling was mixed to the perfect ratio. These were among the best I've eaten – delici-yoso!!!
We also got Sticky Rice Wrapped in Lotus Leaf:
These were also on the small side, though like most everything else; was done very well. About this time the Waiter walked up to our table, and apologized for taking so long with the taro. Welcome to the Twilight Zone! Are we really eating Dim Sum? The Waiter also asked us if he could get us anything else….why? Because if you buy ten dishes you get two free!!! Amazing…. We ended up getting another order of sticky rice to go. The damage? $36.91, not bad really.
The last most surprising thing happened while I was waiting for the Missus, who needed to visit the Restroom before we left.
While I was standing "holding up the wall". One of the Waiters walked up to me. The little voice in my head went "oh-oh, here's where we come back to reality…" But he just wanted to make sure we got our free Dim Sum, and struck up a conversation, telling me to come back for dinner, and started showing me the "specials". He surely thought that I was a bit strange, looking back and forth. I was searching for the "hidden cameras".
Needless to say; this is the best service I've ever had in a Dim Sum establishment. It's as if the Dim Sum God was trying to make amends for all the lousy and mediocre Dim Sum experiences we've had recently. I'm going to have to return, to see if history will repeat itself!
In a nutshell Pearl on this visit provided excellent service, good Dim Sum with a contemporary flair.
Pearl Chinese Cuisine
11666 Avena Place
San Diego, CA 92128