where jess ate

Located in the Harbourfront Centre at the bottom of York Street, I always thought the Pearl Harbourfront restaurant was a tourist trap. The prices are on the high side so I hoped I wasn’t only paying for the view…

The restaurant has a gorgeous view overlooking the water and the large windows allow the sunlight to fill the dining room. We were giving a seat right next to a window and enjoyed the view during our meal.

You’ll notice that the Pearl still has cart service where the waitresses push carts full of food around the restaurant. I’m surprised the Pearl still has cart service as it seems to be nearly extinct these days.

We started off with the Steamed Shrimp and Scallop Dumplings (I apologize in advance for not remembering the price of each item… but I do remember that they were higher than average).These plump dumplings were packed full of shrimp and scallop and had a thin, delicate skin.

Next up was the Siu Mai ($5.50) aka steamed pork dumplings. Similar to our first dish, this came with four plump dumplings. They were moist and perfectly seasoned. So far, so good!

We love our pork, so we ordered some Fried Pork Dumplings which came with a side of soup to dip the dumplings in. Delicious!

Sticking with the deep-fried theme, we also ordered Ham Siu Kok – fried meat dumpling ($3.75). As a kid, this was one of my favourite dim sum items. The ones here had a good amount of flavourful meat filling and they had a nice, crisp exterior which wasn’t too greasy.

Since I ordered one of my favourites, Mike also ordered one of his, the Sticky Rice in Lotus Leaf ($6). Rather than coming in several smaller portions, the sticky rice at the Pearl was one large honking portion. The rice was moist and had a flavourful meat filling. I just wish there was a little bit more filling.

To add some green to the meal, we ordered a plate of Stir Fried Green Beans. Not that they were very healthy…they were on the greasy side and were a touch overcooked.

We finished off the meal with Egg Tarts ($3.75), something I can never resist. The ones here came with the usual three bite-sized tarts. The filling had a great flavour and the crust had a nice flakiness to it. A solid egg tart.

Overall, I had an enjoyable lunch. Definitely not the tourist trap I thought it was. Sure the prices are on the high side, but you always pay a premium for a great view and location.

At a glance:
• Located in the Harbourfront centre at the bottom of York St.
• View overlooking the water
• Solid dim sum, prices on the high side
• Cart service

Ratings (out of 5):
• Food: 4 stars
• Service: 4 stars
• Atmosphere: 4.5 stars