Pearl City Seafood Restaurant

Pearl CIty is one place you can’t forget after eating here but do. thus you repeat the same mistake again years later.
been here a few times over the years. food not so tasty. dirty dishes all over. service just so so. understaffed.
thankfully, it’s no longer here. Peninsula is but only slightly better.

This was sadly my second dim sum experience ever (the first was visiting a family friend in SF). Thankfully I had my first experience to know that dim sum has potential to be superb. My subsequent experiences elsewhere have confirmed this case, and that good dim sum can easily be had on a budget.
This place was among the worst I’ve ever had for customer service. The hostess glared at us the entirety of our meal. We asked multiple times for condiments and water, some of which we literally never got (soy sauce??). We ordered and paid for a beef noodle crêpe that was served without beef, but served as if everything was fine and charged at full price (we found out at another restaurant what it was supposed to be like). One of or ordered items was gone and we only found out when we got the check. Nobody ever told us so we could choose another option. An hour of unpleasant eating, with wait staff stripping the restaurant and cleaning around us instead of being attentive, and I still left hungry. Also, the bathroom soaking wet, everywhere.
To the restaurant, you have serious work to do. Never seat customers if you don’t want to serve them.
To consumers, eat elsewhere. There are ample excellent and cheaper options.

Décor = hellllo, 80’s…cheap tables, barely white everything. Lots of stainless steel plates/​containers.
Dim sum = okay. Fun gow is good, dumplings are great, book tripe to die for, everything is savory, hot and good. But stay away from their egg custard bun…(it was frozen or old… your guess is as good as mine)
Prices = reasonable. For two, we left for under $ 20.00. (We had five dim sum dishes and one order of buns.)
Service = typical Chinese. But I like how they refill the hot water for the tea kettles. We never got our ice water. Oh well.
Overall, good place for cheap dim sum during work lunch hour.

I am a bit surprised by some of these reviews, I love this place. It is my favorite dim sum restaurant anytime I am in San Francsico.
I was out for a conference last week and had Sunday off, so I met my sister and brother-​in-​law for a day of wandering around San Francisco and we stopped here for Dim Sum.
The food was excellent, the servers friendly and everything was reasonable priced.
I would recommend this place.

Made the mistake of coming here after attempting to go to Yee’s. What attracted me to the place was the location and the family special. $ 11.95 a person for what seem to be a good deal. The place was on Jackson Street which is known for locals to hang out on.
So after we finally put in the order, the soup of the day turn out to be won ton soup. The soup itself was standard chicken stock with bok choy. The won tons itself was made with a mystery meat, chicken and something else. The fried prawns were over cooked and pretty much flavorless. The mandarin beef was very simple and hard for anyone to screw up, just very greasy.
The lemon chicken was the worst, tasted like someone spilled their jelly filling on some fried chicken. Over sweetened for something that should be savory.
The Young Chow fried rice had meat, vegetables and other things in there, but it didn’t taste like it. The rice was completely flavorless.
They offered us dessert which was a green bean soup. The dessert tasted like they used the same wok that the rice was cooked in to heat the soup. The soup was a bit savory and oily.

Lukewarm, sub-​par dim sum? Check.
Lecherous old men? Check.
Dirty tables and sucky lighting? Check and Check.
Please save yourselves.

It’s been a long time since I’ve gone for dim sum at a genuine sit down restaurant. My aunt took us here and then I remember we did used to come here more often. I could not remember if I liked the food then but I thought the food was pretty good today.
beef balls — ok
chicken feet — my bro seemed to like them
fried donut encased in noodle roll — tasted good but the donut was so over fried that it was too hard and too crunchy so it made it overall not so good
shrimp rice noodle roll — good
shrimp stuffed eggplant — really good
shrimp cake stuffed green pepper — good
pork sparerib clay pot — ok
pork blood — ok
Our meal came to $ 37 which I guess is not bad for three people. The service is not very good. I asked one waitress if they had pork blood, she said «i dont know» and walked away (to check I assume) but never returned with that info. Later she just stood around like she had nothing to do. Eck. It’s not easy getting their attention for that matter. Whatever it’s ok. I never expect much service in Chinese restaurants let alone good service. It just does not exist. Knowing that, I would still come back to enjoy the food.
I think my 4 stars is pretty generous but I am really only basing that on the food and the fact that I would be back.

3.5 stars — Chinatowan appears to be the only happening place on Christmas. Cold, raining and windy but there are still people everywhere… Long lines at the more popular dim sum places. Not wanting to wait, we ended up here since there were tables available.
There’s no cart but ladies bringing out piping hot tin trays w/​freshly steamed dim sum. We had plenty…
chicken feet — tasty
shrimp dumpling — didn’t look too promising but it was actually quite good, great skin and good filling
pork siu mai — not bad
beef rice noodle roll — pretty good, soy sauce is not sweet like other places
beef ball — piping hot, pretty good
spareribs in black bean sauce — piping hot, tender and tasty
beef tripes — very garlicky and flavorful
chicken bundle — one piece each of pork stomach, pork skin and a large piece of chicken w/​a generous shake of black pepper wrapped in bean curd skin — good
shrimp cake stuffed green pepper — good
steamed bbq pork bun — pretty good
steamed egg custard bun — not bad
All this for just over $ 30 with plenty to take home…

11.19.10
This place has gone downhill in both service and quality since I was a child.
Decided to take a long lunch and venture into old stomping grounds (aka Chinatown) for dim sum. Not worth it.
The ha cheung is still good. So is the siu mai, I guess. What happened to the rest?
Total damage: $ 24 for 2 ppl.

I can understand the bad reviews… this is not one of them! Yes, the service is horrid. But the dim sum is consistently good IF you go there during lunch. If you get there after 1:30, you get what’s leftover from the lunch crowd… cold, soggy, not so very fresh. If you go on weekends (which we do often as well), you order off the menu and of course, it’s all freshly cooked and delicious! Awesome price, consistently delicious food (at the right time of day). Again, yes, the service is horrid… I think because they know us by now, they’re better than non attentive. :) We still have to ask 3 times for forks and water, but it’s ok, it’s all worth it.
We’ve tried MANY dim sum places in the city… you want the best? City View or Yank Sing. But I guarantee you won’t get 5 shrimp based dim sum dishes for $ 12 there!!!

BEWARE DO NOT COME HERE!
EFF this place! I almost threw down with the waitress there! i just came back from lunch with my family that came up to visit and came here out of convienience because it was close to my work. It looked decent from the outside, clean and proper.
Their is no push carts so we had to order by menu but my mom speaks chinese and she ordered everything. The food was mediocre. The Lo Bac Koo (spelling it how I pronounce it) was horrible, it wasn’t even fried nor crispy. So we told them, we just want 1 not 2. They wouldnt take it back and said sorry no ones going to order it so you have to take it. okay whatever, understandable.
Only decent thing they had was the Ha Gow and the Chinese Brococilli which I can buy at chinatown for 99 cents and boil my damn self, keep in mind it was 8 bucks for that dish alone.
So anyhow, the waitresses were these loud fish market ladies, screaming back and forth from the front of the restaurant to the back of the restaurant. I was observing quite a lot for my lunch break.
Observation # 1. The european tourist next to us left and didn’t tip, I’m not sure how their customs are but either they didnt know they werent suppose to tip or what but the waitress in a rude a** way say: «YOU TIP TEN PUHCENT» and the tourist were confused and just threw their money on the table. I mean yeah you should tip but that’s not the way to approach them you know.
Observation #2. Later, a little girl came in asking if she can use the restroom.
Lady up front screamed in chinese: «little girl needs to pee»
Lady in back: «she eating???»
Lady in back: «no»
Lady in back: «no EAT, no pee»
I mean sure, that’s a common rule but damn, it was a little girl and they treated them like poo.
Observation #3: Caucasion couple near me, they been waiting for along time and never got their menu, never got their fork until at least 15 minutes later after everyone that came in after them got served.
Observation #4: most importantly MY own table, we asked for a fork like 3 times, we asked for water, 5 times from different people and didnt get it til at least 15 minutes later. Also when the lady came with her tray of dim sum, she tried to sneak extra plates onto our table, thinking that we didnt know what we ordered and charge us more. NO homie, i dont think so!
By this time, I was heated by everything i’ve witnessed. When we asked for our check, the waitress came by with the sweetest voice ever, WHAT??? where the hell was this sweet attitude this whole time? you were suppose to be like this from the get go! so our bill was $ 52, expensive for the crap we ate.
So while my mom was in the restroom i wanted to test them and left a $ 2 tip. The waitress immediedetly saw the $ 2 and printed out another receipt and pointed to the $ 2 and said, «YOU TIP TEN PUHSENT.»
we all ignored her…
then she waits for my mother to come out and tells my mom in a rude ass manner and taps on the $ 2. «YOU TIP TEN PUHSENT»
I said NO, you lucky you got 2 bucks from us, you guys do not deserve anything! she stfu…
that was my epic lunch for a slow tuesday.
never again am i coming here or recommending this craphole.
BEWARE DO NOT COME HERE!

This restaurant was super horrible. I came in with my cousins & sisters and they seated us. We were meeting our grandma there but the waiters didn’t know.
They treated us SUPER HORRIBLY because we were just «kids.» They wouldn’t even stop to look at us or even serve us food, so that left us with a super wtf look. They then started whispering to eachother and talking crap about us.
About a couple minutes after that had happened, my grandma came and they started being SUPER NICE to us. They were all sucking up and stuff like that.
Other than the rude a*s waiters, the food wasn’t great at all. I could have went to a place that had better service and bomb food.
NEVER COMING BACK AGAIN

I was on a quest for good authentic dim sum in Chinatown, and I would not let up! The place I found on Unilocal that sounded delicious wasn’t a sit-​down place, so with the recommendation from a local bookstore owner, we came to Pearl City.
I hate to say it, but honestly, if you’re not Chinese, you will get THE crappiest service ever. Apparently being asian didn’t make a difference either.
We ate the usual staple of a dim sum experience: shumai, egg rolls, chow mein, fried rice, and a bunch of other stuff that I love, but have no clue what it’s called. The food was decent, but the service was beyond horrible. We were getting scowled at! The bill came out to about $ 40, but I definitely would NOT come here again!

Possibly one of the worst experiences I’ve ever had in a Chinese restaurant in the 31 years I’ve lived in San Francisco. Not to say that the food was bad… cause it wasn’t. It was HORRIBLE! In Chinatown you expect there to be a language barrier in the really good restaurants. Sometimes mis-​communication to lead to trying some tasty new dishes, if you’re adventurous. I am, and the food was still crappy.
We got there around 3pm on a weekend and the place was empty. No big deal. We sat down and the women who brought us our menus seemed totally exasperated that we were there. As it happened, they were either out of or hadn’t prepared about two thirds of the dumplings we ordered. The dumplings themselves were horrible, their outsides having a gummy texture, which settled in the stomach like a rock dropped from the empire state building.
I could go on about the ridiculously poor service. So much in fact that it was laughable. In fact, it gets one star for being so massively disappointing it was humorous. That is until we left and felt sick for the next 3 hours…

Do you enjoy eating in a cave and paying a little more for a little less? This is the place for you! The wait staff are quite friendly though… you may learn some Chinese — and see what you get there by looking at my video.

(I had braised noodles and lobster…)

«This is your total. This is the cash. These are your two credit cards. This is the leftover amount for the cards. Yes? NO!!!» She slams her hand on the table and waves her arms in the air, because through the troubles our group had with the whole lost in translation thing, that was the only way she could think to explain to us about a credit card minimum. I know, I know it isn’t her fault that we don’t speak her language, but slamming your hands on the table? And this was after we gave the cash and our credit cards, and I swear half of the restaurant’s staff had to meet together to discuss us and our evil table supposedly, because they kept glaring at us after we tried paying them!
Plus, reading the reviews on here before coming here i.e. COCKROACHES? really I think made me have a biased experience ha ha. I told my friend Kelly D. after we went here since she had liked it before, and she said she will never eat here again now ha ha And honestly, the dim sum is really nothing special. Great Eastern next door yes has a way longer wait, but it is also WAY fresher and way better ha ha
But you won’t have to wait for a table here, and honestly for chinatown on a sunday morning popular brunch time, not having to wait for a table seems a little strange, no?

Wasn’t very good in my opinion. No carts, which is fine, but the quality of the dim sum was lacking. I don’t know. Maybe it’s because I’ve been spoiled by going to several dim sum places in my lifetime.
So you know when you really want some good pork dumplings from China town, but instead, your distant Aunt decides to make them for you and when you actually try it, it’s just not the same and does not taste as good as the real thing? Well, that’s how I feel about the dim sum here at Pearl City.
It just wasn’t up to par with even some dim sum take-​out places just steps away. It might be cheaper, but it doesn’t make it better. I was stuck at our table eating less than average dim sum when there was a whole world of Chinatown outside. I felt like a prisoner. A fat prisoner who was forced to eat this while someone next door was eating something probably better. Their har gow was tiny and the shrimp was overcooked. The yolk bun filling was gel-​like texture when it should be runny and creamy. The shao lon pao (pork dumplings) was not soupy at all like Joe’s Shanghai or Din Tai Fung. The red bean sesame buns were the size of marbles. They were so tiny.
Overall, great location, but not-​so-​great food.

I wish I could use expletives as every other friggin’ word for this POS place. I went here with a friend because she’d eaten here before and thought it was the best thing since sliced bread. We were immediately seated for dim sum, then immediately received some white tortilla, fleshy thing covering little shrimp. She poured some watered down soy sauce or something and left.
Twenty f-​ing minutes later, she came out with the second offering of dim sum. The place starts to fill up. But they don’t call anyone from upstairs or around the corner to help. We literally sit there another twenty minutes and, in the meantime, one of their friendly greeting party hosts (a roach) decides to f-​ing say «What’s up» on the wall to my left. Then I glance down in my plate and realize that there are two hairs there. Damn sure didn’t drop them there myself. I’m brown, semi-​curly, and medium length. These were black and short. No way! I just realized there may have been pubes on my plate. M-​er f-​er!!!
I tell my companion that we are out like Pete Rock and CL Smooth and she can reminisce over it all she wants. Then proceed to tell her that we will drive all the way across town to Ton Kiang, where it’s clean, they have service galore, and the dim sum is the bomb.
Half an hour later and we’re satiated beyond belief. Ton Kiang rocks. Die in a vat of your own filth, Pearl City. Die you must.
Oh, and did I mention the biznatch at the counter of Pearl City, after we dared to even pay the eleven dollar tab, said «What about service? (in broken English — you have to imagine it) when my friend was going to take her change from the twenty??? That’s not even nerve… that’s just deserving of an ass-​whoopin’.

This place was bigger than I thought. They led us to a larger dining room in the back, which was stuffy and didn’t have any windows or good ventilation. The place was pretty dirty! The waitresses were rude! It sounded as if they were yelling at us.
The quality of the dim sum was below average. However, the prices were rather cheap. If you’re looking for cheap dim sum, this is the place to go! However, bewareeee!!! Some of the standard dim sum dishes were rather dissapointing. The quality of the meat in the siu mai did not seem all that great. The shrimp in the dim sum were rather scarce. I personally rather pay a little more, and get better quality dim sum any day!

Good place for adventurous round eyes. I have seen some people make mistakes. I have made a few myself. Let me break it down.
1) Go early! Food recycles, and sometimes stops coming out entirely. If I am going to sit down for dim-​sum after 12:30 I very seriously reconsider this place, and alter my ordering strategy.
2) Relax. Lots of food comes out. Lots of it will be delicious. You miss something good — something else good will come along (unless you come late). Bring a paper. Bring a magazine. Nurse the pot of tea. Try this as an exercise, keep only one plate of food on the table at a time. Finish the plate before looking for the next thing.
3) Skip dessert (better choices around the corner)
Favorite dishes
Sticky rice: They make a great version. Their sticky rice is filled with ground chicken and shitake, with no chinese sausage to be found. Delicious. Especially if you are not a fan of the sausage (I am not).
Steamed turnip cake: Have not seen this anywhere else. Much different from it’s pan-​fried cousin. The dried shrimp is on top, and they will put some cilantro and green onion and sauce on top for you to brighten it up. Excellent.
Steamed shrimp with pea shoots: Good luck asking for this by name. You may just have to try a few of the shrimp and green steamed dumplings before you find this one. It is exceptional.
Chinese donut wrapped in rice noodle: What a concept. Great mix of textures and flavors. Last week was the first time I ran into it at Pearl City, and I had not seen it in wide rotation at other tea houses in the area.
Pork and peanut steamed dumpling: What’s not to love. Some dumplings are delicate. This one is hearty. It is difficult to keep it intact from the dish to ones mouth. But it is worth it. Again with the complementing textures. A highlight of this place.
Worst dishes:
No real losers. But if something isn’t visibly steaming, it is hard to tell how long it has been on the floor. That is where patience comes into play. If you are taking your time, and getting into the rhythm of the place, you will get a sense of what is new and fresh, and what is recycled.
Enjoy.