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Chinatown (Orange, Silver)
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5 stars for tasty dim sum, 1 star for service = 3 stars overall.
The ppl who work there are very rude. Not the sweetest ppl in the world. The bathrooms like all other restaurants in chinatown are disgusting as well.
Also not handicapp-friendly. The elevator is in the back of the restuarant and you can only get to it if you go thru the bank around the corner. I know weird right? My family brings my grandma to China Pearl for her b-day every year. It's definately a trek to get her to our table.
SIGH...but the dim sum is still tasty
ZHALIANG.
I've heard about this place for so long ever since I came out here, and once when I tried finding it, I got confused that the dim sum part of the restaurant is up the stairs, and not through the door that you would think goes to the restaurant. Second time, same thing! I had to call my mom and ask her to come outside so I knew where the heck this restaurant actually was. "Ohhhh...up THOSE stairs..."
Anyway, about the restaurant. Pretty good dim sum, although Emperor Garden might still top them. Shu mai was a decent size, not like those puny "sample" sizes they usually serve you at other places. Cha sui bao didn't actually look like it contained cha sui, although it tasted like it, but for some reason, the cha sui was in larger strips than usual. Still good, just different. I ventured an attempt to ask one of the ladies if they had zhaliang, and in my terribly Americanized Mandarin, squeaked out something that was supposed to sound like, "Ni you zhaliang ma?" No idea if she was laughing inside, but she managed to catch "zhaliang" and went to go ask another lady if they had anymore. And lo and behold, the cart with a bunch of zhaliang came by our way! It was a little disappointing, since the youtiao wasn't crunchy, and the cheng fun on top had cilantro instead of green onions. Oh well. I'll have to keep hunting down the perfect zhaliang elsewhere.
I must comment on the service here too. Apparently, the cart of zhaliang just came by randomly, with no one telling her that this random girl at the table was desperately seeking some so far as to use no-tone Mandarin to get some. So after we gobbled up half the plate, the second lady that was asked by the initial cart lady I asked, came by with a plate of FRESH zhaliang! Man...I felt so bad, I almost wanted to take the second plate of it. Super nice of her though, and earns China Pearl 4 stars!
Pretty decent food here. The place was packed, and really loud, and there was a queue -- but it didn't take long to be seated.
Prices are really, really good. Food is tasty, fresh, and served hot from those awesome carts. I did seem to observe the cart pushers giving preferential treatment to those who understood the language - the carts seemed to whiz by without much explanation as to what they have whereas they go slower, and seemed to spend more time chatting up the customers who understood what they were getting. I've done dim sum before, so it's definitely not just newbie ignorance.
There has to be something good if a 3 year old next to you eats chicken feet for the first time right along side you without any protest. I would go back, though I'd be more assertive and maybe not sit at a corner table so as to get better exposure to carts as they go by.
The place was completely packed and the carts seemed to come around very infrequently, decreasing in their frequency as the place filled up. We were never able to get some of the items we looked forward to having (dumplings, pork bun, etc) and there was a lapse of 20 or so minutes when guests were waiting hungrily while nothing at all came by.
Servers could never be found when we asked for *gasp* soy sauce (yes, I said it. The dumpling wrappers can be bland if you're used to "american" chinese!) and when we did find one, the response we received gave us no indication whether our request would be honored or whether we'd communicated the request properly at all. Did they have soy sauce? did they carry it at all? Were they getting it for is, if so? No one knew, so we ended up having to hastily shout/ask each time someone in a vest appeared in the general vicinity. Finally halfway through the meal, some appeared. Frustrating.
It was also really tough in our large group to get any dishes, as when the carts did come by, the women would stand there waiting for us to point to what we wanted, yet none of us knew what was in the dishes to know whether we could order/eat them (some had dietary restrictions and thus we had to be careful to choose only non-pork options).
The actual execution of the lunch obviously left a bit to be desired (OK the service is really bad), but I will attribute some of that to the sheer size of our group of 14+ (but not much).
On the pro-side, the meal was so cheap ($10 per person is what it worked out to), the variety (when it came) was decent, and there were some stand-out items that I liked enough to go back again for if friends suggested it. While I think the food is better than Chow Chau City, the service is worse.
the service is so terrible. Of course you go here for their well-known dim sum and I gotta say that it's not that bad. But the workers seemed annoyed and angry when I asked questions about what's in their carts. They stare at you and speak Chinese when we keep telling them that we have no idea what they are talking about because we don't speak Chinese!!
Because dim sum can get a bit greasy, I always ask for hot oil to spice up my taste buds. Last time I went, I asked for hot oil and they said they don't have it and never had it.....i was like what??? I came here like 10 times in last 3 years....you had it every time....what the heck??
and the waiter goes, would you like some Tabasco?? you serious?? What Chinese restaurant doesn't have hot oil and what Chinese restaurant carries around Tabasco??
Price is decent, carts are limited and service is whack sauce. China Pearl, eat my 3 star.
In a nutshell: The food is great, the service is lacking.
China Pearl is actually two different restaurants, downstairs is a small diner, upstairs is a huge Dim Sum hall (the stairs are to the right of the main restaurant).
My girlfriend and I went to the Dim Sum hall on one of our first weeks in Boston with all of our friends. It was a standard Dim Sum time, great! We had a bit of a bad vibe when my girlfriend (who is a Beijing native) was told by one of the cart-ladies that her Mandarin pronunciation was so bad that they could not understand her! But we shrugged it off as a one time thing.
So, when I had two friends in town and they wanted to grab a bite in Chinatown I suggested we try the downstairs China Pearl diner. The food was also very good (I highly suggest Buddha's Paradise - or maybe it was Buddhists Paradise).
We had a great time and then we got the bill. One of my friends payed it with card and we were about to leave when the waiter stops us because my friend forgot to sign the receipt (oops) and to complain that we haven't tipped enough (what!). He says that my friend hasn't even tipped 10%, when 15% is standard. Okay, so maybe my friend made a mistake, less than 10% is a pretty small tip, etc. etc. But that isn't the end of it. After my friend changes his tip, the waiter comes back with a calculator and computes the percentage before telling us that it is okay!
Now, I understand that waiting tables can be a tough living and that they depend on tips for a reasonable portion of their income and I always try to give 15-20% for good service. But I have never seen a waiter try to enforce such a tipping policy before, let alone bring over a calculator to approve our tip.
So, in the end I would say, 4 star food, 2 star service.
You know, this is place is really Not that great. Considering though, this is the first dim sum i've had in boston so far. My dim sum experiences are from california; specificially LA area and SF area.
1) Those stairs? What the heck its just weird to have to hike a mountain to get there
2) The noise level is beyond normal dim sum i think
3) Carts- or lack thereof. The place was packed on a sunday brunch and there's only 3 carts going around. this one cart kept circling around with the same food. what is wrong with them?
4) Service- again, or lack thereof.
5) Bathroom- from 100 yards away it looks nasty. so didn't want to go in there.
6) Food- very average. Although the price was decent.
Will I return. Maybe if there's nothing else better.
I'm going to have to assume that people who love this place haven't ever had San Francisco dim sum. Anywhere in San Francisco, even what you find in a dumpster three days later is better than most of this trolley cart food.
I have been begging my boyfriend to go for month's, and we turned down delicious 163 Vietnamese sandwiches and boba tea to go here. I used to frequent this place every Sunday for about two straight years with my fraternity. It was our tradition.
Well, something happened, or I just didn't realize how bad it was then.
It was a Friday night, about 5:30pm. We go in to the expansive restaurant, decorated like an 80s faux glam show furniture show room. It is our table of two and a couple and two kids. So, of course, in the huge, two story building they sit us right next to each other. Mistake number one.
Then it takes like ten minutes for us to be able to flag down one of the approx. seven people working for two tables to get them to come back and take our order. If you go during less busy times they make your dim sum to order rather than wheeling carts.
We got crab claw, bbq beef bun, chicken bun, pork dumpling, spring roll and shrump dumpling.
Then, about 25 minutes later the first round of food comes out. To the table next to us that had just been seated about one minute prior. They look down and start picking at the food, confused, but don't say anything. They have full menus for dinners, so they think these are chef specialties. Then we finally speak up and say "oh hey, I think those are ours."
The waiters don't bring us NEW, not picked at food, they just bring the dishes over to our table and toss them down. Mistake Two.
Then I re-flag down the waiter (they try to run away so fast here!) and ask him which ones have shrimp. He says ALL OF THEM. My boyfriend is super duper allergic and could die, so this won't work! So I say, well what on the menu doesn't have shrimp in it. The manager then comes over because the waiter is having a hard time figuring out what I meant. The manager points at four items that don't have shrimp. Three of which are desserts. One of them we happened to order, the bbq beef buns. We ask like twenty times if he's sure because the waiter said they DID have shrimp in them. He says he promises not, so Steven has ONE thing to eat at the whole table. Mistake Three.
Then he says some of them only have "a little shrimp in them." Mistake Four. I'd rather my boyfriend not die at all, not even "a little bit."
Then I ask him to take some away because they shouldnt' have shrimp in them and the menu was a little misleading. Who would think that pork dumplings had shrimp in them. Who would think that a veggie spring roll had shrimp in them. Who would think that chicken bun had shrimp in them. Who would think that crab claw would be nearly 90% shrimp and only about 1% crab and 9% breading? He won't return them because they were "made special for us." Mistake Five.
Then he almost insisted we order MORE food after he wouldn't return some of the shrimpy food so that Steven could eat. Mistake Six.
The entire time I literally clamped my mouth shut with my hand because I tend to spew hate and vitrol during situations like this. But I hardly said a word, quite literally biting my tongue.
Steven seemed content with bbq beef buns, I asked if he wanted another order, but he seemed fine with it. Whew! That mess was over.
I tried the crab claw which looks like an asteroid from a nightmare I had one time, with the actual claw of a crab sticking out the side like a deformed baby hand. This, was surprisingly a good 7 out of 10 stars.
The pork AND SHRIMP dumpling was the grossest thing I have ever eaten. It tasted like what wet dog fur smells like on a hot summer day after it just got out of a moldy pond that had festered in the sun for a thousand years. I almost vom'd it back up.
The chicken bun was similar in taste and texture and smell. The spring rolls were okay with LOTS of duck sauce for dipping and covering the heavily fishy smell in what was supposed to be VEGGIE spring roll.
The shrimp dumplings were okay, nothing to Yelp home about, certainly, but around mediocre tasting.
The diet coke was probably the worst I've ever had. It was worse than really stale bar tap Diet Coke, which is usually bad. First, it was Diet Rite, not Diet coke, I saw the bottle. Secondly it had expired at least 6-12 months ago. I am a bit of a stickler for expiration dates on diet soda. It tastes really sugary and stale if it's just expired or about to. Once it starts getting gritty and textured and is no longer even fake sweet tasting, but rather almost salty tasting, it has been expired for a VERY long time and is probably not suitable for consumption. So I finished with water and the jasmine tea, which wasn't even good either. How can you mess up tea? Mistakes 7 and 8.
I've grown up with China Pearl and it has never really been great to me. With so many different dim sum places to go to within just that one block, why would people come here?! Seems to me that when a place becomes so popular and at such a high demand, the product's quality falls short. A lot. And that's exactly how I feel about China Pearl.
Each and every time I come here, it seems like the food has somehow gotten worse. I'll eat there and think to myself that the food couldn't sink any lower and that I'd never eat there again and lo and behold, a year later, I'll sit there with the exact same thoughts running through my mind. Sigh.
I suppose one good thing is the fact that there are so many tables there so you'll never sit at the same table more than once. So yay for variety, I guess...
China Pearl, you made my Sunday afternoon by providing me with your mobile buffet of unexplainable delights.
I lucked the hell out on this one because I was fortunate enough to go with my buddy and his wife, who speaks Chinese. This meant that i could sit back, have little to no interaction and get the best stuff without awkward discussions about "what am i about to put in my mouth?". (there's a "that's what she said" somewhere in there i'm sure)
Anyway, i'd say the atmosphere is on par with the standard large-China Town restaurant; Big, gold and Red. The food was good and for my first dim sum experience I was really satisfied.
Definitely more of a meal "experience" than anything else. I think in terms of foodie i'd only go 3 stars, but its a very different way to eat things, thereby bumpin this little pearl up to fourzees.
Man I love Dim Sum. And I seriously love China Pearl. When we first moved to Boston we were Hei La Moon fans (which our fellow yelpers helped us find), and yes, Hei La Moon is great too. China Pearl has all the delicious food that Hei La Moon has - but I think it might be even better. Plus, the service here is actually friendly and helpful.
And the biggest reason this place gets 4 stars? Yesterday we had family in town and after 6 of us barrelled through too many dishes to count, the final tab was $10 a person. Awesome!
So, this was my first dim-sum experience and I did not like it at ALL. The food was terrible. I felt like everything was drenched in oil, and was sitting out in the open for days. Everything was just soaked in oil and I didn't enjoy the food at all. The only dish I thought was decent was the chicken feet, but that was it.
I don't suggest going to China Pearl, especially if it's your first dim-sum experience. It will definitely ruin it---sorry.
You walk up the long, long steps and smell the grease.
You sit down and can't really order what you want in english.
You guess.
Oh cool, shrimp!!!
You have a bunch of Dim Sum on your plate that hectic asian ladies pushing that damn Dim Sum cart all around your table either suggested or bullied you into getting.
You eat and are very happy.
You feel like you are in the next new Quentin Tarantino movie.
Aaaand.. scene.
Had to introduce to my husband what dim sum was. I haven't been to a lot of restaurants in Boston and heard some good reviews about this place.
Though not an expert, I think their dim sum was pretty good. Carts were consistently coming around so there wasn't a worry I wasn't going to see something again.
Got the rice soup, chicken feet (good), turnip cake (liked how they were frying it right on the cart), fried crab balls, shrimp dumplings (standard), and pork.
I'd come back again.
My mom used to take us to dim sum whenever she was off. We would come here for banquets and other parties. As growing up, this place was owned by Uncle Bill, a very kind and successful businesman in Boston Chinatown. The food choices now are definitely more than ever. I know the current Owners and they are wonderful people. The food, no doubt about it, still very good traditional dim sum.
We booked a traditional dinner banquet here recently, and the food and service were both excellent. They have several set menus to choose from. The Beef Fillet with Chinese Broccoli particularly stood out to my surprise, as it has become such a diner dish.
Came here for dim sum and left looking for real dim sum
Chinese food in boston is coming to a decline. There aren't many, and the ones that are still standing are being overcome by appeal to other ethnicities. Coming from a mostly chinese neighborhood, I was greatly disappointed when I finally got to eat after waiting a good 45 minutes for a seat. The dim sum was not fresh and it wasn't of good quality either. Some of the dim sum you even had to get up and go over to get it yourself; thus freeing up some of the waiters to bus tables and clean.
The setting was another story. The interior space of the seating area is so poorly designed. Circulation and seating are such big problems. There are large circular tables that the just seat 3 different parties at making it awkward to converse and eat in front of strangers. They should just take those large tables away and put smaller seating ones to make the atmosphere a bit more friendly.
Go to another city for good dim sum please
A bit of background: I grew up in Hong Kong and spent the first ten years of my life eating dim sum every Sunday morning. Sometimes we do Saturday morning too. Sometimes, when school's out, we do dim sum every other day. I'm a bit of a dim sum snob.
And I've stopped eating dim sum on the East Coast because, ever since the first time I've been to China Pearl, about ten minutes into any dim sum outing I just sigh and wish that I was at China Pearl instead. Seriously, I cannot think of one dim sum place in New York, Philadelphia, New Jersey, Baltimore, Chicago or DC that is remotely close to China Pearl in quality and atmosphere. There used to be a small place in NYC that was as good as China Pearl but it has long since changed management and the food went downhill from there.
So, basically, China Pearl is the only place I've found in this country that captures the quality and atmosphere of a real Hong Kong dim sum parlor. The food is 100% authentic Cantonese and not "influenced" by other areas of Chinese cuisine like most dim sum places in the US. All the classical dim sum dishes can be found if you go there on a weekend. It doesn't try and do crazy experimental dim sum and sticks with what worked in Hong Kong for the last few decades. It's big (two floors!!!), it's noisy, it's filled with ladies yelling out food names and pushing carts and on weekends all the eight-people tables are filled. Oh, and the food is amazing.
Now, that's not everyone's cup of tea, I understand that. Some folks don't want a noisy place and would prefer their dim sum Shanghai flavored, for example. That's great. There are other places for that. But if you want 100% authentic Hong Kong style dim sum China Pearl is the only place I have found in this country that does the job.
Note: I'm in Seattle now and am slowly exploring the dim sum places here. So far, not optimistic. Heading down to San Francisco later this summer, so hopefully I'll find something that can rival China Pearl there...
China Pearl is one of our favorite places to go for Dim Sum. We try to make a stop here whenever we're in Boston.
The food is always good and the prices are reasonable. If going on the weekends, try to get there before 11:00 before it gets too hectic.
This is my favorite place to go for dim sum. When I used to live in Chinatown, my family dined here at least once a week. It takes awhile to be seated (esp on weekends), but the dim sum is definitely worth it. It's easier if you speak Chinese or have a friend who does because the servers and hosts are more attentive to you. The shrimp dumplings and spare ribs are my favorites-- as well as the sticky rice wrapped in lotus leaves. I would give China Pearl 5 stars, but there IS a long wait and the bathrooms aren't as clean as I'd like them to be...
China Pearl Restaurant in Quincy is also good, but not as great as this one in Boston.
Best dim sum in boston great for dine in or take out
All those stairs - don't bring the stroller.
I like Dim Sum a lot. My favorite place is in San Francisco. In Boston, I usually go to Chau Chow City because I feel like all the restaurants make the same dim sum and the only difference is that my parents know the owners at Chau Chow City so we don't have to wait for a table.
I went here one Sunday when Chau Chow City was closed. The food here is the same as all the other Boston Dim Sum places. One dish I got that was really disappointing was a curry noodle - I couldn't eat it because the flavor was rather quite unpleasant (it was sweet and pungent).
Nothing here was a standout, so....
I think China Pearl has a reasonable selection of fresh dim sum, especially my favorites and most of the traditional fare, with a few surprises. They are reasonably priced for dim sum, perhaps a little on the expensive side compared to other cities, but about average for Boston.
So, a few notes on dim sum in general that also apply to China Pearl. Dim sum is almost always greasy, almost always overpriced, and generally overcrowded with poor waiter service. Okay, so all of those issues apply to some degree or other to China Pearl, but if you like dim sum I presume you've learned to live with this by now. If you're looking for a light meal, stay away from the meat-containing dishes like shumai and the dumplings, and go for the steamed dishes and rice noodles.
All in all, I wouldn't hesitate to go back if I were in the neighborhood. There's a dessert "soup" which is basically coconut juice and tapoica... absolutely delicious and very refreshing after a heavy meal. Try to get there early if you can.
I think there is some kind of treaty or non-compete clause among all dim sum joint in Chinatown. None of them are not that all great or spectacular. All that tolerance of mediocre food is all forgiven by incredibly cheap price. And China Pearl is another one. As Tom E wrote, it is average dim sum parlor. Some dishes are better than the others. Like pork bun for example. I think that one is the best I ever tasted in Chinatown. Other dishes I liked were :
- Shumai
- Sticky rice wrapped in banana leaves.
Although you have no idea which cost how much as everything written in all abbreviated Chinese, don't sweat it. Unless you are buying 5 Takeru Kobayashi-es(Japanese hot dog eating champ) dim sum, you won't be paying that much.
Otherwise, this is still a good place to get with your friends for Sunday brunch for low price. I recommend it. Just don't expect anything spectacular.
I have to admit I'm a dimsum snob, as I've had some pretty good stuff in SF.
That said, I think China Pearl is a pretty solid place. The place was packed to the gills, but it didn't look like anyone was being rushed out the door, which is a good sign.
The selection is copious, and the carts come around very often. While the dimsum offerings seem very tame, however they are very flavorful, and are not greasy. Greasy is a problem I've seen with a lot of dim sum places, and it really sets apart the marginal from the good. Again, totally not greasy.
I would have loved to have seen duck offerings, maybe some chicken feet... but frankly, I don't eat feet, so who cares.
Solid place, I'll be back, and so far... best dim sum I've had outside of SF. (Beats Portland, OR for second place.)
I dunno why I'm writing this review. Cuz everyone knows it's good. The long lines & dim sum speaks for itself. And the old ladies who CUT IN FRONT OF ME IN LINE already frequent it.
Seriously, what is up with the continous edging in, while I'm dutifully waiting my white ass in line??? It just bugs! And my main gripe is that the counter staff doesn't care about these line terrorists! Man!
However, if the dim sum here wasn't so gratifying, I would never brave the lack of parking, the running-out-of-stuff-early and the line terrorists.
My all-time faves are the Hum Siu Guk (sp? deep fried mochi ball with pork inside), Char Siu Bao (steamed pork bun), Jook (rice porridge) and Steamed Taro Dumplings (with taro and shrimp inside). Mm-mm-mm.
Come here and be prepared to exclaim: "Excuse me! I was next!"
If you're fortunate enough to eat Dim Sum at Ton Kiang in San Francisco, then you will be pissed off if you ever have to eat it at China Pearl. By comparison, China Pearl's food is meat-focused (lots of pork- boo!), greasy and gelatinous. The vegetarian dishes, like the stir fried pea shoots, are way too damn expensive! The decor and lighting are all very...... RED. I know that's supposed to be an auspicious color but mostly it makes me feel like I'm on the set of Miss Saigon in 1989.
Their one victory was the saucy snail dish I devoured. slippery little suckers.
On par with Ton Kiang are the bathrooms.... which are both totally gross.
I always shutter when I remember what a culinary instructor told us in class one day... "If there's no hot water in the restrooms then there's no hot water in the kitchen" Meditate on that.
I'm not really an expert on dim sum but I know that I can find better in Boston. I came here around lunchtime on a Wednesday with my friend and her parents. The place was pretty packed, mostly with elderly Asian couples craving some cheap grub. I'm a pretty timid gourmand when it comes to Asian cuisine, usually straying away from tripe and chicken feet. Although, I do recommend the pork bun, the egg custard pastry, the dumplings, and the beef and noodles.
The China Pearl is an ok place for cheap, humdrum victuals.
Like a figure skating judge, I'm giving a lower rating based because I have not yet tried Winsor or Emperor's Garden, and don't want to dole out the 5.0 just yet.
For my roommate's surprise brunch, her boyfriend organized an elaborate scheme in which her friends would arrive early and greet her with a carved butternut squash (in place of a friend who could not make it) and new ipod speakers. FYI, dim sum waitresses get perplexed by med students' gourd versions of the Rubin vase. One stared at the squash for a good two minutes, likely wondering if it had come off of one of the carts.
We had the:
-shumai
-vegetarian spring rolls
-shrimp noodle thing with soy sauce
-broccoli
-steamed shrimp dumplings
-bbq pork buns (two kinds)
-rice
-egg custard tarts
-sesame balls
-tea
-taro
-shrimp thing that looks like a pom pom
Dim sum worked quite well for the large group. They seated us on a giant round table on a platform within direct sight of the door, which maximized our "hide under the table and then pop out making interpretive dance gestures while screaming HAPPY BIRTHDAY" antics. Our group could have benefited from a lazy susan with which to more effiiciently distribute food, or knives with which to subdivide the food. Coming in on Saturday before noon with a reservation also enabled us to evade long lines that seem to occur on Sunday mornings.
Hands down the best DIm Sum in Boston; just be prepared to ask what everything is if you are faint of heart.
As always, China Pearl did not disappoint us. We arrived on Saturday morning around 11am and just beat the rush. The first cart carried my favorite - baked pork buns - so the meal got off to a great start.
The Dim Sum is definitely on par with what we've had in NYC and San Francisco. CP is the only place we've tried in Boston as we've never found a reason to try a different place.
Definitely worth a visit!
If i could give this place 0 stars..I would. This place is the WORST place I've ever been to. I came here for Chinese New Year and it was the biggest mistake of my life. The service was beyond terrible. There were about 5 tables in the restaurant and three servers. It was not busy. It took a good 10 minutes for anyone to acknowledge that we were there. I finally had to flag someone down. He was rude. Never smiled once. We had to ask for water, plates, silverware, etc. several times.
The food was also gross. The dim sum looked old and slimey. We ordered black bean spare ribs and some shumai. Icky icky.
We also ordered a beef and veggie entree and a couple of other things. I know that at some Chinese restaurants, they serve the meat a little more on the rare side....but when this dish came out....the beef was still bloody as in raw. I tried to tell the waiter and all he did was argue with me.
My meal ended up being $60 bucks and of course the entire bill was written in Chinese so I couldnt even read what was written. It was the biggest waste of money ever.
I left less than 10% because the service was TERRIBLE. I know how to tip (I've waitressed before and am a 20% tipper type) but I couldnt' give him more than that. I will never ever go back there again. Ugh. Im getting mad just thinking about it.
Great dim sum. Everything we got was flavorful and fresh tasting. They have all of the typical dim sim offerings plus a few things I'd never had before. They had clams in some sort of brown sauce that were different and tasty. Great shumai, chinese broccoli, dumplings of all sorts, great pork buns. They were very attentive with the tea.
I'll go back for sure.
Did you know they charged for tea? 50 cent per person for a pot of tea, but you get refills so thank goodness. Just tip the top of the tea pot and a waiter will come and refill your tea pot. Anyways, my favorite tea is chrysanthemum tea and I would ask that sugar be added to it. If you don't ask when you are seated then you will get the cheap tea.
The best Dim Sum in Boston. Though I haven't tried Hei-La Moon yet. I've been going here since forever. The other Dim Sum places can't compete.
Here is what I normally eat and recommend.
Scary Chicken Feet- Lol. I added the "scary" part because since I was little, I was told that young children should not eat chicken feet otherwise our hands would shake and my father would do a very impressive trembling to ward my siblings and I away from the plate of chicken feet. When I grew older, my father confessed that it was something that adults said to scare the children and so that the adults can have the chicken feet all to themselves. Lol. China Pearl makes this dish pretty well. If done perfectly, the skin should slide off of the bones, it should be soft and very flavorful. It should be covered in a brown sauce. Don't go for the pale white stuff because that is NOT what I am talking about.
Shrimp dumplings and lobster dumplings : I know some review writers complain that some of the food is very bland, well, some are supposed to be. And that's why there is a dipping sauce. The lobster dumpling is pretty flavorful by itself but you can add a little extra saltiness by dipping them in soy sauce. I love to mix in my soy sauce a little of the chili paste. You know, the red sauce next t o the yellow one, which is as some lady called "hot mustard" and ran away to use the bathroom. lol.
Shu mai- like a pork and shrimp dumpling, goes into the chili paste. I like spicy, you can probably guess that right?
Hmm. Not sure what to call this one. It's a shrimp rice roll. Comes in three rolls with shrimp and scallion wrapped inside. I usually ask for extra sauce. This shrimp version of this dish is better than the beef one. It's the one that comes with an oval lid.
Tripe with ginger and scallion- this one is really good alone or dipped in the chili paste. I just love the heat from the ginger in this dish.
Chili and salted shrimp- with heads! Did you know that shrimps with their heads taste sweeter than ones without their heads? You get this from the food bar. Skip the calamari.
Snails and clams in oyster sauce (separate dishes)- also from food bar, go, get up and check it out. Bring your slip. You suck the snail out. Forget the toothpick. You will be there forever.
Pork or beef intestine dish, like a stew-you get it from the food bar, when you see it you will know what I am talking about. Do not confuse with the condensed pig blood but that's good too.
Other dishes that are pretty good
Rice congee-I love the chicken one, but I also love the egg one too. Egg one is a bit unique. You might find it taste a bit rotten. Lol, because it is sort of. Sticky rice dishes, Fried tofu with shrimp paste (maybe I should have put this above), Crispy fried taro something dish (lol)
Hot tofu in sweet ginger syrup is the best desert to end the meal with. It comes with the lady pushing a cart with a small barrel and a pitcher of yellow lyrcorice sauce. She scoops it out and pours the syrup over the tofu for you.
I would skip all noodle dishes served here and fried rice dishes. They are better for lunch and dinner. The selection available for dim sum are nothing special. Except for the sticky rice dish, however, of the three times I have had this dish, two times it was either undercooked or oversteamed so that it is soggy.
At the time I tried this place, I was inexperienced in the art of dim sum. I went in with 6 people on a sunday morning and delighted in food from all the delicious carts. The dumplings were all good (not overly greasy), the turnip cake was still the best I've ever had, and the sesame balls had the perfect rice to filling ratio. The restaurant had white table clothes, attentive staff, fast service/tea refills and the total bill came out to about $10 per person and we were unable to move from our seats afterward.
At the time, I thought that was great.
But then I moved to San Francisco and it was a whole new world. Restaurants in SF have no ambiance, rude service, delicious food in copious portions, and the price will come out to about $6 per person to stuff yourself on a Sunday morning until you can no longer move. The turnip cake at my regular location is not nearly as good as the one at China Pearl, but their jellyfish and shrimp/chive dumplings are fantastic.
Based on the time i went there (3 years ago) I believe China Pearl deserves 4 stars. Now, I'm not sure how well it would fair comparatively, but I'll give it the review I feel it deserves based on when I tried it.
I ain't gonna lie... pretty good dim sum! My family has been going here since they closed Golden Palace across the street (that happened almost 2 decades ago, but I am still mourning its loss). For a loooong time, this was the only place we went for dim sum and other functions (weddings, birthdays, etc.). It has gotten a little pricier over the years, but the food is still of great quality.
Dim sum is wonderful. If you go here on a weekend, it will be mobbed, and you will be rushed, so be prepared for that. You may even be forced to share a table with complete strangers. But, it's all a part of the ambiance, I guess.
I've also been to many a family function here, and out of all the places in Chinatown we've gone to, this is in the top three. They churn out the food SO fast, and it is always delicious.
After a Brewery tour and a visit to the USS Bataan (FYI, FREAKING AWESOME) we were are famished. It being the boy's special day, he got to pick where he wanted to go. As usual, he had no idea and we argued about it for a good 20 minutes, until we settled on China Pearl, since we wanted some type of Asian, and were really curious to get some Dim Sum.
The decor is really nice, but it reminds me of a hotel lobby restaurant. And there is this really unnecessary HUGE step to get to the bathroom. I mean, COME ON, WHY is it there?!!?
So, we were too late for the Dim Sum, but the plates were definitely family size, so we ordered the following:
- Pork Fried Rice
- Beef Lo Mein
- Roasted Duck
- Curry Chicken
- Sweet and Sour Shrimp
- Peking Ravioli
- Crab Rangoons (2 orders)
- Beef w/ Broccoli
- Pork with vegetables
FYI, there were 7 of us, so we weren't THAT much of pigs. The Ravioli and the fried rice were my favorite, the rice was seriously addicting, I could have had another whole plate. The raviolis were really big and very flavorful. The Beef w/ broccoli was also really delicious. The rest wasn't very memorable. The crab rangoons were nice, but I've definitely had better, they were a bit runny and there was too much cream cheese (and I love cream cheese). My curry chicken was mediocre, and I didn't like the texture or the flavor of the sauce (and it wasn't even spicy, boo). Lo Mein was tasty, but I've had better.
The service was non-existent but I've come to deal with that in Chinatown. The food was really cheap, upon reflection, it was about $105.00 before tip which really isn't bad. We even had leftovers. I really want to come back for the Dim Sum but for right now and if I were to come back, it would be for the fried rice and the ravioli's.
It's really good dim sum, and It feels authentic.
It's inexpensive.
Their shrimp balls, pork buns, & egg plant is yummy.
The downside: they give you tiny glasses of water which are seldom refilled, and if you come after 11 on the weekend, you're going to wait forever.
The service upstairs isn't nearly as good as the service downstairs.
Things can get a little dim-sane around noon on a Sunday, but maybe that's half the fun of Chinatown and subsequently China Pearl. All the Chinatownies trying to hold their own on these crumbled sidewalks. All the tourists trying to figure out why they can't see the Prudential from here to point them in the right direction. All the rest of us locals trying to remember if it was China Pearl that was the place that is upstairs and last updated in 1984? Oh yes, yes that's the place.
I'm not an eater of the shellfish nor the pork, so I can't comment on the majority of the dim sum platters, but this is a dandy place to come with a big group. It's cheap and nothing is forced upon you to order that you don't want. Helpful FYI: If you're coming with a stroller, make sure to bring your mule to carry it up for you. It's pretty steep to be hauling the babe and wheels up all by yourself.
We walked into Chinatown and my kids knew exactly where they were going which proves to me they spend alot of time in this area! I didn't care for the outside of China Pearl as it looked seedy and not very nice. We walked up a long set of stairs and I was surprised at the decor...I mean yeah yeah it was definitely Chinese with the golden dragons on the back wall but it had a touch of elegance with real linen tablecloths and napkins...you don't get alot of that in that part of town. Our waiter...ummmm hmmm waiter is not a word I would use for him...he looked disinterested and "we're wasting his time" attitude...not my idea of someone who wants a good tip. I know, I know..Joey said that's what you get here but ohh PULEASE!! At least FAKE IT!!! But if you can ignore that, then everything else was fine.
We didn't do dim sum...too late in the day for that but ordered directly from the menu.
Food was very good, tasty in all aspects and lots of it. Everyone in our party enjoyed all the dishes totally. The staff was always there to fill water and to get anything we needed. I would be back for the food, definitely! But the waiter can go bye bye..
Neighborhood: Chinatown
Category: Dim Sum
Neighborhood: Chinatown
Category: Dim Sum
Neighborhood: Waterfront
Category: Dim Sum
Neighborhood: Chinatown
Category: Dim Sum
Neighborhood: Chinatown
Category: Restaurants
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