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Hunan Pearl Restaurants
Rating Details »
8 reviews for Hunan Pearl Restaurants
I've eaten here a few times now and it's been consistently great(ok, save for one time where it was good, but not great). The egg drop soup is savory (my mouth is watering now as I think about it) and the sesame shrimp and kung pao chicken so delicious. And it's not just the food that is so great---I have yet to encounter a cleaner facility and more attentive/kind/friendly staff for any restaurant at this price. Every time we've eaten here, just when I'm getting low on water, the server (or busperson) swoops in to fill my glass. The same goes with rice, etc.
If anyone has any completely stellar Chinese restaurants for me to compare to, please LMK, but Hunan Pearl wins my vote and business.
This is actually fairly authentic Chinese fare you'd get at a decent Hotel in Taiwan, which is saying something since only the best chefs work out of luxury hotels there. Quips about the food being 'Americanized' is due to the fact that N. Americans are used to eating at Cantonese restaurants (This is due to the fact that there are far more Chinese immigrants from Guandong and Hong Kong in N. America). Therefore most N. Americans would not even know what is 'authentic.' On top of that the menu is limited to items suited for non-Chinese tastes, which adds to the air of 'inauthenticity.'This means that they make authentic items, but are selective about what to put on the menu, that's all. I suspect Don B. below is referring to another establishment nearby. Or may be he's just used to Cantonese style cuisine.
For some reason their portions are small if you eat in, twice the amount if you take out. I only take out. They make the best Kung Pao Chicken and Shredded Pork/Roasted Tofu in Oregon. The latter is good due to the fact that they stir-fry peppers with sesame oil: a sign of true authenticity whenever diced or shredded roasted tofu is used. On the other hand, I don't care for the fact that they use too much celery in this dish. Oh well.
Never go to a Chinese restaurant on a Sunday nite unless lots of Chinese live in the area. The head chef will usually be having his/her day off.
Four stars minus one star for the unsavory practice of ripping-off dine-in customers.
I am conflicted about this place.
The food here is good (yes, Americanized Chinese), but the service absolutely sucks. We are in an unenviable position because the service is so bad we are compelled to order take-out when we need our fix. Then the issue turns into takeout Chinese not being as good as eating at the restaurant.
Well, I don't know if the service is consistently bad, but we had an experience that pissed me off enough to make me not want to confirm or deny my suspicions. To make a long story short, the waiter serving our table decided we were not important enough to interrupt his frequent conversations with a nearby table. Twice, in fact, he was on his way over with food for our table when he stopped and had a few laughs with his buddies. I could smell our food, oh, it smelled so good, while he was holding it in his hand while holding court. Plus he would just kind of throw the plates down on the table. I don't expect a graceful table delivery all the time, but please at least make an effort to show you care.
But now to the food. There must be a reason why I gave this place a 3 instead of a 1 or 2, and a reason we still do take out here. They have an excellent Sesame Beef and really good Combination Fried Rice. In fact, mix those two together and toss in a little left over plum sauce from the also tasty Mu Shu Pork, and I am a happy man. We sometimes get the Honey Walnut Shrimp, which would definitely be better at the restaurant. The other items we have tried have been very good too, but we tend to stick to the Mu Shu, Sesame Beef, and Combo Fried Rice.
I have been a customer of Hunan Pearl's since 2003. Generally tasty food, favorites are egg drop corn chowder, sesame beef and shrimp, combo rice, KP Chx, Chx asparagus. Our party dined there last night (first Friday night experience), and will now not go back for a in dinning experience. We were an 8 person group - four couples. We made reservations, knowing it would be busy, waited for 20 minutes for our reservation, the place was crammed so we stood in the bar area. Once we were seated the race was on we barely sat before they were pushing us to order. We ordered drinks, which we had to remind our server about 2x, we ordered a lot of food, 2 items never came, a second round of drinks, which again we had to ask for more than 2x, then they came so late were we almost done with our meal. They started pulling our plates (are you finished are you finished - I guess we were) before most in our party had finished nibbling, and then they tried to charge us for the plates we did not receive. As for the slamming of the plates - added to the annoyance factor. Really - I mean one or two of these issues OK, but seriously...Like the food - hate dinning there now - take out highly recommended.
Oh dear ... I don't consider myself an "expert" on good Chinese by any means, but I thought this was pretty tasty after a long day of travelling and airport food!
I ordered the Shrimp with Garlic Sauce which was good when served, however, I didn't care for it reheated as much because the sauce congealed into a gelatinous fatty glob that made a disturbing noise when I turned the container upside down on my plate.
I also tried some of my dining companion's Sauteed String Beans, which were garlicky and delicious, and I thought the Hot & Sour Soup was one of the better I've had.
Interesting side note: as we were leaving, I overheard another diner say that they were from New York City (Why must people from NYC always announce that fact? Like we give a shit.) and that this was the "best Chinese they've had outside the City". Whatevs.
Anyhoo, plus three stars for the String Beans, Hot & Sour, and nice attentive waiter who kept our tea pot and water glasses full. Minus two for the congealing sauce and uninspired atmosphere.
OMG!!!! DON"T EAT HERE!
This has to be the bottom of the barrel as far as Chinese food goes. I work near this place and the company I work for buys us food from this place about every 4 weeks or so. The only reason I keep eating it is because its free (but I am nearing wit's end with the place). I have tried a different thing each time and everything is pretty much nasty. The sauces are are just varying mixtures of sugar, salt, cornstarch and food coloring. The potstickers are all doughy (how do you mess up potstickers?!?). Everything is just bad.
This place is the epitome of shitty americanized suburban strip-mall chinese. It's as bad as a buffet, but you only get one plate - so its not even worthwhile for those buffet junkies that like to get obese off of salty greasy noodles.
Avoid this place at ALL COSTS.
My coworkers and I are fomenting rebellion as I write this.
Oh No, previous 1 star review! That sucks, Don B. I must concur that this place is somewhat of the bastardized Chinese variety, but holy moly.. the Braised Green Beans. I must capitalize because they are juicy, spicy, hot, and garlicky spears of divinity. I haven't had green beans like that befo.
Average kung pao and general tso.. apps, etc.
Soo, if you happen to find yourself in that weird I-5 217 turnpike confusion and don't want to go to Chevy's after filling up at the Shell, try the this spot. I haven't had the *flagitious* experiences of Don.
I thought this place served some pretty good chinese food...it's not authentic chinese food...but it was still good. They have the best hot and sour soup and pot stickers i ever had! yummy!! I been here a few times, and I order the soup and pot stickers everytime! Their service here is good as well; the staff was nice and made sure everything was fine.