Pearl Castle

It was the last day for my cousin here in Vancouver, he and his wife were headed back to San Fran. While dining with them at Hapa Izakaya on Sunday, they lamented on the fact they would not get a chance to try anything in Richmond before they left. If you are thinking that I would be taking them to Richmond before their flight, you guessed right. Yes, I did the ultimate sacrifice and drove them around Richmond in the middle of the day and during rush hour. I might as well give up and just assimilate. Where do I lineup for the full-face visor?

The plan today was to pick them up from the Sutton and head over to Shanghai River for some lunch. The whole idea of eating Shanghainese food can be attributed to a discussion regarding Joe's Shanghai in NYC. While they were in NYC, they had tried it on a friend's recommendation that they had the best Xiao Long Bao. Well... Viv and I have eaten at Joe's Shanghai and were not overly impressed. We wanted to show my cousin where the real deal could be found. Suffice to say, they were impressed with Shanghai River and its Xiao Long Bao. After that, we headed over to Pearl Castle for some refreshment. I have been meaning to visit Pearl Castle for some time; but it's one of those places that I never made an effort to go to.

Being in the middle of the afternoon, Pearl Castle was not its usual crazy busy. Good for us, we got to sit at a table of our choice and we took our time. I decided to go for the Strawberry Bubble Tea. Normally, fresh fruit would be my first choice; but I wanted to kick it ol' school. The drink was quite smooth and milky; but I couldn't get over the fact it tasted like Strawberry Pocky. My cousin got the Fresh Watermelon Slush. I didn't get a chance to ask him how it was; but he seemed happy with it. His wife had to settle on a Lychee Slush when her first choice wasn't available. Not a bad second choice, because Lychee is one of her favourites. The drink appeared to be blended well and she remarked that it was very good.

We never got a chance to try the food because we were pretty stuffed from lunch. However, according to friends, it's pretty good. Service was alright; but the servers seemed more interested in talking with each other than checking on tables.

The Good:
- Excellent selection of beverages
- Well-blended and not overly sweet drinks
- Spacious and comfortable dining space

The Bad:
- Service wasn't bad, but it wasn't that attentive either