Pearl on Victoria

Not being able to play any sports due to my concussion has put a real damper in my life. I ain't getting any younger and each passing day is another lost opportunity to play. However, I made it a personal goal of mine to support both my hockey and softball teams even though I cannot play. I planned to attend each and every game until I got better. That is what a good teammate would do! Nah, who am I kidding? I just want to join them for eats after the game! The sporting activity is merely a 2 hour delay from munching on food... So that is what I did for a Friday night, I met up with the team after the game. Gordo asked if I had saw his nice goal. I sheepishly replied that I wasn't even there watching! LOL...

The food adventure brought us to Pearl on Victoria for some good ol' HK-style cafe action. Since it was an early game, we were able to get there before they closed (which is 10:00pm). Gordo decided that by merely eating one dish was not enough and started with the Crispy Egg Waffle. This one was a bit overdone with a very crispy exterior. Inside, it was a bit chewier than we would've liked, but in the end it did the job and it didn't suck. For his main he went for the Curry Beef Brisket on Rice. The curry was very flavourful, bordering on salty. It had a nice thick consistency with a nice kick. The ample amount of beef brisket was sufficiently tender. Apu wasn't very hungry and decided that some Curry Fish Balls were enough. The menu stated that there would be 6 pieces, yet as you can clearly see, there were 10. Not that he was complaining or anything, it was just more balls than he was expecting. And while I was trying to take a picture of his balls, he kept trying to play with them. I had to resort to yelling at him to stop playing with his balls! He did try to offer me one, but I was good. Besides, they were generic fish balls. However, the curry was the same as Gordo's dish and it did well in flavouring the balls.

For myself, I went for the 3 Item Combo consisting of Ox Tongue, Chicken Steak and Beef Steak in a black pepper sauce with spaghetti and mixed veg. Although the beef steak was small, it was thick and cooked to a perfect medium-rare. It was sufficiently tender and juicy. The chicken steak (essentially a deboned leg) was also cooked nicely being moist and juicy. As for the ox tongue, it was a bit on the softer side. I tried offering my tongue to everyone with no takers except for Emilicious. She took my soft tongue willingly. I tried again with Gadget Girl, but she merely replied with a glare. There was plenty of black pepper sauce which was flavourful while not all that peppery. I wasn't a huge fan of the spaghetti as it was the thick variety.

Gadget Girl, Milhouse and Emilicious ended up sharing 3 items. The first to arrive was the Preserved Duck Egg & Salted Pork Congee. It was thick and full of ingredients. There was just enough seasoning to add flavour without making the entire thing salty. The congee remained thick until the last drop. They also had the Satay Beef with Flat Rice Noodles which was quite flavourful with a touch of spice. The beef was tender while the noodles were al dented. Despite the appearance of too much sauce, it was the right amount for the bowl. Lastly, they had the Salted Fish & Chicken Fried Rice (which I forgot to take a picture of!). It was good with chewy nutty rice which was not greasy. There was plenty of flavour without being overly salty. The salted fish was in good sized chunks and was fairly soft. Despite holding up their closing time, the staff remained friendly and attentive. Considering there are no real competitors nearby, Pearl does a decent job for a HK-style cafe. Prices are good, food is acceptable and the service above average.

The Good:
- Reasonable prices
- Decent eats
- Good service

The Bad:
- Not a very big restaurant
- There is better, but not nearby and at that price