Golden Pearl Chinese Restaurant

Although we don't catch every new movie that are in the theatres, we usually see all the blockbusters and of course many of the animated flicks (for the kiddies).  That usually takes us to either Silvercity Coquitlam or Metropolis.  Both get pretty busy where parking is at a premium and if we do not preorder tickets online (with seat reservations), the crowds are crazy.  So for once, we headed over to the generally quieter Park & Tilford in North Van.  Afterwards, we made thing easy and ate next door at Golden Pearl Chinese where we decided to do the dinner for 4 (yes, that type of Chinese food...).

Okay, we are pretty well-versed with Americanized Chinese food, so we weren't expecting much out of the Wonton Soup.  Of course there wasn't any shrimp involved, so the all pork wontons were fine for what they were.  We found the meat to be aggressively processed to the point where there was not much texture left.  However, it also meant that it was tender and almost airy.  The soup itself was rather mild-tasting.  We were not huge fans of the Deep Fried Shrimp though as the batter was heavily applied and hence, was doughy and thick (more baking powder perhaps?).  However, the exterior was crispy and the shrimp inside was meaty.

When the Sweet & Sour Pork hit the table, it looked like pieces were going to fall off the plate.  The portion size was easily enough to be for 2 at many other establishments.  Meaty and consisting of not one piece of fatty pork, the meat was tender and fairly crispy on the outside.  We would've preferred that they eased up on the tenderization of the meat though.  As for the sauce, it was in a pleasing dark hue (food colouring) where it was a bit sweet and only modestly tangy.  Glistening with oil, the Chicken Fried Rice was actually quite good.  Each grain of rice was chewy and nutty while well-seasoned.  The same could be said about the chicken as it tasted pretty good.  There was plenty of it and we found the pieces of meat rather tender.

Equally large as the Sweet & Sour Pork, the Broccoli Beef was wok fried properly.  Each broccoli floret was crunchy and vibrant while cooked all-the-way-through.  The entire dish was well-seasoned with garlic and salt whereas the moisture content was minimal.  The slices of beef were rather soft being over-tenderized.  Therefore, they broke apart during the stir-fry.  Our last dish was the House Special Chow Mein that featured crispy noodles topped with a plethora of toppings.  The sauce itself was not overly salty, which was fine by us as we doused the noodles with red vinegar.  Amazingly, the kiddies loved the food (yah, probably to the horror of my parents) and we thought it was good for what it was.  Prices were fair and portions were large.

The Good:
- Large portions
- Good Westernized Chinese food
- Attentive service

The Bad:
- Prices are a bit higher (but portion size makes up for it)
- Restaurant could use a few updates