Pearl Liang (dim sum) revisited – London, England (8.5/10)
Aug 27th, 2009 by admin
Background:
If you’ve been reading my blog or following my tweets for a while, you may know that I’m a huge fan of dim sum and that one of my favourite restaurants in London for dim sum is Pearl Liang (the others being Yauatcha and Yum Cha). As my last dim sum post on Pearl Liang was well over a year ago, I thought I’d better revisit it to see if it was still as good as I remembered. With me were two dim sum fanatics and the husband.
What we ordered:
The usual suspects were ordered and the not so great dishes avoided (see last post).
- pan-fried turnip paste (£2.50) – the best turnip paste I’ve had in London has been at Yum Cha. The Pearl Liang one wasn’t gooey like some versions I’ve had, and it was nicely flavoured
- xiao long bao (steamed Shanghai soup dumplings) (£2.50) – I can’t remember whether on my last visit these came with the vinegar and ginger slivers dipping sauce or not. It didn’t come with these, but by the time we started to eat them and realised it was missing, it was too late as the dumplings would have become cold. Mine was very juicy, but the brother complained that his hardly had any soup inside
- BBQ pork puff (£2.50) – another star dish, perfect on the outside, while the barbecued pork filling was sweet as it should be
- har gau (steamed prawn dumplings) (£2.80) – not as good as I remembered. Although the filling was nice and crunchy, the skins were a little thick and sticky
- steamed prawn & chive dumplings (£2.80) – also not as good as they should have been, as they were a little bland
- paper wrapped sesame prawn roll (£2.80) – one of my favourite dishes at Pearl Liang. These are deep-fried, so that they are beautifully crispy on the outside, with a crunchy prawn filling
- honey roasted pork buns (cha siu bao) (£2.50) – I didn’t eat one, but they were good according to my fellow diners
- steamed spare ribs in black bean sauce (£2.50) – this isn’t always good at dim sum restaurants. Sometimes the pieces of rib are too fatty, or too chewy, but this version was excellent, with plenty of meaty pieces to chew off the bones
- BBQ roast pork cheung fun (£2.80) – not bad, but not as good as the prawn version
- king prawn cheung fun (£3.20) – nice fat rolls filled with whole prawns, just the way I like my prawn cheung fun
The husband, who doesn’t eat meat or seafood, had his own mini order:
- steamed spinach vegetable dumplings (£2.50) – there are very few vegetarian dim sum options on the Pearl Liang menu. This is one of them, served with spinach and sweetcorn kernels! However, it was quite tasty apparently
- gai lan stir-fried in garlic (£7.20) – the gai lan were fresh and crunchy and it was a substantial portion. I usually order this or pea shoots
- assorted vegetable fried crispy noodle (£6.80) – not something I would ever order for myself, but again, due to the limited vegetarian options on the menu, the husband was faced with very few dishes that he could eat
The verdict:
The prices, very reasonable for London, haven’t gone up, while the quality of food has remained about the same, with certain dishes being better than others. The standard of service is still friendly and polite. It wasn’t quite as spectacular as I remembered, but I do enjoy going to Pearl Liang because I’ve only ever had pleasant experiences there.
Booking a table is essential, particularly at weekends. I’ve had feedback from people who have just turned up, only to face a long wait. Not all dim sum restaurants take weekend lunch bookings, so take advantage of the fact that Pearl Liang accepts bookings, so that you know you have a table waiting for you.
My post on Where To Eat Dim Sum In London is regularly updated, so you may be interested in reading it for other restaurant recommendations (read the comments from readers for suggestions). There are also some informational posts on dim sum which might be useful, archived on the Useful Info page.
The cost came to approximately £13 per person including tea and service charge. All the food photos from Pearl Liang can be viewed here.
10 – Perfection, 9.5 – Sensational, 9 – Outstanding, 8.5 – Superb,
8 – Excellent, 7.5 – Very Good, 7 - Good, 6.5 - Above Average, 6 – Average
All the London restaurant reviews on World Foodie Guide
Contact Details:
Pearl Liang
8 Sheldon Square
Paddington Central
London W2 6EZ
Tel: 020 7289 7000
www.pearlliang.co.uk
Helen Yuet Ling Pang @ World Foodie Guide
Wow, lots of yummy dim sum!
I love Yauatcha too, they use lots of luxurious ingredients to make ordinary dim sum. Love the Mongolian Lamb there, so heavenly! But they don’t allow photos taking inside the restaurant.
Really interesting. I like the way you refer to ‘the brother’(!) Goodness, when am I going to get the chance to meet you I wonder – been following your site for such a long time!
Does your hubby like cheung fun ? I’m sure there’s a veggie option at Pearl Liang or if he wants to explore his inner-Homer Simpson, you can’t beat zhaliang (dough stick cheung fun).
Shame about the XLB ! You know I how strongly I feel about the king of dumplings !
Their noodles aren’t quite as good as either the dim sum or the evening offering – the char kway teow was particularly dismal when we tried it; no wok hei, and oddly stodgy. That said, the majority of what’s on offer remains great, and it’s consistently good – I try to get to Pearl Liang every month or so. I’m very much looking forward to a wedding reception we’ve been invited to there in October!
I am confused – I thought the vegetarian husband was pescetarian (from the hot smoked salmon recipe)?
I still haven’t made it to Pearl Liang but it sounds as if their standards have dropped.
I am always amazed at you dim sum entries based in London, not only the prices are reasonable, the standard was high too. Compared to a portion at Eur 4.20 onwards in Dublin… argh! frustrating!
I must plan a trip to London purely on dim sum hopping, with the help of your blog
KennyT – I’ve never had any problems with taking photos at Yauatcha, although I’m aware of their policy. I’ve been so many times and each time I’ve taken photos without anyone telling me to put my camera away. Have you seen my latest Yauatcha post?
Douglas – thanks! I’m sure we’ll be bumping into each other soon at a food event!
Mr Noodles – the husband hates cheung fun, so he won’t be able to eat fried dough stick cheung fun. Shame, but all the more for me…
Liz – not everything is amazing, but there are definitely enough good quality dim sum and dinner items to make Pearl Liang one of my favourites! Lucky you going to a wedding celebration there, you’ll eat well. I saw a huge suckling pig being carved up the other day, served with jellyfish, for a big occasion.
Lizzie – it is confusing! He eats fish, but no other seafood. If I say he’s a pescetarian, that implies he eats seafood, right, or is there another term or label I’ve not heard of?! When I say he’s vegetarian, people also get confused when I mention he eats fish. I wish he would just eat everything, it would make life so much easier…
adel – you should come to London on a dim sum trip, that would be great! Shame the situation is so bad in Dublin. High prices, low quality or just high prices?
Helen Yuet Ling
Sounds really good. I’m always looking for dim sum places to eat, especially since my favourite (Imperial China) has really dropped in quality in the past year or so.
Wild Boar – Imperial China used to be my favourite too! I used to go there with everyone I knew, family, friends, colleagues and was a real regular there. However, it’s become really bad now and I’ve stopped going. It’s a shame!
I truly enjoyed reading about your visit to Pear Liang because experiencing it vicariously is about the only way I can get good dim sum right now! We haven’t been to a one is waaaay too long, since a favorite restaurant closed a few months back. I’d complain about the prices at the others but it’s probably still cheaper than jetting off to London and visiting these places you’ve recommended!
I like Pearl Liang, although I have to say I much prefer the Turnip Paste in Bayswater’s Royal China. In fact I’ve just eaten it this afternoon…yum!
Tangled Noodle – what a shame your favourite has closed. I sometimes wonder what I would do if a certain restaurant closed! By the way, OysterCulture is planning to visit Pearl Liang with her mother during her stopover in London before going to Ireland.
gourmet traveller – I think the best turnip paste I’ve had was at Yum Cha. I don’t go to Royal China anymore…
Helen Yuet Ling
Hello! Just wanted to say a quick thank you for recommending Pearl Liang. I went there for my special day over the weekend with friends and although it was hard to find at first (I didn’t realise it was down those steps!) I really thoroughly enjoyed the experience. The food was lovely and the service was more than brilliant – a far cry from the ‘China Town’ experience of super-efficient dining. The decor reminded me of proper restaurants in Asia!
Sadly I didn’t get to try the turnip cake as it was on the opposite side of the table, but I did order the wrapped sesame prawn roll (as recommended) and loved it! Other highlights included the cheung fun – both the prawn and the fried bread sitck versions – and even the chicken feet – maybe it’s been far too long since I’ve had any of the latter – and the xiao long bao; mine certainly had plenty of soup inside!
I think I must have misplaced the receipt, because I would have loved to elaborate more on what we actually ordered. It was easy to lose track of the actual food as we ate so much in a very short time – the food was served in waves and in very quick succession.
The only thing I had to complain about was the lack of phone reception inside the restaurant (I couldn’t look up your other recommended items ^^) Will certainly be back again. Did I read that they actually serve suckling pig???
Flick – glad to hear you enjoyed Pearl Liang! It can be difficult to find, so well done. And I agree about the phone reception in there! No one can reach you once you’re inside! Yes, suckling pig can be ordered but probably only in advance. It’s good if you’re in a large group (though I haven’t had it so it’s not a personal recommendation!). Now I want to go back for dim sum!
Helen Yuet Ling