Pearl Liang

Very disappointing experience at Pearl Liang last night. We were a party of 8 people and ordered the 'Pearl' set menu. Unfortunately, what followed was a relentless assault of salt that meant even high quality ingredients were a struggle to eat.

Starter of scallop and soft shell crab was tasty at the outset, but the salt levels soon numbed our tongues and left us gasping for water / tea / wine - any liquid to dilute.

Peking duck was nice but the portion was small, with barely enough to go round our table.

The lobster noodles were a far cry from those at the Mandarin Kitchen. The lobster itself was inferior and the gravy was less tasty. And, it was so salty that we must have got through 4 pots of tea on that course alone.

Main courses too were poor. The best dish was the mixed vegetables, which were fresh, crunchy and, for once, not too salty. However, the prawns were overcooked, or maybe even pre-cooked, because they had lost their fresh texture. The turbot had an odd flavour about it, and we left most of it. Chicken on prawn toast was no more than the sum of its ingredients.

The high point of the meal therefore was the cake we had ordered in from Patisserie Valerie for my mum's birthday.

My parents were impressed by their first few experiences at Pearl Liang, but I expect this will be their and my last. Back to the Mandarin Kitchen for consistently good food and amazing lobster noodles!
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MJN
4 Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 5 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 3
Tuesday, October 12, 2010

After reading several reviews about this restaurant, we went today for what we thought would be a lovely meal.

The restaurant looks lovely and the prices match the pretentious surroundings but both the food and service came way too short of expectations.

The staff just do not understand what friendly service is. Maybe cause their English isnt brilliant. Sorry but its England and in a posh restaurant. its expected right?

The food was very salty and oily to an extent that you need to constantly wipe your fingers dry.

I did manage to flag it up to the manager after starters and hoped the mains would be better but it was stil terrible food. The manager never came back ONCE to check on us despite me telling him about the poor starters.

The food was very average and over rated.

On leaving. I made it a point to tell the manager that it was terrible food. He seemed rather defensive leave alone an apology.

what a rip off for AWFUL food and service!
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Sharad Kumar
2 Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 1
Sunday, August 01, 2010