The Weekly Eater
AS Ala Moana Center has gone yupscale, so has the food. First, Neiman Marcus' Mariposa proposed that there's more to mall food than fries and buffalo wings, and Liberty House sweetened the news with The Pineapple Room. Discovering a pearl in
mall food clusterBoth restaurants serve contemporary cuisine with Pacific Rim accents; it remains to be seen whether some of our favorite ethnic cuisines can make a similar leap because years of so-so plate lunches have left us scarred. My first reaction upon hearing about Pearl's Seafood Chinese Restaurant was, "Ugh, mall food."
Even more ominous, around dinner time, the place was nearly empty. But after trying several dishes here, I was pleasantly surprised. This is not your generic Chinese restaurant.
After racing around the ever-growing mall, sniffing around Origins, deciding Arden B. will be one of my new favorite stores and surviving the hazardous parking lot, it was a relief to find Pearl's fairly quiet oasis.
THERE will always be many more who prefer a quickie plate lunch to the formality of a sit-down dinner, and price could also deter potential customers, but at its most affordable, Pearl's offers plain Saimin for $4.50 and Saimin with Roast Duck for $5.50, in line with or less than a typical meal at the center's food court. On the high end, there's Lobster and Crab served at seasonal prices; the latter was recently priced at more than $18 per pound, and most of the creatures in the restaurant's tank appear to be two pounders.
Food PEARL'S SEAFOOD
1/2
Atmosphere
Service
Value
Address: Ala Moana Center, lower level, between GNC and ABC stores
If your budget allows, you might try the Curry Crab Casserole with Long Rice, drenched in mild yellow curry. The sweet crab meat is protected from all that curry by the shell, but it still is one messy dish.
Otherwise, Pearl's offers a typical menu of 199 items, from your basic Chinese Chicken Salad ($7.50) to Peking Duck ($15 half, $28 whole). After a round of shopping, it can be dizzying to choose. I went the seafood route, the only diversion being an order of Salt and Pepper Pork Chops ($8.50), thin pieces that are dusted with flour and deep-fried so the exterior is wonderfully crispy, while the interior is still tender.
A dish of Drunken Clams ($9.50) makes a nice starter, about 9 clams served chilled, drizzled with chili peppers, green onions, garlic and white wine sauce.
And I also overheard a group raving about the Honey Glazed Shrimp with Walnuts ($9.95).
If it's oysters you love, try them on a sizzling platter with ginger and onions ($9.95). Then again, if I had had more time to study the menu, I might have gone with the deep-fried oysters. I'm sure they'd be just as good.
The only disappointments were the Mandarin dishes, which lacked fire power. The Eggplant with Garlic Sauce ($7.50) and Kung Pao Shrimp (8.95) merely came across as Cantonese wannabes.
After all this, dessert was out of the question. Of course, one of the best reasons to frequent mall restaurants is that it may lead to a reduction in clothing purchases. After rolling out of Pearl's, there's no way any woman would dare to try on clothes at Bebe, Rafael or any other store.
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Nadine Kam's restaurant reviews run on Thursdays. Reviews are conducted anonymously and paid for by the Star-Bulletin. Star ratings are based on comparisons of similar restaurants:
To recommend a restaurant, write: The Weekly Eater, P.O. Box 3080, Honolulu, Hawaii 96802. Or send e-mail to features@starbulletin.com
