GOING UPSCALE AT PEARL EAST IN MANHASSET

Putting on the Ritz

Once you get past the front door, you know you are not in Kansas (or Copiague) anymore. I imagine this is what a restaurant in Hong Kong might look like. Previously, our adventure has taken us to more moderate instituitions. Pearl East is high end Chinese, and sure does look the part. One thing that strikes me everytime I come here is the average age of the clientele. I think the Mee’s brought down the average age of the place to about 65.

Cathy, our hostess and owner (I believe), could not have been more gracious upon our arrival. The wait staff was quick and attentive. We let Cathy do the ordering, after requesting an “authentic” Chinese dinner. As an overall comment, the food was good, overly seasoned (maybe too much so), and salty.

Our meal included the following:

Starters

House Won Ton Soup-not bad, actually pretty good

Crispy Rice Paper Shrimp Roll with Grand Marnier Sauce- tasty and a very different dish from typical Chinese

Spare Ribs- traditional & meaty, and came with real hot towels ( a nice touch that you do not see that often any more)

Barbequed Jumbo Shrimp with Bok Choy- nice shrimp dish with heavy sauce, veggie was cooked great

Main Meal

Free Range Chicken w/ Spices- highly touted but missed the mark for this Mee

Lobster in XO Sauce w/Sticky rice- sauce again was heavy, but really enjoyed the rice

Sauteed Snow Pea Leaves- exceptional veggie dish

One thing that I have learned on this  journey is how much I love Chinese vegetables! The Chinese have a real talent for cooking amazing veggies!!!

Sea Bass w/Pine nuts- too sweet for me

Seafood Rice Cakes- Cathy insisted we have this dish for “Good Luck”. The rice cakes were like Chinese Gnocchi. Nice dish!

This meal was very different than the others that we had so far. Pearl East is more upscale with exceptional service, but the food was more seasoned than it needed to be. I have a funny feeling that in our Chinese Quest, this will not be the “Stand Out” meal.

Our next adventure takes us to what many consider to be a real authentic Chinese restaurant.  Stay tuned, I can’t wait!!!

Fondly,

Mee Tsu Yan