Location: 14955 Marine Dr, White Rock, BC V4B 1C3
Phone: (604) 542-1064 |
Hours:
Monday to Friday 11:30 am until close
Saturday and Sunday 11:00 am until close
Brunch: Saturday, Sunday 11:00 am to 3:00 pm
Website: http://www.pearlurbanbistro.ca/
Hints: Parking in White Rock could be expensive ($3/hour). Dine in on Tuesday, Thursday or Saturday and enjoy FREE Valet parking. (See website for details)
Pearl Urban Bistro
Pearl Urban Bistro
The inside
Pearl Urban Bistro is one of Vancouver’s critic restaurants in beautiful White Rock, BC. My girlfriend and I decided to pay a visit after attending a conference in South Surrey on a Saturday evening, which is a mere 10 minutes drive. I haven’t been to White Rock for awhile, but to find that parking prices are ridiculously high at $3 per hour. Too bad that we didn’t check out their website and note there was valet parking on Saturdays for FREE! Now, that’s service!
We entered the restaurant at around 6pm, only to find 2 tables occupied. However, the host said there were two large parties coming in later. We were first seated at the window in the front, but later moved to the booths at our request and thanks to a cancellation in reservation. In fact, thanks to low season at White Rock, we got a table just walking in.
Just water
Before we even ordered anything to drink, typical me, takes out my camera. And surely enough, the host has recognized us as food bloggers. (They must have a lot of em’ coming in.) Sometimes, I’d rather be a hidden foodie than being exposed because you know that special treatment is coming your way. We didn’t or rarely do we get anything special to drink.
Polenta
This was appetizer on the house, a pan seared polenta with beet sauce and arugula. For those who are unfamiliar with the term Polenta, it is cornmeal.
1LB Steamed Mussel Pot
From the recommendations of our server, we got the west coast mussel pot served in lamb chorizo, fresh herb shallot butter sauce. It was very delicious. For those who likes a kick in their sauces, this is definitely the one to get. And there are bite size lamb with the sauce.
Mussel
The mussels were quite large in size and the sauce was very flavourful. Maybe even a little too salty.
Flamed Prawns
A very big surprise and performance indeed, this was another appetizer on the house. If you order the flamed prawns, you will be pleased and even a show in front of your eyes. These are flame boiled prawns with red pepper, fennel with Sambuca. It was very tasty and very sweet as Sambuca is sugar concentrated liquer. The prawns were huge.
Pork Belly (Special of the night)
The Pork Belly
Now, we’ve had pork belly before. But not made this way. This was the special of the night, a burbeon peach, caramelized prawns, seared polenta with pork belly. It was a mistake, we shouldn’t have ordered it. My girlfriend was stunned when this came to the table, and I knew there was no way that she could have ate that. (She literally would have fainted) But nice enough, our host did offer to exchange this to another dish. We just weren’t pork belly people.
Free Range "Little Half Chicken"
Since we got rid of the fatty pork belly, we decided to get something else in replacement. And we definitely made the right choice. It’s roasted garlic mashed potatoes, glace de poulet, and cranberry bread pudding. The chicken was perfectly tender, the mashed potatoes wasn’t bad either. I thought the bread pudding was a bit on the hard side.
Seafood Pappardelle Pasta
I tried the Seafood Pappardelle Pasta, homemade pasta with mussels, prawns in a spinach garlic cream sauce. The first couple of bites were a little bland, but after a few bites I think the taste just soaked in. However, I don’t think the price reflects the portion nor the presentation. The mussels are smaller than the ones from the mussel pot and there is only 2 shrimps. This is probably not the best place to order pasta.
The Bill
Overall, I think Pearl Urban Bistro has superb service (hopefully, not just cause we’re identified as food bloggers). The restaurant is very welcoming and romantic, as the girlfriend says. The washrooms are clean and well-equipped with just about everything you need. The food wasn’t bad, there’s hit and misses I think but that’s the thing with food, each and everyone’s taste buds are different. However, the food was all very fresh. Do allow yourselves at least 2 hours for parking. But service alone, I can see why this was a critic’s favourite in the City of White Rock!
