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Pink Pearl Chinese Seafood Restaurant
Category: Restaurants Chinese Chinese [Edit]
1132 Hastings St EVancouver, BC V6A 1S2
Neighbourhood: Strathcona
(604) 253-4316
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Private Lot
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Delivery:
- No
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Good For:
- Lunch
- Alcohol:
- No
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
16 reviews for Pink Pearl Chinese Seafood Restaurant
16 reviews in English
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Review from Josh H.
8/10/2010
Just to update other reviews: we went to Vancouver this last weekend (August 6-9) and Pink Pearl is still closed; they say they're renovating.
It was a shock!
The sign in the window advised us to try the "Golden Star Seafood Restaurant", at 2163 East Hastings, so we did, with some trepidation. It worked out pretty well, and we'll do better there in the future, but at least for now, Pink Pearl is not an option for Vancouver dim sum-seekers. -
Review from Mercedes G.
Vancouver, BC
2/5/2009 ROTD 6/20/2009
Did you know Pink Pearl has been around for nearly thirty years?! I consider longevity to be a pretty decent sign of success and Pink Pearl has this in droves.
My boyfriend and I were taken to Pink Pearl for dim sum on a Sunday afternoon by my boyfriend's sister in law, brother and their two rambunctious young boys. It had been ages since my last trip for dim sum as well as my first trip for dim sum in Vancouver and I was anxious to try all of my favourites.
Pink Pearl is massive with a capacity of up to seven hundred people...! The ginormous room can be split into two in the case of special events and the like. But never mind the space, I know you all want to hear about the food, yes? While I found the majority of the choices to be a little greasy, I can't say that I was expecting any different. I certainly don't go for Chinese food in an attempt to detox so nothing lost there. The pork fried dumplings were huge, savoury and done in a crispy won ton perfectly. We also tried a number of different dumplings, wraps and traditional Chinese New Year's cake, which was something new and very tasty!
Overall, the eats were good but it was the environment that really leaves you in awe. Men and women dash about the massive space with metal trays adorned with all sorts of tasty treats, doling out whatever you choose and stamping your bill sheet. I find the sheer efficiency of this restaurant amazing! Not once did we have to wait long for more tea or anything else really. A good place for dim sum but VERY busy, so remember to make reservations or go early! -
Review from Melissa F.
Toronto, ON
1/13/2010
UPDATE: HOLY CRAP -IT'S CLOSED! Marc. D. just told me this place closed- google search confirms it was a fire. Leave it to ME to make my 200th review a placed that burned down, eh? well.. 5 stars regardless. oi.
Read about the tragedy: http://www.theprovince...
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REVIEW #200 (I'm so glad I'm back in Vancouver to do this one)
Ok, here's the deal. You MIGHT not give this 5/5 or even understand why locals think this place is AMAZING.
You have to be born and raised in this city to really get why Pink Pearl is THE Chinese Banquet place you go to. The massive room will be able to host TWO over-150-person weddings WITH room to spare to seat walk-in patrons. This is classic chinese banquet style eats.
Of course this place is on the "shadiest" street of Vancouver. But don't worry- you have to be ultra uptight or just really ignorant to fear East Hastings, or the Downtown Eastside for that matter.
This place is an insitution on East Hastings. You come here with a ridiculously large Chinese family. You take over a few tables of 10 for the night. and then you order yourself a ten course dinner that consists of the classics: cold plates, duck, salty chicken, soy sauce fish, crab, lobster, chinese mushrooms, fried rice, noodles, etc- (u know the drill if you're Chinese)
The food is affordable, these people have been here since FOREVER so they know great Chinese food, and it's just one of those FOND memories that you have of overeating with your extended family.
I hope to host my wedding here some day. really.
I love you pink pearl. May you never leave east hastings. -
Review from Vanessa A.
12/21/2009
I was born in Vancouver and I don't remember this place ever not being here. It's always been there, it just has. And restaurants do not survive in Vancouver if they suck so that's saying something.
I've done dim sum here and it's pretty delicious and also really cheap! The place is showing its age a bit (don't go for ambiance or decor) and it's in a pretty sketchy area of town but they have a parking lot and if you have a car it's not far to get there from downtown.
Oh and go early before they start running out of stuff and so you get the freshest dishes.Listed in: Chinese restaurants in…
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Review from Simon R.
BC
12/12/2008 1 photo
While it's located at least 10 blocks away from Chinatown, this seems to be the most popular Dim Sum restaurant in Vancouver. If it's a weekend, you should be prepared to wait in line for about 20 minutes before getting a table in this huge room, full of at least 2 dozen tables and an army of nice old ladies pushing carts around and trying to talk you into a bowl full of watery pork, rice and mystery ingredients.
Despite the prostitutes that brace the chill on the nearby streets corners, Pink Pearl is classy and clean, with beaming maitre D's and a huge parking lot full of expensive cars. This is unfortunately also reflected in the price of the food, which will set you back anywhere between $15-$20.
The food is delicious however, with all of the classic Dim Sum dishes and more than a few things that you've never heard of and will never know how they were made. The quality is very good, and the presentation is nice. If you don't see something you want on one of the wandering carts, you can order it off of the menu as well, which I recommend doing for the Spicy Squid, fresh deep fried squid battered to perfection and coated in sea salt and tiny jalapeno rings. -
Review from Leilah T.
Vancouver, BC
3/26/2009
This is one of the most popular dim sum places - they have standard fare and decent service, and crowds come as a result.
The food isn't fancy, but it's good. Service is decent, although you definitely get better food when there's more people in the place - don't go too early or too late.
They're fine with large groups and kids, it's a real family-oriented restaurant and the atmosphere's a bit chaotic - but all the chaos does help you overcome any self-consciousness you might have if you're not so familiar with dim sum. A good, relaxed place. -
Review from Huntting B.
9/14/2009
What I really want to know is where do the people who have rated this so low go for dim sum. In my opinion this is one of the best dim sum places that I have ever been to. The first time that I went it was a 5 star experience. There was no service (its dim sum...), but the food was so tasty. the shrimp roll cake was so tender and tasty, the pan fried noodle was incredible, the xiu mai were the right amount of tender and the shrimp roll cakes were awesome.
Whenever someone tells me that they are going to Vancouver the first place that I send them is the Pink Pearl. Mind you, I'm not a native, so maybe there is better...if there is, send me a comment...I gotta taste it! -
Review from John S.
3/31/2009
The dim sum was pretty dang good. The seafood was fresh, tender and juicy. They used good local seafood, which makes this experience different than in dim sum in other parts of the world.
Basically, if you love dim sum (not talking about anything fried, please). You will enjoy the Vancouver flavor of this long-standing Chinese restaurant.
Ambiance? Heck, it's a dim sum place. -
Review from Carolyn C.
Vancouver, BC
2/2/2009
We found ourselves in the mood for some good, good Chinese food as opposed to the dirty, greasy stuff one usually associates with takeout and finds equally appealing.
Yes, this time around we felt like an authentic experience, and word of mouth as well as some basic internet research brought The Pink Pearl to our attention. So we ventured down East Hastings in the dark of night to seek it out.
The Pink Pearl is huge- a great rectangular expanse with white walls and traditional Chinese décor. It reminded me of a convention centre, actually. This was part of the experience. Our server here was very cordial, and food arrived course after course seamlessly. It seemed the serving staff were slightly telepathic.
While the Pink Pearl describes itself as a Chinese Seafood restaurant, there are still plenty of items on the expansive menu that feature poultry, beef, pork and vegetarian dishes. We were boggled at the selection and took a long time to order, passing up Peking duck (a little too hard on the wallet) for other classic fare such as wonton soup, ginger beef, lemon chicken and seafood. I would have dearly loved to eat the braised abalone, however the price and the scarcity held me back. The food lived up to our expectations- we were very pleased. -
Review from Finola M.
7/1/2009
I think this is the best value for dim sum in North America! It is a large banquet hall, full of dim sum delights. There is great selection of dishes because of its size and yet the quality of food is also fairly high. It's in what appears to be a warehouse area with not much around it but I found that a quick bus ride got me there all right. The cost is amazing, we ate our fill for about $15 CAN each.
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Review from Marc D.
Vancouver, BC
11/6/2008
This place is always being mentioned in guides about Vancouver. But those guides must have been written a long long LONG time ago. Perhaps it used to be good. It isn't any more unfortunately. The dumpling wrappers are frequently too thick and a bit goopy, many items are way too greasy, and the fillings aren't terribly fresh or flavourful. Overall no reason to go back.
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Review from Sheila W.
BC
Updated - 9/25/2009
There was a fire recently at Pink Pearl. I think that will put them out of operation for a while -- I'd call before making the trek out to suspect territory!!
1 Previous Review: Show all »
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1/30/2009
Part of the fun of going to Pink Pearl is getting there. You have to head out through the dodgiest… Read more »
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Review from mojo p.
12/7/2008
This is by far the WORST dim sum place, bar none. We visited it based on 100% faith & reliance of Zagat, and what a colossal disappointment, waste of money & time! The food is greasy, doughy w. very thick & poor texture. Meat fillings in the soup dumplings were RAW & the captain argued that it's only a "little raw". Zagat must revisit the place & update its review before losing the readers' trust. Frozen dim sum would beat Pink Pearl by a mile!
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Review from Sarah B.
12/10/2009
My friend took me here for sim dum during our trip to Vancouver a while back. He was almost peeing his pants with excitement, so I expected the food to be orgasmic. It was good, most definitely, but perhaps I went in with my expectations too high. I will admit it's far better than any of the dim sum offerings I've found here in Atlanta, and it was ridiculously cheap. We showed up rather early, so the selection probably wasn't as diverse as it should be (which is my only real gripe about dim sum-- you get shafted if you avoid peak dining hours), but the pan-fried rice noodles were my favorite.
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Review from Katy N.
3/17/2009
Cannot believe this restaurant is still around....dang!!!! dim sum & dinner....not good!!
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Review from Karen l.
8/12/2009
I was on vacation with my family and we stopped in blindly for dim sum. It wasn't half bad. Most dim sum kind of all taste the same to to me. It was very basic, had the usual stuff you could order for brunch. I think overall it was good, but granted that there were so many dim sum places in all of Vancouver, I don't think it competes well against them because it was very ordinary. But one can't have such high expectations for a little China Town nestled in British Columbia. However, we ordered a lot of food for like twenty people and we ate plenty, the bill only came out to about $70! And with the U.S. dollar conversion, what a deal for us! So all in all, really good prices for average food.
