Pearl Restaurant & Lounge

06/28/08

Obviously Previously Underrated

by foodlover35 at Citysearch

I don't really know what anyone else on here is talking about. I just had dinner at Pearl about a week ago and found it to be one of the best locals in the capital region. The staff was friendly and competent. The food was absolutely amazing and the atmosphere was just perfect. Perhaps others had a problem in the past. All I know is that my experience was completely enjoyable. The service was prompt and my crab and lobster dish was cooked to perfection. The menu seemed to be a bit of a modern take on classic/traditional steak, seafood and pasta dishes. Their signature "Pearl" martini was so good I had 2 of them! The bathrooms left a bit to be desired, but in what I imagine is an old building, it is probably to be expected. Highly reccommended.

• Pros: Everything
• Cons: Low toilets

05/05/08

The portions were meager at best.

by Irondayz at Citysearch

To say that the portions were small is to say the Atlantic ocean is damp. At 6'1" and 220 pounds 4 ravioli and three strings of asparagus are not what I typically think of when I hear the term dinner. Despite the disappointingly small portions the food arrived painfully slow. Do yourself a favor and if you ever decide "hey this place looks like a fine food establishment" think again. If you're looking for the same experience I had lock yourself in your bedroom with a can of chef boyardee, but don't eat it. Bludgeon yourself in the face with the can until you are bleeding from the ears because that is the only possible way to achieve the stress levels I attained due to the poor quality service, food and overall experience I had. The Capital Regions Worst.

Pros: Long Island Ice Teas

Cons: Everything else.

• Pros: Long Island Ice Teas
• Cons: Everything Else

05/05/08

If every other restaurant in the city has an hour wait, I recommend waiting an hour.

by ScottF08 at Citysearch

I love eating. I'm not just saying that - I truly enjoy food. I eat out roughly 10 to 15 times a week between breakfast/lunch/dinner, and would rather eat something from a restaurant than cook food myself. In fact, I've only been food shopping twice in the last 6 months. With that being said, I would rather hunt, prep, cook, and eat my own food than ever go back to this "restuarant". I use the quotation marks, because this establishment should probably not be given the title of restuarant, but rather the title of "place to go when you feel like you are too happy, and need a little stress and anger in your life." The quality of food is above average, but unfortunately, you are more likely to either starve to death waiting for it, or need to go buy a microscope to find it once it arrives, should you have made it that far. An acquaintence of mine attempted to order the vegetarian dish, which was greeted with a smile by the "waiter". Little did we know at the time, the smile was because that waiter must have seen what was to come. Or wasn't to come. More than an hour later, a plate of pasta and vegetables arrived. My only question is, how long does it take to boil water to cook pasta? In the amount of time it took this "restaurant" to cook and serve 75 other plates of non-vegetarian food (which included pasta), and for everyone to complete their "dining" experience, the chef must have grown and picked his own wheat for use in making his own pasta. This would not have been as bad (it was bad) had the manager not expressed his own viewpoint that it was our mistake for having ordered the vegetarian dish to begin with, and that he was not prepared for such an order. My question for you, Mr. Manager, is why is The Pearl labeled a "RESTAURANT and lounge" if you cannot cook a vegetarian dish on the spot, without prep? it is just pasta and vegetables!

I wouldn't even recommend The Pearl to an enemy. They should stick to serving drinks, which were made and served well.

• Pros: The drinks were above average.
• Cons: A homeless child can cook and serve pasta faster than this "chef"