How indecisive can someone be? After finishing up some shopping Downtown, we headed to Commercial Drive for a sandwich. Right, I forgot BF does not like sandwiches and picky me, did not want to eat anywhere else on Commercial Drive so we made our way to Main Street. While driving through, none of the restaurants interested me and we continued to Fraser Street, then Marpole and to Victoria Drive. After spending some time thinking I honestly really wanted a freaking sandwich, we ended up in Richmond. 
Great, what is there to eat in Richmond at around 2:00pm? After some more circling around, we settled on Pearl Castle. Really? Out of all places we come to Pearl Castle? I just really wanted something tasty and being picky sucks because I miss out on many opportunities. As for the interior, the restaurant is fairly clean and dimly lit.
RED BEAN FRAPPE WITH MILK ($4.95).
We only ordered one drink because I wanted to save my belly for Bubble Queen after, which we did not even up going to! The drink has a rich red bean flavour as well as a nice creaminess, and does not taste overly sweet. The red bean frappe is actually quite good and well blended.
DEEP FRIED FISH CAKE ($5.25).
The fish cake tastes perfectly crisp and not greasy. However, unfortunately the fish cake also tastes bland, was the seasoning forgotten? What a waste... but to be fair, we could have asked for some five spice along with pepper, and I blame myself for not thinking about it at the time!
DEEP FRIED CHICKEN NUGGETS ($5.75).
The chicken nuggets are actually really good - perfectly crisp, moist and meaty, with a perfect amount of five spice and peppery seasoning. These taste a lot better than Tapioca Cafes' and it is funny that TCs fish cake tastes better than here.
HOUSE SPECIAL BEEF NOODLE OR VERMICELLI SOUP ($9.25) + SIDE OF CHILLI OIL.
The beef noodles can be served with an "extreme" level of spiciness or none, and cannot be requested for in-between. In general, I like a strong medium spiciness and judging by the waitress' reaction, "extreme" spicy actually seemed like it would be… extremely spicy. So, I went for none because I did not want the spiciness to overwhelm the noodles like at Tapioca Cafe's. Furthermore, our waitress also offered us a side of chilli oil which I appreciate.
The soup base surprisingly tastes good; rich as well as flavourful, and not oily at all. As for the brisket, the meat tastes tender and is one of the better tasting ones that I ever had. In addition, the noodles taste perfectly cooked with a pleasant chewiness. Some people may not care about the noodles, but I hate overcooked noodles! Or worse, undercooked. I guess Pearl Castle is not that bad after all?
SEAFOOD AND PORK HOT POT ($10.75).
The hot pot is served barely luke warm and the coal was not even lit. In addition, after asking for the coal to be lit, it was pretty much useless because the hot pot was never served on a boil. So, we then asked if the kitchen could heat up the hot pot and the waitress was more than happy to, with no dirty looks.
The hot pot has a bland soup base and I can make out a tiny bit of chicken broth. However, there is not even a slightest hint of a seafood flavour. As for the ingredients, there are fish balls, tofu, napa cabbage, prawns and slices of pork. Everything tastes pretty generic as well as bland and just… not tasty, most likely because of the soup base. I wish we ordered the ginseng chicken soup instead. Fortunately for me though, this was BFs dish and I bet he wished that he had a sandwich instead LOL. We had to leave this behind because it was really crappy.
TOTAL: $37.75 + TIP $$7.75 = $45.00.
Overall, we tipped 20% because we did not want to wait for change and considering that the restaurant was not very busy, the staff could have been more attentive. However to be fair, there is not much service needed at a bubble tea joint unless there are a few problems such as the barely luke warm hot pot.
POSITIVES
- Beef noodles and chicken nuggets are quite tasty
- Restaurant is not too cramped
- Staff is not rude
- Open late night
- Staff is not rude
- Open late night
NEGATIVES
- Some items are not very good
- Service is not an issue as long as the staff sees you waving them down
LITTLE THINGS
- Where is one of the better places for beef noodles in Richmond?
LITTLE THINGS
- Where is one of the better places for beef noodles in Richmond?
Food: 2/5 (beef noodles and chicken nuggets 3/5)
Service: 2.5/5
Miss Picky @ Pearl Castle? :P How's it compare to #1 Beef Noodle?
ReplyDeleteI haven't been to Beef Noodle in soooooo long, like half a year! I remember always finding their noodles nothing special and the broth slightly oily. I think* Pearl Castle may serve a better one! It was actually not bad.
DeleteI personally really like their curry dishes, especially apple curry with porkchops
ReplyDelete