I know people love their local joints, but average Chinese does little for me. Heavy sauces. Chopped up meat. Limp broccoli with the General Tso's chicken. I love Grace Garden in Odenton and enjoyed myself at Hunan Taste in Catonsville. But my old standard Jesse Wong's Asean Bistro was the only closeby Chinese tasty enough to check out.
My tastebuds and my email say that I was wrong.
Red Pearl opened on the Columbia lakefront in May, and it drew me in with a menu of authentic Sichuan food. Last Saturday, we went for lunch and ordered across the menu -- kung pao from the "authentic" menu, a stirfried noodles with seafood from the standard menu, and a Chinese broccoli in garlic sauce from the specials.
This was a surprising hit. The broccoli was tender, but still crisp with a sauce that clung to the green but wasn't heavy at all. The kung pao was spicy, but tasted of ginger beneath the hot peppers. And the noodles may have been my favorite -- tender noodles crisped on a wok and then topped with shrimps, scallops and huge chunks of fish. The fish fillets were cooked beautifully. The focus really came from the seafood. Three of us gorged at lunch, then had two lunches of leftovers -- plus some extra broccoli that I snacked instead of having dessert on Sunday night.
On top of my meal, Red Pearl has been getting some raves from other folks. ColumbiaJ commented about potstickers with hot oil and flounder with soft tofu off the regular menu. The Minx of the Minx Eats blog had some authentic dishes along with Peking duck and crispy fried rockfish. (She takes great photos.) And HowICook was my real inspiration to visit -- emailing about how he had eaten the regular menu kung poa and then gone back for the same dish off the authenic menu:
Red Pearl isn't just a corner joint. This is a kitchen that wants to do something special. They put the authentic menu -- fully translated -- on every table. For now, I'll push that menu and items that you can see recommended like the Minx's rockfish or the tea smoked duck mentioned in comments to old posts. Our waiter warned us twice that the authentic kung pao was spicy, and he wasn't kidding. The dish had the chicken and peanuts of the kung pao I grew up on, but it had a drier texture and a spicier bite than those old dishes. But it's absolutely delicious, and I'm already thinking about how I want to go back again.The waiter repeatedly warned me about the spiciness. I assured him I was up for it. Well it was nothing like the American version with the gloppy sauce. The dish had lots of blackened dried pepper, ginger and other authentic ingredients. It was stir fried to smokey charred perfection with lots of flavor. The waiter warned me not to actually eat the dried peppers. I mostly followed his advice and the dish was complex and hot enough anyway. My mouth was numb at the end so I got the real experience. I can't go back to normal glop again.
On top of it all, Red Pearl is bringing dim sum back to Columbia. We'll see how it compares to the Asian Court dim sum that sets the standard for now.
(Update: Red Pearl's dim sum was spectacular -- maybe even better than Asian Court.)
Click here for my 2010 write-up of Chinese restaurants in Howard County.
Red Pearl
10215 Wincopin Circle
Columbia, MD 21044
410-715-6530
Near: Red Pearl is on the lake across from the mall in Columbia Town Center. From Little Patuxent Parkway, you turn into a large parking lot that says "restaurant parking." Then you walk down to the lakefront. The view is actually quite nice, and Red Pearl is between Sushi Sono and Clyde's.
You mention Asean Bistro, but did you go to JW's Hong Kong when it was open? Before they switched to the pan-Asian menu that ultimately led to their demise, they put out some really great Cantonese food, including hot pots and stews. I thought it was on par with Grace Garden. Then they had to ruin everything by changing the menu to more resemble Asean Bistro.
ReplyDeleteI'm definitely going to try the kung pao at Red Pearl next time. I think we'll try a couple more American-style dishes too, just to check the quality. And though I think it will be hard to beat Asian Court for dim sum, I'm looking forward to Red Pearl's version.
That's good to hear. I know first hand that it's tough to move into a "cursed location" and get rid of that stigma, but ultimately if you put out a quality product you should be fine. I'd love for them to make it and become a lakefront staple, and from the sound of things that shouldn't be a problem.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the review; I'll have to give them a try. I hope they can make that location work for them by keeping quality high, instead of tumbling way downhill like Asean Bistro.
ReplyDeleteWhen hunan and szechwan started to become popular about 30 years ago (we'd go all the way to Laurel to eat at Chung King), I remember the dishes always contained whole chili peppers, and you were warned not to eat them. Somewhere along the way, they started to just grind them up into the sauce.
theminx -- I actually just missed JW's Hong Kong. I had started blogging, and we hadn't gotten there for dim sum yet.
ReplyDeletelittle audrey -- Do you think Asean Bistro has changed? It was our local place for years. We don't go as often now that we moved farther away, but I feel like it isn't as compelling as before. I laugh at myself because I was very aware when I started looking for local restaurants that people always write, "[name] is okay, but it was way better when it first opened."
HowChow, I remember when Asean Bistro first opened, I liked nearly everything I tried, especially the "vegetarian goose" (tofu/mushroom rollups) and the lo mein, which was in a reddish, very tasty sauce with crispy veggies and chewy noodles.
ReplyDeleteWe didn't go there for a long time after we moved out of Columbia to EC, but I tried them again a year or so ago. The goose was no longer on the menu and the lo mein was now the same soggy, greasy, soy-sauce-soaked mush served at most carryouts. What a disappointment!
Some Chowhounds have also observed that Chinese restaurants tend to start out good and then slip downhill. I hope Red Pearl doesn't follow that pattern.
We went to Red Pearl a few days ago; we had the "traditional" kung pao chicken and seafood with noodles off the main menu (same as HowChow), as well as the dan dan noodles for an appetizers. The kung pao chicken was nice, though not particularly hot in my opinion; ditto for the dan dan noodles. We really liked the seafood noodles as well. Overall we'd consider this an above-average Chinese restaurant, and will definitely be back (especially when dim sum arrives).
ReplyDeleteOn the question of Chinese restaurants slipping over time, I've heard it ascribed to the fact that there aren't a lot of owner-chefs in the Chinese restaurant world, so an owner might hire a great chef (possibly bringing them in from overseas) only to have them leave to pursue other opportunities in a few months or years.
When I spoke with Red Pearl this afternoon, they said that dim sum is coming in August.
ReplyDeleteJust got back from lunch at the Red Pearl. We were a big group of about 10, so we were able to order several dishes to share. The whole rockfish in sweet and sour sauce is the star of the show, although, pricey. We had two kinds of tofu, dry tofu with pork, and soft tofu with shitakes. Both good. The fried noodles were some of the best we've had. We also had Mongolian style pork and a combination sea food dish, they call the Red Pearl Delight. The latter is jus meh. The crab wontons are not to my liking either. But the fried calamari is done just right. The manager/owner found out that one of our friends was having a birthday and brought fried ice cream, which was quite good. But we were surprised when we were charged $7.95 for it. In my opinion, they should have told us in advance. This was small compared to the total tab, but still...
ReplyDeleteWent for an after canoe-ing trip to Red Pearl last night. We got there at around 9:15pm and they close at 10:00pm. I can say I normally don't like to get to restaurants that close to their closing time, but I called ahead and they assured me it was OK. They were very good about it - there was no rushing us whatsoever. My only complaint is that we were the 3rd table sat that evening and they crowded all of us in one 4-table area (even filling the 4th table a short time later). I guess it was so that they didn't have to clean more, but it was a little odd. I shouldn't complain, we did get there at around 9:15.
ReplyDeleteThe waitress recommended the "small plate" Jelly Fish off of their authentic menu. I was concerned as it that menu advertises things as being spicy and I'm a wimpy kind of guy -- she said it'll be fine and lots of people like the dish. Being a duo to try new + different things - we ordered it. Our final takeaway, we would have liked it a lot more if we hadn't known it was Jelly Fish tentacles. It had a great flavor, just strange texture (in fact - exactly what you would imagine for cooked jelly fish).
Our meals were excellent. He got a veggie platter and I got the Red Pearl Delight. The squid tentacles were longer than I expected (1 1/2"-2") and a little chewy, but everything else wholly made up for it. We both ate until we were full (which is a lot post-paddling) and still had some to bring home.
I'd definitely go again and I'm a corner-store cheap/dirty-American Chinese food kind of guy.
Went for an after canoe-ing trip to Red Pearl last night. We got there at around 9:15pm and they close at 10:00pm. I can say I normally don't like to get to restaurants that close to their closing time, but I called ahead and they assured me it was OK. They were very good about it - there was no rushing us whatsoever. My only complaint is that we were the 3rd table sat that evening and they crowded all of us in one 4-table area (even filling the 4th table a short time later). I guess it was so that they didn't have to clean more, but it was a little odd. I shouldn't complain, we did get there at around 9:15.
ReplyDeleteThe waitress recommended the "small plate" Jelly Fish off of their authentic menu. I was concerned as it that menu advertises things as being spicy and I'm a wimpy kind of guy -- she said it'll be fine and lots of people like the dish. Being a duo to try new + different things - we ordered it. Our final takeaway, we would have liked it a lot more if we hadn't known it was Jelly Fish tentacles. It had a great flavor, just strange texture (in fact - exactly what you would imagine for cooked jelly fish).
Our meals were excellent. He got a veggie platter and I got the Red Pearl Delight. The squid tentacles were longer than I expected (1 1/2"-2") and a little chewy, but everything else wholly made up for it. We both ate until we were full (which is a lot post-paddling) and still had some to bring home.
I'd definitely go again and I'm a corner-store cheap/dirty-American Chinese food kind of guy.
I've got to recommend one dish for folks to try. If you like spicy, cumin, lamb, and generally good Chinese food, you simply must try E2 Sliced Lamb Stir-fry with Onion & Cumin* on the authentic Sichuan menu. We asked for mild to medium spiciness, since we don't have the palate for the true level of Sichuan spice. It's got a little bit of crisp with bursts of flavor. My family will definitely order this dish again!
ReplyDeleteAlso, some news! The owners (one of whom is one of the main chefs) said that soon the menu will include traditional Cantonese and Mandarin dishes, fully translated in English. They wanted to gauge the local palate before determining the main menu.
Not bad ... I was very skeptical at some of the online reviews that were obviously posted by the restaurant's owners/employees, but gave it a shot. The food and service were good. I could've used a bit more spice and condiments at the table. The Dim Sum was solid and Red Pearl had a nice variety. The Shu Mai was excellent ... I loved the bits of shrimp in the creamy steamed filling. The prices between the lunch and dinner menus were a turn-off, and unfortunately -- I'm in DC during lunch hours. I guess I'll have to make this a once-in-a-blue-moon saturday lunch place.
ReplyDelete