PEARL RIVER CAFE

DEAR DREAMERS

Pearl River Cafe is an authentic Taiwanese restaurant specializing in dimsum. They are located at the fourth floor of Trinoma Mall, Edsa corner North Avenue, Quezon City. Currently, the Trinoma branch is operating as Shi Lin which is Pearl River Cafe’s sister company.

Dimsum dishes cover a majority of their menu. Isaac and I bought vouchers which we were allowed to use on congee, noodles and dimsum.

Remember this floral shirt from my So Young post?

The deep fried noodles with seafood (229 pesos) were rich in taste, according to Isaac. I thought that they tasted somewhat like cereal. Squids, shrimps, carrots, broccoli, cream dory and diamond cut gingers can be found in this dish.

This dish offers a very delicious and unique taste. However, because of the noodles and dairy-based sauce, we easily got tired of the taste. Despite this drawback, it is still a must-try, but it is better to share it with someone.

Honestly, I am not a big fan of congee, probably because congee is what I usually eat when I am sick. However, Isaac and I both agree that their congee is, if not the best, one of the best congee that we have ever tasted. Unlike other congee which are on the verge of being tasteless, their congee was distinctly savoury.

We chose the congee with century egg (129 pesos) primarily because we like century egg.

I wanted some black vinegar on my congee so Isaac asked the waiter if they had some and they did.

The congee with seafood (199 pesos) had cream dory, squid, small shrimps (hebi) and peanuts.

The noodles and soup with shark fin and scallop dumpling (159 pesos) came with five pieces of shark fin and scallop dumplings as well as bok choy.

Unfortunately, I was unable to try much of this. Isaac accidentally spilled the soup over the table. Luckily, the servers were notably quick on their feet to respond. One of the nice thing about the serving size of the dishes is that it seemed to be made for sharing and because of this, I found the prices to be very reasonable.

Their steamed shrimp dumpling (99 pesos) tasted like your standard hakaw.

We both loved their steamed mushroom and shrimp dumpling (99 pesos), it was scrumptious. It was expensive for three pieces of dimsum but our voucher helped tremendously.

The pan fried chives dumpling (99 pesos) contained chives and black fungus. The sauce contained ginger and chives, and probably some sugar as well since there is a hint of sweetness in the sauce.

Decorated on the walls were these beautifully designed lights.

One of the nice thing about dining at Pearl River Cafe is that it really was like a cafe, complete with ambiance and charging outlets. While we were there, I saw a group that seemed to be having a meeting, they were on their laptops while sipping on their drinks. I could not but help to notice that most of their patrons were women. However, I am unsure if the same still holds true since they converted to Shi Lin.