February 18, 2007
Pearl Liang 漂亮, Taipei Grand Hyatt
The help lady went home for Chinese New Year so the uncles pitched in to take everyone out to eat so mom wouldn't have to cook. The Hyatt is close to home so grandma wouldn't have to spend too long in a car. Just had our engagement banquet at the Hyatt earlier in the week, but that was catered by the other Shanghai-style restaurant. Unfortunately I was a bit busy at the time and forgot to retrieve the menu for the engagement banquet so no review of that I'm afraid.
The rooms are dramatically lit in the Western style (i.e. dim), with old B&W photos of the old China for decoration. The sliding door became an invisible feature once it slid closed, making the room into a decorated cocoon and confusing one of the cousins as he tried to find his way out to the bathroom.
First came a few plates of appetizers. Mostly standard fare that we've all had elesewhere, but in big platefuls and all superbly executed with good materials and wonderful flavor. Give me a bowl of white rice and I would've been happy to stuff myself on just these "starters."
- Oil-cooked bamboo shoots: Very homey with a richer flavor probably because restaurants can use oil while we've changed to using broth at home.
- Marinated cucumber: Crunchy and green, with some chili sprinkles for a kick
- Roasted bitter melon: Only became brave enough to eat these recently but I certainly didn't mind the small taste I had. The soy-roasting took away some of the bitter edge and provided enough additional flavors to let the bitterness complement rather than overwhelm.
- Stir-fried eggplant: Surface was fried/wok-fried until the interior side was charred but preserving the gorgeous purple color on the skin side. The standard flavoring done well, which was just fine with me on a personal fave dish.
- Roasted green hot peppers: Would've gone great with some congee in the morning. Green medium-hot peppers seeded and de-veined then fire-roasted until the skin is blistered.
- Rice flour skin-pasta in sesame sauce: Duck shreds on top for some meatiness. Good texture but I would've liked more seasme flavor, I think.
- Crunchy fishies: Fried then tossed with chilis and scallion bits. Another dish that would be a perfect complement a simple white-rice meal, or as a drinking snack.
Mains were mostly standard Cantonese-style banquet-fare.
- Clear shark-fin chicken soup: Not thickened like the usual shark-fin soups where they want richness. Here was just a clear chicken-broth with chunks of with a piece of meat and a slice of ham to remind you that even though the soup may appear to be clear and simple, a lot of good stuff still went into it. Sure tasted that way.
- Scallops and black abalone with asparagus: The seafood was high-quality and fresh-tasting, of course, but the sauteed asparagus was just as good as its pricier companions. Perfectly crunchy with that unique asparagus flavor.
- Lobster meat in uni-flavored eggwhite sauce: The sauce was totally goopy and didn't taste too much of the sea-urchin. The lobster meat itself was nicely done, though, if you didn't infect it with too much of the sauce, and the salt&pepper fried lobster shell chunks around the plate made for some flavorful but pointless gnawing.
- Soy-roasted mussels and sea cucumber: The sea cucumber is the smaller, more expensive kind, which is appreciated. The long, slow soy-roasting also infused it with a lot of flavor, which is hard to replicate at home. The mussels were totally destroyed by that cooking process, but then they're not the star of the dish.
- Fresh-steamed rock cod with squid 魷魚: Gotta have the whole fish for a Chinese New Year banquet, and the squid shreds on top added an interesting texture, not to mention an awful pun. But the steamed fish wasn't quite as perfectly done as the Cantonese masters in HK or even LA, with bits running to driness.
- Crab egg-foo-yong made with real crab meat and roe on sauteed large pea shoots: Everyone was way too full at this point to eat more than a bite or two. Would've been a great veggie course otherwise, if you discount the cholesterol-filled goodness of the crab roe.
- Home-style 湯圓 mini-dumplings: Totally tasted like home-made, with the broth strongly flavored with fried-onion-bits, but the restaurant broth tasted like it had more depth. The dumplings weren't as chewy and soft as we usually do at home, and everyone made sure to tell grandma that the way she cooks them is way better.
Desserts at Chinese restaurants usually don't rate more than a sentence's worth. However the foreigner-oriented service is actually a good thing for the Hyatt here as they brought out as rich a dessert selection as the appetizers and the mains, also served family-style which adds a nice Asian touch.
- Fresh fruits: A variety of fruits sliced and presented in the bowls. The fruits were all high-quality and sweet/flavorful enough to stand up to the full desserts.
- Lemon sorbet: One scoop of Haagen-Daaz per person. The icy acidity is refreshing after the rich meal, and not even Chinese desser-haters can complain that it tastes too sweet.
- Vanilla and chocolate cakes with fresh whipped-cream and poached pears in vanilla sauce: Found the cakes a bit dry. Felt a bit mailed-in to satisfy the Western palate.
- Black-sesame 奶烙 milk pudding: Sesame in dessert is definitely a very Asian thing. The finely ground black-sesame looked interesting and tasted good, but the slightly sandy texture took away from the smoothness of the pudding.
- Caramelized pineapple rings in vanilla sauce: The thick-cut pineapple ring was cooked (pan-fried/flambeed?) to darken the outside and bring out the sweetness but preserve the freshness of the fruit within. Pineapple is very sweet and flavorful but had enough zing to keep it from being cloying. Very tropical and very good.
Thankfully I didn't have to pay as I probably would've fainted in shock if I got even a whiff of the bill. But one fo the uncles had a membership card which got us a 25% discount, which I'm sure only took the cost from rip-off level expensive to rich-but-fair expensive. Anything to make sure mom and grandma have a relaxed and happy Chinese New Year Day, of course.
Pearl Liang Seafood Restaurant
Taipei Grand Hyatt
漂亮中式海鮮餐廳
台北君悅飯店
台北市信義區松壽路2號2樓
02-27201200