China Pearl Restaurant

Came here several times as the restaurant was smaller and our group is less than 10. The food is somewhat limited than the Broadway Seafood Restaurant.

Salt and Pepper Squid
Mapo Tofu
Clams in Black Bean Sauce
Sauteed Chinese Brocolli or Sauteed Green Beans
Sizzling Beef with Chinese Brocolli
I have only tried these dishes because I only go for these dishes. BEST 5 dishes I ever had in a Chinese Restaurant. Although they got a «B» in the NYC food safety rating… This is the only non «A» restaurant I go to… because in the end… the food tastes good!!! really good!!! and Taste is King!

Food is a good 4 stars but their service is terrible. Be careful if you don’t speak Chinese, they will LIE to you about their prices and try to rip you off.
I called in and asked them how much the Peking pork chops and a bowl of white rice. The receptionist said they were $ 14.95 and $ 1.50, respectively. He asked if I wanted it, probably implying if I wanted it delivered. I declined and said I’ll come and eat-​in. Upon arriving, I looked at the menu and saw that the Peking pork chops were $ 12.95 and a bowl of white rice was $ 1.00… For a second I thought it could’ve been a mistake but to get two prices wrong especially on very common and popular dishes seems unlikely.
To make matters worse, when I pointed at and ordered the Peking pork chops, the waiter brought me salted pepper pork chops. When I asked where was the «red sauce,» he told me that’s another dish. I told him to just get me the sauce on the side and that I ordered The Peking version and he just said, «oh…» and walked away. I was the ONLY customer in the restaurant as I went before the dinner rush and was polite throughout my stay. I still tipped above 15% but I won’t be returning. It’s a shame their service is poor and their business practices are deceitful.

Good for family gathering! I have been eating there for years! my family has been eating here for more than 10+ years.

I had been living around this area for about six years but I only started to come here few weeks ago and I’m loving it! Their food is very authentic, their salt & pepper pork ribs is really good, beef chow fun is great too!

There service was very quick, but don’t expect people to cater to you. This place is known for their quick service and good food! Their portions are very big, so, I suggest sharing with at least 2 other people. I ordered the lobster and the beef pan friend noodles. It was completely worth it!

Love the food here. Been a regular for about 11 years now. There is a distinct taste that this restaurant is able to achieve that similar Cantonese restaurants are not able to, and I’m not talking about the taste of MSG. They make great garlic stir fried vegetables, a simple dish, but made with an especially awesome flavor here. Their sesame jellyfish is a great appetizer. They make amazing pork chops («ging dou gwut» in Cantonese), the one in a red sauce. Also be sure to check out their fish maw soup with a few drops of red vinegar and their black bean eel dishes. Of all the dishes I’ve had at this restaurant, there has never been one I did not like. It seems they’ve mastered their dishes. Authentic, reasonably priced, no fuss, and awesome taste. Highly recommended!

Good chinese food. The best in the neighborhood for family style. Fresh seafood. They are quick in cooking it too. Decent prices.

I went to there because it’s four-​star on Unilocal.I am native Chinese, but the food is NOT good to me at all. We order a soup, a plate of River Snails (田螺), a shrimp and a tofu. The soup is simple and okay. The shrimp is NOT FRESH. It’s claimed to be a seafood restuarant! And the size of river snail is so small that only half of what you have on Chinese street with 10 RMB. And it’s also tasteless.
Overall, I came here with expectation of good Chinese food but didn’t enjoy it. I walked back to home and saw so many good restuarant on the Broadway.

this is me and my friends go to spot for late night, cheat meal, and just good ol fatty greasy Chinese food eats. The aroma of the outside area may not be pleasing to your nose but dont let that fool you… open the door and take a seat… also, bring a bottle of whiskey to sip on. YES!!! its BYOB!!! ill give you the road map on what to order… and if ur still hungry after this… i bow down to you my friend.
ROAD MAP TO FOOD ORDER:
1. get urself 2 orders of salted pepper pork chops. yes i said 2… because when you order one… everyone attacks it like the winning lottery numbers are on the plate. by the time you finish one porkchop… all of it will be gone
2. egg fried rice with scallions… if you get the pork chops first… you have to wait until this shows up to the table before you even touch the porkchops. trust me, it compliments the hell out of it. possibly 2 orders of this depending on ur ethnic background… us asians need 2 easily
3. panfried noodles (chose either beef or seafood) you cant go wrong with either one… and yes, you only need 1 of these. this shit is filling. but its amazing, the texture of the hard noodles mixed with the sauce from the beef or the seafood just make this thing absolutely amazing. mix it into your fried rice for an added bonus
if ur still hungry after this??? hit me up… me and my friends will come join you during ur second helping

I take-​out lunch there a lot but I don’t really see a lot of people dining there usually. I always order this rice dish with a mixture of seafood, meat, and broccoli with the super addicting sauce. Recently I feel like they have been giving little of the dish and too much rice– not a great balance but worth it for the price.

Authentic classic Chinese menu, not much innovation. Food taste good and large portion.

Been going to this restaurant for maybe 10 years. The food has always been consistent. My family ordered the walnut shrimp which is a classic and really difficult to mess up. I love that the sauce came on the side so I felt a little less guilty when eating it even though i know there’s no way it’s healthy. We also ordered two veggie dishes. Both were good again filling in the role of making me feel like i’m eating healthy but we all know when you go out to eat at a chinese restaurant the amount of oil used is ridiculous. When we were almost done with one of the veggie dishes all the oil and grease left behind was clearly visible and very unappetizing.
I’m not sure how much chinese restaurants usually cost but for one place of shrimp and two plates of veggies the bill was already at $ 60.
My family doesn’t come here expecting to be blown away but we do know that the dishes are consistent and we won’t leave disappointed or unsatisfied.

If you are looking for real Chinese food, you’ve found your place. China pearl has all types of authentic dishes.
My fiancé has been coming here since he was a kid and so he took me here for the first time yesterday. We got the ginger lobster, yok bang (minced pork), three egg water steamed, jelly fish with ham, beef with scallions, and fish head.
Our favorites were there lobster and fish head dishes. Just the right amount of seasoning and tastes just like how my grandparents would make it.
The only dish I would likely not order again would be the beef with scallions because it was a little salty.
Service is great!

Been going here since the mid 90s! Great place for a group of people to sample many dishes.

My go to place for legit Cantonese food in my area. The staff has been mostly the same people for my entire life (omg getting old). I grew up eating from here many times and lots of family reunion memories were made here for me. Hopefully y’all can experience something like that here too. The food is never disappointing and always hits the spot to being back the nostalgia. The first thing I always do is order the clay pot rice with Chinese sausage because it takes a long time to make… It is always a necessity for that to be part of the meal. Since I’m not a seafood eater, I can’t tell you much about that, but their other dishes are pretty tasty too! Yummy!

This place is legit. It’s nothing fancy but the food here is what can be defined as genuine Cantonese eats. My family and I have been coming here for years and the fact that this place is as old as I am pretty much says it all!
You can’t go wrong with any dish here. A few of our favs include the jellyfish and preserved veggie appetizer, ‘sizzling chicken platter’ served with veggies, scallops and broccoli served in a black pepper sauce, the sweet & sour pork chops, the tofu casserole, and of course, the famous shrimp & broccoli dish served with walnuts.
Service is efficient and the wait staff is friendly. It’s perfect for a casual family dinner out or with friends.

Very good quality Cantonese seafood restaurant. The food was really good, the services needs some work though, but then it’s pretty much the same every cantonese restaurant you go, the waiters/​waitress are older Cantonese men and women and they don’t really give you a good altitude if you don’t speak their language. They are usually more friendlier to the regulars that goes there.
Good food, lousy services. so it’s give and take… but I think I will be back for the food… sigh…

This restaurant has been in business for YEARS, since i came to america (20 years). They use to serve the best dishes of all the chinese restaurants in elmhurst. But through out the years, I feel as if the quality of the food gets worse and worse. My favorite dish here is deep fried jumbo shrimp with walnut and condensed dressing on the side.
They are very generous with the portions, especially if you come for the lunch special.
Cash only business…

We went there around dinner time. The dinner menu was limited and pricey. I should have asked for their special menu.
lemon chicken– fried chicken pieces with lemon sauce on the side. The fried chicken was lightly breaded and very crispy. The lemon sauce was also very light and not dense.
seafood pan fried noodle (not on menu) — pretty Ok, not too oiley. Seafood was very fresh.
It’s a family style restaurant. So it would be better if you come with more people, so you could try more dishes.

Came here on my mom’s request. I was pretty surprised. The food was great. Had the fried flounder — made with perfection! I had watercress. Its my favorite veggie and I’m glad I wasn’t disappointed! Dad had pork chop peking duck style… that was yummy! Also had the house special fried rice and the usual shrimp lo mein. All was great!

Been coming here with my family for 9 years. Always love their food and my favorite is the seafood soup.
But today I finally found out that they don’t take credit card. Silly me. Had to walk 5 blocks to a Chase bank and 5 blocks back. Tips– don’t go through that creepy broadway park for shortcut at night

I am technically Chinese, but I don’t «claim» to be Chinese. But I do know what’s good food when I eat it. This is probably every Thai person in Queen’s Canto standby. I can honestly say that I think the entire Thai community has either been here or at least heard of it. And, they also have a bottle of actual Sriracha hot sauce (like from Thailand Sriracha) on each table, they have been doing this for the last 20 or so years. I am not sure how «authentic» it is, but it is easily my fav Canto restaurant. This place is very special to me since I have been coming here ever since I was a kid. When they recently changed their name to China Pearl from High Pearl, I almost went Ape Shit thinking they changed ownership. Lucky for me and everyone in society, that it’s still the same =) Since, I can’t speak Chinese, I will give the English names or the phonetic Chinese. They also close super late.
The food:
Fried Flounder– I usually get the sauce on the side, if not, it get’s too salty. It’s a whole fried flounder, head to tail, with a soy sauce and strips of scallion. I love this dish. I either get the fried or the steamed version, the fried is better for your belly, but the steamed is better for you.
Pork Chops, Peking Style– it’s un-​natural how tender the pork is. This, I get sauce on the side as well, since the sauce gets kinda too sweet. So good though!
Lobster Cantonese Style– SO GOOD! It’s sauteed lobster in a pork and egg mixture. The lobster is so good and the pork and egg mixture is addicting, I think I could eat a bowlful of the egg and pork with rice by itself. It is a tad salty, though.
Fried shrimp with walnut and mayo– This is a standby Chinese banquet dish. I do like it but it’s pricey for what it is and it seems kinda too simple. Don’t get me wrong, I do like it, but I could live without it. Please don’t yell at me Chinese people haha
«Tao Mew” — it’s sauteed snow pea leaves. This dish is my go to veg dish, if I ever had one. It’s so perfect in every way.
Lamb Stew– This was my dad’s fav dish, it’s only served in the Winter months since Chinese people believe it warms you up. It comes in a casserole dish, it’s stewed lamb meat, with tofu skin, lettuce and chunks of gingers. I am a big fan of this dish.
Pig’s feet & jelly fish– It’s another standby Chinese Banquet dish. The one here is good and has nice flavor. It is silky smooth with a nice texture and it’s seasoned nicely. The pickled veg is a nice counter point.

Clams with black bean sauce– I think this is the fav dish amongst Thai clientele. I feel every Thai person orders this dish. I think it’s a good dish. The black bean sauce is excellent.
House Special Steak– This was a special occasion dish in my family. The t-​bone steak is cooked Chinese style with spices and soy. It’s served pre-​sliced but with the bone included. The beef has a nice outer crunch yet is tender in the middle. It’s a good dish, the beef is cooked nicely, if I am not mistaken the steak is deep fried.
Beef with San Kang– It’s served on a sizzling hot plate. I used to get this dish all the time, the beef is super tender and the San Kang is kinda like sweet tofu skin.
Braised tofu with mushrooms and Chinese broccoli– The dish is awesome in the Winter since it’s very warming. It is also healthy, so that’s a perk.

This place used to be our typical spot for family dinners/​birthdays until they increased their prices.
Since we haven’t dined here for years, I suggested coming here again. We ordered a few items that were no longer on the menu, a soup, a fish, that roast chicken that you see at all chinese weddings and an eggplant casserole dish. The best dish of the night was actually the eggplant hot pot. Everything else was a bit under seasoned and coming from me, that says a lot. The fish was very bland. The pepper soup wasn’t peppery enough.
I guess we should’ve stuck to the typical shrimp and walnuts, and pork chops peking style dishes… I’ll come back and try those dishes again next time.

When my Mom is in town, she has to eat duck at least once a day. Not just any duck, but Peking style or Five Spice Roast duck. After a while, the entire routine becomes full on gluttony and completely disgusting. But, I guess for her, it is a vacation and a time to not act (or eat) right. Since we live close enough to Elmhurst to take the bus, I brought her here.
Every other time I have come to Elmhurst and attempted to eat at this establishment– there has been a long line out the door. There are no menus posted outside, which I see bringing customers in just to take a peek at the menu. From then the staff will pressure you into sitting, like you have no choice. I witnessed this happen to at least four groups of people in our short time dining here.
The overall atmosphere is extremely depressing. The fish and crabs in the tanks are either lethargic or floating upside down. Old décor and moldy ceiling. The staff here treats everyone equally bad, regardless of your face or wealth.
Me: «Do you have Peking duck?»
Angry Lady: «You want Peking Duck, her are menus. Now sit down!»
The Salt and Pepper Pork Chops were decent, very crispy but also very oily. However, we were lucky that they were not dry, like some reviewers have mentioned. They reminded me of eating chicken fingers with no sauce, very bland. The Watercress was decent, but floating in tons of oil. The «Peking» duck here is not served with scallion or bread/​wraps and is extremely dry. The skin was not even crispy and some of the bites we had even tasted rotten. I am really lucky that I did not get sick here.
At these type of banquet restaurants, I usually really enjoy the food and eat until I am about to burst. Here, I did not even eat until I was full. It was tragic.