Pearl at the Chancery Court

Lovely decor, call back to the days of luxurious hotel restaurants. The beautiful glass and pearl decorations really set the stage for a romantic evening.

I took my little lady here for dinner. She had been requesting a meal there for quite some time and had immensely high expections. We had a number of seafood dishes, scallops, turbo, skate, and each one was special and prepared perfectly

We also had a delightful poached pear dessert. Lovely dinner and an evening to remember!

I had the pleasure of going to two restaurants this week from this year's Food List in the Times…and Pearl was the second. An unplanned meal with my brother as we walked down High Holborn in quest of somewhere decent to eat at 9pm. I wasn't in the mood for anything heavy, and neither was he, so we both just ordered a main each. I decided on fish and when I asked the waiter to recommend something he replied instantly with …go for the turbot (baked in seaweed crust, served with squid tagliatelle and cockles in a lemongrass consomme). It was pretty good, but not amazing despite the flavourings which I thought were good. I do continue to think I am very hard to please on mains! I was also expecting something larger than I got given the price at £32..not that I had room for a heavy meal, but still!

Service was exemplary however – when I asked for a wine recommendation the sommelier came over within a minute (although that was probably to be expected given that there were less than 10 guests in the restaurant at the time) and recommended the mersault, which was delicious (but expensive, as wine always is at hotel restaurants). I was also very impressed with all the ‘add-ons’ which weren't added to the bill – the pre amuse bouche (4 canapes type things brought to the table – small something or other featuring venison sausage; a small risotto ball (a bit like a mini arancini I suppose); a cheery tomato filled with goats cheese; and some smoked salmon concoction); the mini loaf of bread and butter brought to each of us at the table; and the amuse bouche – some delicious creamy concotion of I don't quite know what, with a jersusalem artichoke soup poured over it.

I would certainly go back to Pearl and give a ‘full meal’ a go, probably on a weekend or at a more normal dining hour when the ambiance ought to be a lot better – as I said, by the time we dined it was almost empty! And I do like watching Jun Tanaka cooking on the TV, so I have high expectations when I return. I will however be scouring reviews trying to find some more ‘value’ for money dishes to choose from the menu!

Set Lunch – changes every so often – 3 courses £23, bottle water 75cl @ £4.75 (could have had tap if I wanted but went for the fizzy) + 12.5% service. This has come down. for the previous couple of years, as I have passed this establishment on the way to meetings, 3 courses were nearer £30. Credit crunch reducing turnover perhaps? Cut the price, get bums on seats, try to get the extras with drinks etc etc?

The appetiser:
No problem with the assorted homemade “crackers”, sesame, poppy and seaweed (this one left a little oil on the fingers)
The dips, hummus – standard, beetroot, light and sweet, good contrast, smoked anchovy, a cross between brandade and taramasalata, the chopped capers nice touch. Presentation looked good, but the crispy crackers meant difficult to scoop out of the dimples of the long dish/plate.
The bread: good crusty mini loaf, butter ok, hard enough to hold form, soft enough to spread. The little bread board?? The knife ok for the butter but not the bread. Tear and crumbs everywhere!
The Starter:
Hare Faggots, fondant turnip, truffled spatzle, chanterelles:
Firstly, where the edge of the pan had been “wiped” to clean perhaps a dribble there was a remaining “smudge” very noticeable. 3 faggots but only 2 fondant turnip? Nice rich taste of the hare. Eat a faggot as a whole then fine, but if you cut, to sample with the other elements then a little “string” (was it caul?) Winter/golden chanterelles good but slightly over soft. I couldn't detect truffle in the spatzle and they didn't really add anything for me. Maybe crisper as mini beignet? I felt it needed perhaps an acid contrast. The game flavour of the hare was too softened by the butteryness of the turnip and sauce. A pickled walnut or two would add both acid and texture. Just to make it “dance”!?
The main course:
Pan fried Loin of cod, beans, leeks, mousseron, cockles:
The piece of fish was superb. Excellent crust, great golden brown colour cooked just right so just opaque in the middle, the beans soft, the leek rounds nice, the cockles plump. The mousserons, soft and slippy, but these seemed cut up and didn't have their own flavour, leave them whole so more noticeable. (when I collect them I dry them and then blitz to powder just for seasoning!)
The sauce was delicious. But… The presentation in a mini “cast iron crock”. It meant too much of the elements were sat proud of the sauce, the large cutlery meant elbows up to almost shoulder level to get into the food and all the sauce was then a struggle to get at. I had to ask for a spoon (didn't want to leave any sauce!). Yes it looked good in the crock on the wooden board but impractical. Then argue about a little dish for the cockle shells, picky customers may even look for a finger bowl! but that would be excessive. It would have been fine in a normal pasta wide rim dish.
The dessert:
Savarin cheesecake, pink grapefruit, chocolate ice cream. Well to call it a cheesecake…Hmmm? Definitely not a mousse, but not a custard, quite! The pink grapefruit in jelly top was a good contrast but the grapefruit segments were too large, suggest half them on angle. The twisted sugared pastry, ok provided the contrast of texture. The chocolate icecream ok.
The presentation again looked good, but the cutlery too big to suitably get into the mini kilner, and also into the chinese spoon for the ice cream.
I declined coffee, I am a smoker so paid, left to enjoy a cigarette at a neaby coffee house pavement table with a brew!.

Overall, a very good lunch, service ok but needs a little more attention to detail. But for the price excellent.
Would go again.

I dined at Pearl on Saturday evening with 3 friends and I can honestly say it was my best dining experience to date. The restaurant is elegant with stunningly lit pearls cascading from the ceiling and a pianist providing subtle background music. Yet despite its opulence, the restaurant is surprisingly friendly and relaxed.

The service is very warming with attentive, knowledgeable staff, who are partial to a bit of banter. Nothing seems too much trouble for the Waiters and they clearly have a passion for upholding the restaurant’s excellent reputation.

The food is nothing short of stunning and cleverly fuses French classics with a modern twist, incorporating experimental flavours with beautiful artistic expression. As each dish arrives, you can’t help wanting to resist the urge to destroy the work of art which has been constructed with such love and attention, however this is soon replaced with a desire to spoil your curious taste buds.

Some of the flavours seem a little too bold to be fused but somehow they work, dancing across your palate in the most sensational manner. Although substantial in size, the dishes leave you wanting more and more.

It is clear that Jun Tanaka’s food is very cleverly thought out, tried, tested and respectfully constructed to achieve nothing short of perfection.

Consistently really good. Use this place for business and pleasure. The attention to detail on the dishes and service is immaculate. Food wise, the concept is Fusion, combining Modern Eclectic and Japanese influences. Definitely deserves more love. Fab wine list and also the cheese trolley is most impressive.

I went to Pearl with my boyfriend to celebrate my birthday having walked past several times and liked the look of it.

The food was elaborately presented and technically impressive but the taste was only so-so. As for the atmosphere the decor is lovely, but the staff are snooty. My experience of expensive restaurants tends to be that the staff try to make you feel welcome. Not at Pearl, where one waitress in particular was patronising to the point of rudeness.

Perhaps Pearl's policy is to intimidate customers into feeling like they are in a smart restaurant, rather then providing the food and service that befits one.

I went last year with a friend of mine and had recently eaten at l'autre pied and were disapointed because of cold food so we neededsome cheering up. we had a £35 toptable menu (which the waiters quite enjoyed advertising for some reason) which was a 3 course written menu with a glass of wine. The restaursant was very quiet so the atmosphere was amazing but flet slightly crowded by waiters but the service was so good, we cant complain. The food was amazing, cannot fault it at all, and cannot really believe it dosn't have any michelin stars. We had canapes and a pre starter included which iss more than we got at l'autre pied when we paid almost double and were on al a carte, not top table. The pearl was amzing, cannot fault it, i really want to go again and would highly recommend!!!