East Pearl Restaurant

This place is nestled among other restaurants and stores on the busy Rockville Pike. The parking is very tight during the dinner rush. I highly recommend carpooling if possible.The space is larger inside than anticipated, filled with round tables for small parties or big groups. At the back, you will see the display of hanging ducks, pork and chicken... The restaurant was full of both Asians and non-Asians. Our server was fast but was easily annoyed when we asked for basic things (water, more tea, utensils, etc). We got our food so that is what matters most in Chinese RestaurantsWe came to celebrate someone's birthday and ordered several dishes. Crispy Pork Belly - crazy delicious. Skin was crispy and the flavor stood out.3 Roasted Meats Combo - surprisingly ok. A little bland and the way they cut was bad (lots of broken bone pieces)Seafood Pan Fried Noodles - a staple in special occasion dishes. This was did not disappoint. Noodles were crispy and the seafood sauce was on point.Szechuan String Beans - it's easy to mess this dish up, but I was pleased that East Pearl cooked the beans well and was not very salty.Beef Chow Fun - decent. Some noodles were not cooked all the way, but the flavor was good.Will I go back? Yes. I would like to try other dishes.Should you go? Absolutely! This place has been around for a while, so if you're looking to satisfy that authentic Chinese craving, check them out.

I ordered delivery from East Pearl restaurant last night.I had the hot and sour soup and Szechuan chickenThe hot and sour soup had a perfect consistency, with loads of woodear , bamboo shoots, tofu, and some mushrooms .The unfortunate part of the soup is it had very little flavor. Not really any spice, and no contrast with sour flavor from vinegar.I really wanted to like it because it truly had a perfect consistency but Just lacked flavor.The Szechuan chicken had expertly cooked chicken, in thin slices, long strips of celery and carrots in a thin sauce.The sauce was actually a perfect consistency and neither cloyingly sweet or thickened with corn starch This would've been a perfect dish if it had just more seasoning. Not enough heat, not enough Szechuan peppercorn, it just needed more flavor.These two dishes were perfectly prepared, but sadly lacked enough flavor to make them outstanding.

I used to live down the street from here and would come very often. My mom and i met up here for the first time in a few months and it is as good as i remember. We always get seated very quickly and the staff are nice. Their wonton soup is my favorite out of any wonton soup i have tried elsewhere. It is wontons filled with delicious shrimp. I was not feeling too well today and after having their (very) hot tea and hot soup, i instantly started feeling better. They also have a large menu and a great lunch menu. Large portions, where we always have leftovers.

I stopped by East Pearl for a family celebration, and once again, stuffed myself on all the authentic food they served up. Dish after dish, plate after plate, it just kept coming. The key is to go with someone who knows what to order at a real Chinese restaurant. I will admit, some of the dishes, I had no idea what they were, but I ate them anyway and they tasted great. If you find yourself looking for authentic Chinese food, go to East Pearl and they'll make sure you get the good stuff.

There are many choices for Chinese food in Rockville I decided to get take out from East Pearl tonight to give a try to a place new to me. (Although the restaurant has been here for awhile.) The restaurant was pretty crowded on this Wednesday evening around 6:00 pm, which I took as a good sign. Cutting to the chase here, my feeling about the food here is that it is "OK". I had a hot and sour soup, which I didn't find particularly hot (spicy) or sour. It was OK - pretty bland overall. I ate half of it and threw half away. And I'm a fan of hot and sour soup. I have similar thoughts on the Kung Pao Chicken and Shrimp. The shrimp were cooked well - not tough and chewy - but the dish was not hot or spicy. It was pretty bland. Eating the shrimp out of the container was like eating a shrimp in a shrimp cocktail without cocktail sauce. It was shrimp and no hot/spicy flavor. Same with the chicken. Like eating piece or rotisserie chicken. No flavor from the sauce. The one good thing here (very good, actually), was the appetizer: Spicy Shrimp Dumpling Hong Kong Style. Now that was a well made dumpling with a delicious sauce that enhanced the dumpling flavor. (In fact, I took some of the sauce from this appetizer and mixed it with my Kung Pao entree. It gave the entree some of the flavor and spiciness I was looking for.).

A few of us got dinner at East Pearl last Monday. It was pretty busy, but not surprising for Labor Day. Fortunately, we were able to get a table for 5 upon arrival. I don't usually mind the service, but the person we got had a bad attitude and was extremely unpleasant. We ordered 5 dishes and here were my thoughts:ROASTED PORK (1/2 LB)These were not cut well and after eating one, I could tell the roasted pork was not roasted day of because it tasted old and stale. The skin was still crunchy but the meat/fat did not have that warm "melt in your mouth" texture that fresh roasted pork would have.ROASTED DUCK (1/2)The portion size is very good for the price, but the duck itself wasn't very flavorful and it was so, so greasy. The meat was OK, but the grease was way too overwhelming. Also, they don't give you hoisin sauce for the duck here (maybe something we could have gotten if we asked).DEEP FRIED SPICY TOFUWe didn't know what else to order since the menu is extensive and a bit overwhelming, but our server recommended this. The seasoning on the tofu was good, but the fried batter was stale. The dish did not taste freshly made.BEEF CHOW FOONThis was OK. Noodles soaked up all the sauce, so it had a good flavor. Not a whole lot of beef, though. Just lots of wide noodles. STIR-FRIED PEASHOOTSThis was definitely my favorite. A good amount of peashoots and it was fresh and stir-fried well with garlic. This is a simple dish, but it did not disappoint.For the price, the portion size is good. But I was disappointed at the quality of the roast meats, especially since this is what they're known for here, too. I wouldn't want to come back for the quality of food and the poor service.

I wouldn't reccommend coming here to get your Chinese food fix in the Rockville area. There's plenty of other places nearby (Bob's Shanghai, etc.) that are better in my opinion. I don't have many good things to say other than the food came out quickly. Food:1. We ordered:- half soy chicken. It was bland and the soy sauce did not help.- squid with sour cabbage. The entree itself was tasty but they cut the pieces of squid so big that it can become a choking hazard. - pan fry noodles with seafood. The sauce was too salty and lacked any flavors. They are cheap with the seafood too. 2. Service:Even though we were seated promptly; it took a good 15 minutes before anyone came around to take our order. I had to flag down the wait staff several times for help. Once our entrees came out; we were missing rice for our dishes. I had to flag a waitress and ask her for the rice. She was quite rude because her response was to tell yell ok!!!!! in my face. FYI-- if you don't finish your food and request for the leftovers to go; they will charge you $0.50 per box plus the $0.05 bag fee.

My visit there with my wife started off pretty good with getting seated immediately, despite being busy. The place was very crowded and loud, with a lot of decorations around. Service started off pretty good, but then was horrible soon afterwards. They provided tea quickly, but asked us if we knew what we wanted to order right after that (only about a minute or two to look at the menu). Unfortunately, it took quite a long time for someone to approach us afterwards to take our order for food, which was quite frustrating, being that others who came long after us got served first.We ordered crab wontons, wonton soup, two rice, and the roasted pork & duck. The wontons were not delicious, quite soggy, and just all cream cheese, which I understand is a main ingredient, but I could've just ordered a bagel if I wanted that. The wonton soup came out extremely late, where my wife and I had to remind the servers multiple times that we had ordered it. The only redeeming factor was that the roasted pork was delicious and flavorful. The duck was delicious as well, but so much more bone than there was meat, maybe that's just how it normally is.After eating, it took the servers a long time to provide the check, and even after they provided the check, no one came to pick it up. I walked up to the counter to pay for it, but I was ignored for a couple of minutes, despite standing right in front of them. I will not be coming back here.

Went here with my husband for dinner on a Friday night. It wasn't too packed, so we were able to get seated right away. We ordered the crab meat wonton (A03), wonton soup (E03), roasted pork and duck (R05), and two bowls of rice (the roasted pork and duck does not come with rice). We were also served tea. You will have to ask for water if you want it, otherwise they will not serve it.Let me start with the pros. The roast pork was very good. The roast duck was good too but it was too bony, and the skin wasn't as crispy as I would've liked. This combo was good for two people, and the price wasn't bad. The wonton soup was also delicious and came with 3 wontons packed with a shrimp filling.Now, the cons. The crab meat wonton did not taste of crab meat whatsoever. It is pretty much a crab rangoon but was only filled with plain cream cheese. The service is also bad. I ordered the wonton soup as an appetizer but it did not come until the end of our meal. Our server did not tell us what the hold-up was. It took a while before we could call another server over and ask about it. It is very hard to make eye contact with any of the servers or wave them down. This happened again when we finished our meal and were ready to pay. No one came to get our card so we weren't sure if we had to go up and pay or if they were supposed to come to our table. The servers don't really pay attention; they're just kind of doing their own thing. Others said the service was good for them, so maybe my experience was a rare occurrence. Not sure if I'll come back again though, maybe if I'm desperate for some roast pork.

There are a lot of great Chinese restaurants along Rockville Pike, such as China Bistro, Bob's Shanghai, and the Dumpling House...so I would skip this experience. East Pearl has a huge menu, but it's not always clear what the dishes are based on the description. When I last went, our waitress forgot to put in our order and we ended up waiting an hour for 2 dishes. Usually, the food comes out pretty quick, but when we asked our waitress about the food the first time, she said it was coming soon (without actually checking and before realizing they didn't put in our ticket). The service was mediocre and disappointing honestly, and with all of the other amazing options, I won't be rushing to come here again.