For long timers in Vancouver, Pink Pearl is perhaps the most well known dim sum restaurants. It’s also one of the first upscale dim sum places in Vancouver. Located in East Hastings between Main and Commercial, Pink Pearl had over the years been somewhat surplussed by newer and fancier dim sum restaurants located in Richmond and Burnaby. Opened in 1981, before the start of big scale inflow of newcomers from Asia, this restaurant must have been one of the top restaurants in it’s early years. This is evident from the fact that they have won numerous best Chinese restaurant award in the 1990’s.

I must say that the menu is pricey but the quality is very good. They may be amongst the best in class of traditional cart-arounds of the good old fashioned way. The somewhat drawback is the location. Many people are put off going to eat in East Hastings where car breakins are known in this part of the city. However, we were not concerned because the restaurant has a security guard patrolling the car park which is also very visible all round.

The most notable difference between this restaurant and other dim sum restaurant is that there are as many Caucasian as there are Chinese customers. I think it is because of the good reputation that the restaurant has built over the years. Despite such varied clientele, the dim sum is as authentic as any dim sum places you’ll ever find anywhere in the world.

We especially like the setting of this restaurant as the dim sum is served on carts pushed by the waitresses. Here, you can look at the items and decide what looks appetizing to you. There is also a cart with frying action on the spot. It makes the selections look much more inviting.

Suanne and I decided not to order the normal steamed buns and dumplings but instead decided to order some dishes we don’t normally order. Here are the dim sums we ordered … starting with Jar Leong which is basically yeow jar koay wrapped in cheong fun. It is crunchy on the inside and served with sweet soya sauce.

The dish below is Pepper filled with fish and prawn paste. It’s fried to perfection.

The dish below is similar to the above dish but is prepared on eggplant.

Sin Juk Guen’s fillings are made primarily of pork, mushrooms and bamboo shoots and is wrapped around with bean curd skin, It is steamed and was really hot when served.

Suanne and I had a good lunch (the boys were at school). The bill came up to $21.00 (tax and tips included).