London - Pearl (at The Renaissance Hotel)
Wnter 2010
Frank's view 
A pearl in a flawed shell
"I could do his job standing on me bleeding head".
The bellowing voice swirled around the stairwell of the Renaissance Chancery Court Hotel then ricocheted off the basement walls, chased hard by raucous laughter.
The first problem with opening a restaurant in someone else's hotel is the shared toilet facility. You can create as swish and posh a dining environment as you like but the glamour goes down the plug hole when your guests slip out to the loo. It's even worse when the restrooms are situated by the hotel's conference rooms. Whilst the 'Telecom' speaker attempted to hold his audience a badged delegate shot out to spend a penny. In an instant I was whisked from fine dining to middle management mundaneness then just as quickly spun back through the looking glass to an awaiting 'Amuse Bouche'.
The other issue is ambience which becomes a deeply perplexing problem when your canvas is an Edwardian Marble Hall and an English Heritage jobsworth stands over your plans with a perma-ink red pen.
You see, Pearl does not refer to shiny things in oysters or even the sparkly droplets dangling from the restaurant's huge light installations. Pearl is the name of the previous owner - Pearl Assurance, and the restaurant is located in the former banking hall.
The space is very awkward. The designers must have wrestled with endless sketches as they attempted to both appease the planners and create dining intimacy. Unfortunately they failed with the latter. Large wooden walls have been erected to divide the space but rather than emulating the rare mahogany which apparently graces the building, the walnut boards have the character of a job lot from Ikea.
The tables are all round and a decent distance apart giving unusual dining privacy. Despite a wooden floor and hard walls the acoustics of the room are surprisingly good. You really can chat quietly with the booming audio restricted to the conference centre downstairs. One clever touch is the underlighting of the centre of each table.
And so to the food.
Two menus, which change seasonally, are on offer for dinner - a 6 course Tasting Menu priced at £65 and an a la carte menu with one course for £32, two courses £47 and 3 courses £55. A quirk of the Tasting Menu is the option of adding accompanying Beers. The beers are served in bottles for two hence two people must choose this option and at an additional £20 per person one assumes the beers aren't Fosters and Carling Black Label. Accompanying wines add an additional £50 per head to your bill.
Pearl is the domain of Jun Tanaka. Born of Japanese parents in the USA and brought up in England, Jun's pedigree is impressive having worked for Michel Roux, Marco Pierre White and The Square's Philip Howard.
His food is exceptional.
To start we shared Curried Scallops with parsnip puree, apples, cauliflower & semi dried grapes and Caramelised Langoustines, pork cheek tortellini, pineapple & black radish. Our forks dipped into both and the consensus favoured the Langoustines, the pairing with pork and pineapple particularly clever.
Our main course selections were Roast Dover Sole folded into a parcel and accompanied by a Gratin of Razor Clams, Shrimps and Samphire and Halibut with Chorizo, Caramelised Squid, red pepper & onion confit and chick pea fritters. On this occasion the Dover Sole came out on top but only just.
I suspect Pearl is a better option for lunch. The restaurant is included in a list of London's Most Romantic which I find peculiar. Grand, marble clad banking halls seem more aligned with corporate entertaining than lovey dovey twosomes (unless you're looking for a first time mortgage). A lunchtime bill of £26 for two courses or £29 if you add a sweet tooth fulfilling third won't wipe out the love nest deposit and shouldn't do too much damage to an expense account either.
On a final note, the waiting staff at Pearl were probably the most charming and efficient I've come across in London. If you are considering a cosy dine à deux make sure your love is secure otherwise eloping with a waiter might be on the menu.
PS. The Camel's companion tells me Jun Tanaka's cook book (Simple to Sensational) is well worth buying.
Pearl
252 High Holborn
London WC1
020 7829 7000
http://www.pearl-restaurant.com/
The bellowing voice swirled around the stairwell of the Renaissance Chancery Court Hotel then ricocheted off the basement walls, chased hard by raucous laughter.
The first problem with opening a restaurant in someone else's hotel is the shared toilet facility. You can create as swish and posh a dining environment as you like but the glamour goes down the plug hole when your guests slip out to the loo. It's even worse when the restrooms are situated by the hotel's conference rooms. Whilst the 'Telecom' speaker attempted to hold his audience a badged delegate shot out to spend a penny. In an instant I was whisked from fine dining to middle management mundaneness then just as quickly spun back through the looking glass to an awaiting 'Amuse Bouche'.
The other issue is ambience which becomes a deeply perplexing problem when your canvas is an Edwardian Marble Hall and an English Heritage jobsworth stands over your plans with a perma-ink red pen.
You see, Pearl does not refer to shiny things in oysters or even the sparkly droplets dangling from the restaurant's huge light installations. Pearl is the name of the previous owner - Pearl Assurance, and the restaurant is located in the former banking hall.
The space is very awkward. The designers must have wrestled with endless sketches as they attempted to both appease the planners and create dining intimacy. Unfortunately they failed with the latter. Large wooden walls have been erected to divide the space but rather than emulating the rare mahogany which apparently graces the building, the walnut boards have the character of a job lot from Ikea.
The tables are all round and a decent distance apart giving unusual dining privacy. Despite a wooden floor and hard walls the acoustics of the room are surprisingly good. You really can chat quietly with the booming audio restricted to the conference centre downstairs. One clever touch is the underlighting of the centre of each table.
And so to the food.
Two menus, which change seasonally, are on offer for dinner - a 6 course Tasting Menu priced at £65 and an a la carte menu with one course for £32, two courses £47 and 3 courses £55. A quirk of the Tasting Menu is the option of adding accompanying Beers. The beers are served in bottles for two hence two people must choose this option and at an additional £20 per person one assumes the beers aren't Fosters and Carling Black Label. Accompanying wines add an additional £50 per head to your bill.
Pearl is the domain of Jun Tanaka. Born of Japanese parents in the USA and brought up in England, Jun's pedigree is impressive having worked for Michel Roux, Marco Pierre White and The Square's Philip Howard.
His food is exceptional.
To start we shared Curried Scallops with parsnip puree, apples, cauliflower & semi dried grapes and Caramelised Langoustines, pork cheek tortellini, pineapple & black radish. Our forks dipped into both and the consensus favoured the Langoustines, the pairing with pork and pineapple particularly clever.
Our main course selections were Roast Dover Sole folded into a parcel and accompanied by a Gratin of Razor Clams, Shrimps and Samphire and Halibut with Chorizo, Caramelised Squid, red pepper & onion confit and chick pea fritters. On this occasion the Dover Sole came out on top but only just.
I suspect Pearl is a better option for lunch. The restaurant is included in a list of London's Most Romantic which I find peculiar. Grand, marble clad banking halls seem more aligned with corporate entertaining than lovey dovey twosomes (unless you're looking for a first time mortgage). A lunchtime bill of £26 for two courses or £29 if you add a sweet tooth fulfilling third won't wipe out the love nest deposit and shouldn't do too much damage to an expense account either.
On a final note, the waiting staff at Pearl were probably the most charming and efficient I've come across in London. If you are considering a cosy dine à deux make sure your love is secure otherwise eloping with a waiter might be on the menu.
PS. The Camel's companion tells me Jun Tanaka's cook book (Simple to Sensational) is well worth buying.
Pearl
252 High Holborn
London WC1
020 7829 7000
http://www.pearl-restaurant.com/
Be Frank: agree or disagree? What do you think?
