Pearl of the Orient

After seeing paranormal activity at the cinema, my mate and our girlfriends were in search for some comfort food in cardiff bay. We walked into pearl of the orient and found it a bit odd that the bar area is completely different to the restaurant and I was curious to see what the bar was like and so we sat for a drink and was surprised they had dim sum on the menu. I was impressed by the atmosphere and the creativity in bringing freshly steamed dim sum into a bar food menu.

We moved onto the restaurant after a round of drinks and felt like we have moved to a totally different place, with a guy playing the piano and bright orange decoration. The friendly waiter brought all the dim sum to the table for us and we ordered a few more appetisers. The service was good and the food was very good. I've been to many Chinese restaurant when I worked in Hong Kong for a year and I would say that this menu is much larger and complex than what you would find in a typical Chinese restaurant and more on par with what you would find in the far east (with a lot more style of cooking) incorporated with the cooking and not just using a wok for everything. In terms of Chinese food. I would definitely recommend you try Pearl of the orient.
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John Barton
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 7
Friday, November 25, 2011

i booked this restaurant and then read some of the reviews and i almost cancelled but decided to give it a go i have to say we had an exceptional evening the staff were charming and very attentive and the food was excellent i would say to ignore the bad reviews and try for yourself i am very glad we did and we will go again
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sarah barton
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Friday, August 05, 2011

Booked here for new years eve with my wife and son. Received a phone call a few days before saying only a set menu would be available on the night. I explained that I am a vegetarian and asked would I be catered for. Was assured they offer a veggie option so was happy to go along as planned. When we arrived we saw there were three set menu choices - two meat and the one veggie. But you are only allowed to choose an option so long as at least one other person in your party makes the same choice. So as I was the only one of the three of us who wanted the veggie menu I was told that I couldn't have it! After challenging this the manager arrived and offered a much more limited veggie choice "to help me out". Even after I told him about the earlier phone conversation, and asked why the "two person" requirement wasn't mentioned then (or why it isn't even stated on the menu!), he refused to offer the full veggie option per the menu. By this point my son, who is autistic, was becoming agitated by the disruption so I reluctantly agreed to the manager's offer. The food was average to bad, very overpriced and the service was really poor (waited over 30 minutes for our main course). I shan't be revisiting the Pearl of the Orient.
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Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 1 | Value for money 0
Saturday, January 01, 2011

Went to the cinema with three friends as the film was long we just wanted a quick, cheap and Asian meal. The restaurant was filled with people who seemed happy, however the cheeky staff latched on to the fact one of my friends left without actually eating a meal. On the bill they charged us for 4 meals not 3. Luckily I spotted this which saved us £25. For the money there are much better places in the Bay. The food was fair but not brilliant though the selection was decent. Overall not bad if you want a quick meal but WATCH OUT for the staff.
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Frederick
Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 2
Sunday, June 20, 2010

Awful!!! Only picked this resturant as it was damp and cold and wanted to get indoors. Moody waiting staff. Takes several sentences to explain what you are asking for. Food was unlike any other chinese i have ever eaten and not in a good way?! All for trying something new but a better menu with more explanations would be good! Expensive for the quality of food and service. And make sure you check the bill so they dont charge you for a bottle of wine when you only had a glass!
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Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 0
Sunday, October 04, 2009

The foods are generous portion, and the waiters are very friendly. Although the wines are a little bit expensive, but it is worth it as the waiters would come to pour the wine for us and it is good service.
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Steve Jones
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Saturday, August 29, 2009

Have to say this was one of the worst eating experiences i have suffered. Where do I start? Mixed up orders, unbelievably bad service, nondescript food, expensive for what it is, 17 pounds for a bottle of 3 quid plonk. The table next to us were waiting for 25 minutes, then when they enquired they were told that their order had 'disappeared'. I refused to pay the (optional) 10% service charge and was greeted with no surprise, just told that there were a lot of inexperienced waiting and kitchen staff!

Go somewhere else!
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Leeds Visitor
Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 0
Friday, May 15, 2009