Pearl King

Great lunch. Shrimp toast was special. Eggplant stuffed shrimp great as well. Friendly service. Will come back again.

We went there on a Friday night for dim sum. Really delicious and fresh green beans, pan fried chicken dumplings, and beef samosas. We couldn’t get enough of the green beans. Service is good enough, and ambiance is urr, «fusion», but that doesn’t matter. We will be back for the food.

Why would you get dim sum here when Chinatown is right there?
Also, why would they charge me 1 dollar for water? No one knows.
Don’t come here.

I would describe this place as a hipster overpriced dimsum joint… Although they also have a selection of Chinese tapas which I didn’t try. The food wasn’t particularly special and you can find similar food options at better price points in Chinatown but I guess this will do if you’re really craving dimsum and you’re in the area.

I love King Street, its cool, hip and fashionable and I can also say the same for Pearl King.
Great location (just a couple of blocks east of Spadina) cool décor, two floors and t. v’s (in case you want watch the ‘big game’) Nice, but smaller selection of beers and wines, décor is very cool and the staff here are very efficient and friendly.
Prices are actually in line with what you would pay at similar establishments on King Street (remember, rents are very high here compared to the burbs) although prices for similar menu items are cheaper, if you head north on Spadina to Chinatown.
O.k, maybe they don’t have the healthiest menu choices but everything here is very flavourful and tasty. For me this a great place to chill with a couple of friends, and have some drinks and snacks.
Personally I loved the Taro dumplings (cooked to perfection and not greasy) I will definitely come back here.

The only thing I liked about this restaurant was the font of the sign, not kidding.
Sorry to be cruel, but here are five reasons why this restaurant is somewhat gastronomically challenged:
1. The food is showered with MSG: First gulp of that shaomai I swallowed, I immediately grimaced. I could immediately feel my throat contract and my stomach churn. The whole meal felt gross.
2. What sweet and sour soup, more like sweet red soup with too much artificial flavouring.
3. Taro cakes are way too soggy.
4. Décor is really questionable. First of all, what’s with the epileptic lights at the bar? The designer of the restaurant must have a really short attention span, because futuristic-​dark wood-​Gatsbyesque-​Asian– quasi elaborate– modern-i’m on a budget let’s use fake wood-​Jack Astor’s like décor is NOT DECOR. It just means you are confused. Pick a theme and stick with it already.
5. The whole experience felt cheap. Apologies darling, but this is not an upscale restaurant, so don’t even pretend it is or charge me for it. If you want this to be upscale, then cook better food.

Price is quite high. The food is average and too salty over all. If you just happen to want to eat dim sum when you are in downtown, this might be the only place.

I went there with my friend on a Friday for lunch and we were really disappointed with the food taste. First we ordered calamari, I definitely had better ones. Then some dim sum, I didn’t like them. I can’t recall the name we tried a dish of pork which was inside a dough kinda thing, that was ok because it didn’t taste like anything. That was for sure my first and last visit there

I had a Wag Jag coupon for this place. The prices seemed a bit high online, but with the Wag Jag coupon, it offered a great deal to try it out. $ 15 for $ 30 worth of Dim Sum/​Tapas.
This place has a small patio that may fit 8 or so people. But I have to say, it is nice to have dim sum on a patio on a sunny day. Not sure if there are other dim sum places that offer an outdoor patio in the city. It may even be a dog friendly patio as the fenced patio allows for a dog to be on the outside while still being able to see their owner.
We ordered a wide range of foods: Har gow, sui mai, grilled octopus, grill buttery scallops, gluten pork balls, pan fried eggplant with shrimp and pan fried shrimp dumplings. All were amazing — great flavours and good quality ingredients. The shrimp pieces were a good size and full of flavour. I don’t think any of these are pre-​made/​frozen. The foods came out very hot and cooked to perfection (nothing was overcooked) — with a good amount of food on cute plates. the Har gow and sui mai were sitting on top of little slivers of carrots so it doesn’t stick to the bottom of the steamer. Smart idea. We were given siracha and a hot oil sauce (recommended). Out of all the items we ordered, I’d recommend getting the pan fried shrimp dumplings and the scallops.
They also accept bit coin payment and has a machine inside.
Bathrooms were in the basement and were fairly new and clean.
Staff were quite nice. The Wag Jag app only showed 50% off vs the $ 30 worth so we had a bit of an issue when the bill came and had to clear that up. The owner was really nice about it. This was a Wag Jag issue.
I’d recommend this place as the food quality and service was really great. I cannot complain about the food itself. The prices is a bit higher vs other dim sum places, but i guess this is just one of those «you get with you pay for».

Actually a pretty decent dimsum place on the King Street strip if you’re not willing to venture as far as Chinatown. It does feel a little odd to be eating this fare in a more bar-​ish dimly-​lit atmosphere but hey, doesn’t detract from the quality of the food. Servers are friendly and attentive and the food comes out quickly.
Note: Yes, you do pay for the tea.
Tried:
+Singapore noodles
+Meat Dumplings: Siu Mai
+Sticky Rice In Lotus Leaf with Pork

Not a big fan of King Street dim sum. I mean yes they have nice modern décor, and it’s good to have cocktails with dim sum. However, their food is just about average, with much higher price and less amount. I would prefer having a cocktail here, and then walk 15 minutes to get some real dim sum in Chinatown.

I’m in the area all the time but I’ve never ventured here for some reason. When a friend finally called me out I agreed to try but I admit I was skeptical. We arrived early for lunch and the waiter was really nice and explained the restaurant to us. I was surprised that they didn’t have a lot of standard dim sum dishes. We ordered a variety of things and for the most part I thought it was decent but too rich for my liking. Ambience was also kind of strange — you’re eating dim sum with a large bar in the middle of the restaurant and apparently an even larger bar/​events space upstairs. Three stars for good service but I will probably be getting my dim sum fix somewhere else.

Went here Easter Sunday so the place was dead, very personalized attention. It’s not really a traditional dim sum restaurant because they are missing a bunch of amazing Chinese dim sum dishes (Phoenix buns, xiaolong bao, etc).
I ordered the pork buns and the beef noodle soup. The pork buns were actually amazing, top quality. The soup was good as well, but I would try something else if I went back. Overall decent spot, I give it a four for my experience.

Really enjoyed this place. It has a nice casual atmosphere, with very helpful and attentive service. We all loved the food we ordered, the flavors were excellent. We would order everything we had again, but the short ribs were outstanding.
We had:
Calamari
Sui mai
Bbq pork buns
Short ribs honey pepper sauce
Lemon chicken
Stir fried shrimp with vegetables
Shrimp dumplings
Ramen noodle and dumpling soup
I highly recommend this restaurant.

Average Chinese food in a semi classy bar. The place has 3 floors. Sometimes they turn this place into a club for events. The service is excellent, but the food is just alright.

Delicious food, and while it’s probably pricier than the Chinatown stuff, for a place that is equal parts Chinese/​Dim Sum eatery as an after-​dark lounge, and? presumably a club in the Entertainment District, you’re still at a real decent price point. Highlights were the shrimp-​stuffed mushroom, the fried chicken balls, and the Bok Choy. The barbeque pork buns were also pretty solid. There wasn’t necessarily anything here that tasted terribly different from the standard dim sum fare you get elsewhere, but it was still solid and well priced. For 4 people, our bill (without drinks) came out to $ 105 without tip. Exactly as expected, and we left nice and full. Yes, Pearl King. Yessss.

Dim sum is dim sum. Tapas is not dim sum. Well, maybe dim sum is a form of tapas, but I definitely think you can’t advertise it that way!
I went here for a Sunday lunch with a small group. One of our group was gluten free, which was a huge oversight on our part. Not a lot of the items are GF, and the severs didn’t know which ones were. Lots of breading = lots of gluten!
The service here was certainly slow, but friendly — this was especially annoying because we were basically the only table.
I found the prices to be high, which fits the area but with so many other dim sum joints just up Spadina, I can’t imagine myself heading here any time soon. If you’re going to spend that kind of money on lunch, cross the street and check out Canteen!

Generally I wouldn’t trust a place that advertises dim sum as «Chinese tapas», but we had a Groupon and gave it a shot.
A bit pricer than Chinatown with the average dim sum dish ranging between $ 4 – 7. We ordered the sui mai, pork dumplings, taro dumplings which were made well. They weren’t greasy or overly slimy like the bigger, more busy Chinatown restaurants and each piece was significant, almost like made to order. I don’t think the dumplings were frozen, and if they are then they are pretty high quality.
This isn’t a bad place to eat if you catching a show across the street but since the prices are almost double than what you pay in Chinatown, I might just stick Rosewood for my dim sum fix.

The location of this restaurant is perfect for a dinner and show type night. It’s right in the Entertainment District.
The service was remarkable! The waiting staff went out of their way to accommodate people trickling in to watch the World Cup final. Everybody wanted a seat in front of one of their 2 big screen TVs.
They were also very patient with us and our children and very helpful. I always appreciate that because not very many restaurants are in downtown Toronto.
We ordered several different dishes! My favourite being the pork and shrimp dumplings! I loved the fresh cilantro they put in it. Nice touch!
We also ordered several dim sum and tapas dishes all of which were excellent!
I will note that the side sauces were good. The only thing is there wasn’t as much variety as I’d like. I love sauces!

I have ten minutes before the World Cup starts. We are on Front Street at the CIBC Soccer festival. Said to my wife and kids, «I’m gonna run ahead up to King and try and find a seat at the first place with available seats. I’ll text you when I’m there.» Thinking to myself — it will have to be some crappy bar at this point, but as long as there’s a TV in sight, we’re good. Turned the corner at John Street and first spot I see is Pearl King. Not sure where this place came from, but they had seats, so this is it. Wow, did we luck out or what!
Working in Markham and traveling China, I can safely say that I know what good Dim Sum is. This place takes the cuisine to a whole other level. Brands themselves as a tapa style, where it’s in a bar setting, has a patio and is on the competitive King Street West strip. The place was quickly packed, but they were well organized. Staff helping each other, food making its way out with a fluid rhythm. Saw the owner a few times making sure everything was running smoothly and even brining out dishes himself when necessary. From speaking with him I learned they have to other locations, one in Toronto and one at Bayview Village. This location opened two weeks ago.
The great thing about tapas in this bar type setting, is you order off the typical checklist menu, then have a couple drinks, watch the game, then ask for another menu and repeat. Since the World Cup went into extra time, we did this four times. It’s amazing how much I can eat when the food is that good.
To note is the deep fired shrimp dumpling which had this amazing crispness to the wrapper and an incredibly full shrimp flavour. Even the deep fired wings were top notch. Big wings with crispy batter and a pleasantly spiced sweat sauce. Calamari that was pub style, but was had thick tentacles, very tender, no chewiness that would typically turn me off. I can go on, but check the pics. My phone died, so take a look at Afaf W for what we experienced, she will upload soon.