Pearl Cafe

Posted by: Ian T. | 4 March 2010, 8.26am

What a pleasure! The staff were excellent, informative and not in your face, exactly what you want during a restaruant experience. The menu offers choices for all tastes and the desserts were diabolical. Meal portions are generous.

Negatives? Can't think of any.

Food:			Visit: Wed 3 March 2010 Mealtime: dinner
Service:
Atmosphere:

Posted by: gstein | 30 January 2010, 7.07pm

We showed up for brunch before noon but were informed that the cafe was just switching to lunch service. Very well-designed decor gave the place a hip yet old-establishment cafe feel - comparable to Melbourne's Brunswick Street offerings. The service was friendly in tone but a little condescending regarding menu items. We found the food selection to be extremely pricey for what was on offer; the risotto was offered as a mid for $20 and consisted of approximately three table-spoons worth of food. The fish finger sandwich was dry and lacked flavour. When asked how we enjoyed our meal, I mentioned the risotto and rather than receiving an apology, received a volley of excuses about its richness and texture from the server and bar staff. I was not impressed.

Food:			Visit: Sat 30 January 2010 Mealtime: lunch
Service:
Atmosphere:

Posted by: KatenSmoochie | 22 August 2009, 7.40am

The food was delicious, we had the olives, the rarebit with beet & pork belly as starters. The Gnocchi with mushrooms was to die for. The atmosphere was lovely, our waiter knew the menu back to front without being snobby. He also made up for the other waiter who did not seem interested in any of the other diners and came across unfriendly. BYO without corkage adds to the value & the dessert selection was plentiful. We will definitely be coming back sooner rather than later. Tip: Make a booking before hand as they get booked out!

Food:			Visit: Fri 21 August 2009 Mealtime: dinner
Service:
Atmosphere:

Posted by: AnnieE | 18 August 2009, 1.13pm

This place is great! The food was excellent (never before have i even considered enjoying a brussel sprout), the staff are really helpful (attentive without being in your face), it's good value and the atmosphere is great. New favourite! Reccommend that you buy your wine from the italian bottle shop a couple of doors up (nice selection) and if you take your empty with you they don't charge you corkage.

Food:			Visit: Tue 18 August 2009 Mealtime: dinner
Service:
Atmosphere:

Posted by: rachs | 31 July 2009, 10.04am

Perfection. This is my new favourite in Brisbane. Introduced by friends who are long term fans, we finally went along to Pearl and were not disappointed -Servced by fantastic staff (I wouldn't have cared if they ate their break meal from our table, let alone from the bar...) The food is exquisite, and great prices. BYO adds to the value. I want to go again tonight.

Food:			Visit: Thu 30 July 2009 Mealtime: dinner
Service:
Atmosphere:

Posted by: Jo Bretag | 2 July 2009, 2.25pm

Service. It's known to be the biggest issue when eating out in Brisbane. So I don't know what planet my fellow reviewers here are on, but every time I step into Pearl I am met with helpful, interested, charming and efficient service by real people doing a great job under pressure because the place is always full!

Confidence is a vastly different thing to snootiness - please don't confuse them.

Perhaps you are not used to intelligent wait staff - I myself find this refreshing. Maybe you are affronted by staff eating a discreet plate of food at the bar in their break - although for the life of me I cannot think why. I'll admit it's unusual in Brisbane to see staff running around in a small space just getting on with their job, but I doubt I'd complain about it.

The colour, the character, the ink - it's all a bit.... different. Thank you Pearl.

(This is of course to say nothing of the food which manages to eclipse the service as it rightly should, but not by much.)

Food:			Visit: Tue 23 June 2009 Mealtime: lunch
Service:
Atmosphere:

Posted by: footy fan | 28 June 2009, 3.52pm

What a horrible night we had at Pearl Cafe last night. The staff were very rude, snooty and condecending, treating us like we were an inconvienience not paying customers. It took an hour from the time we ordered to our meals being plonked down in front of us. Both male and female waiters snapped and snarled at us all the time we were there, and no sooner had we finished our main meals we were asked if we wanted our bill. What's with the staff bringing their own meals out and eating them at the bar? and also the soup plates used to serve just about everything in. The food was good but the service left us feeling that we had done something wrong. Very ordinary night. Don't go there.

Food:			Visit: Sat 20 June 2009 Mealtime: dinner
Service:
Atmosphere:

Posted by: breakybuff | 21 June 2009, 12.22pm

The staff at pearl are their own worst enemy!!!
This place has everything going for it, with gorgeous antique style decor down to the last sugar bowl. With creative special menus on walls, mouthwatering cakes on display, beautiful flower hangers and lovely furniture. The owners have really thought of everything to make this place LOOK amazing!

The menu is to die for I had so much trouble deciding what I was going to have. The combinations and creative use of ingredients and flavours cannot be beaten.

However the staff were so appaulling RUDE it undid all the hard work the owners had done to make this place desirable.

So if you love great food but dont care about how people treat you this is the perfect restaurant for you.

Food:			Visit: Sun 21 June 2009 Mealtime: breakfast
Service:
Atmosphere:

Posted by: MWinton | 6 March 2009, 11.16am

I was introduced to this restaurant when my sister chose to celebrate her 50th with a family dinner there late last year. That night it was perfect, all Pearl first timers were excited that such a place had sprung up in Brisbane - we enjoyed exceptional service and delicious inexpensive food...

All good things must come to an end?

My foodie friend was visiting from Melbourne, I thought it would be the perfect place to impress her southern sensibilities... instead I was embarrassed.
What happened to all the nice staff? I am still shocked by the horrific service we experienced. Our waiter was caustic, snooty and condescending... he actually made me feel like we were trespassing! Never again! Good lucky in this struggling economy Pearl!

Food:			Visit: Fri 6 March 2009 Mealtime: breakfast
Service:
Atmosphere:

Posted by: JBoydell | 12 February 2009, 6.16pm

I organised dinner for 6 at Pearl Cafe last week. My brief was close to the city, not too expensive, one vegan and one vegetarian in the group, must be BYO and have good atmosphere. I had personally eaten at Pearl for both breakfast and lunch with great experiences each time so felt confident selecting this restaurant.
We arrived at 7pm and were shown to the outside table I requested whilst also being offered an inside table if we preferred due to inclement weather- a special touch noted by all present. Both food and service were excellent. The casual atmosphere suited our requirements, however, the Manager was extremely attentive and offered better service than many so called 4.5 restaurants. Three members of our group have returned to the restaurant in the past week and one lady from the Gold Coast is organising a medical group for dinner next month. This is a must try and excellent value for money.

Food:			Visit: Thu 12 February 2009 Mealtime: dinner
Service:
Atmosphere:

Posted by: Bant | 3 January 2009, 2.27pm

I had dinner at the Pearl Cafe with a group of friends and we underbooked for the amount of people and when we all arrived the staff were friendly and accommodating and had no trouble providing us with a larger table and more chairs. The area the cafe is in is very nice, it's on a very quiet street with little noise and no thoroughfare. When it comes to food, which to be honest is the most important part, it was overpriced and boring. The pasta I ordered was basic and boring with little flavour. The cafe has potential due to the friendly service and atmosphere but something has to be done about the food.

Food:			Visit: Wed 10 December 2008 Mealtime: dinner
Service:
Atmosphere:

Posted by: MMarion | 18 November 2008, 10.45pm

I went to Pearl cafe for dinner after hearing so many nice comments...What a deception... The food was really bad and when we complained that one of us went for lunch 2 weeks before and had a really good time, we have been told that the chef for dinner was different and the chef now was a 21 years old who was still learning....what a shock...30 dollars average for a main from a still learning chef, I would do better at home really. We complained that one dish in particular was disgusting but they did not even offer a coffee and the waiter was complaining about us with the other waiters in front of us...It is really a shame because the restaurant is well located and there is quite a nice atmosphere...

Food:			Visit: Sat 8 November 2008 Mealtime: dinner
Service:
Atmosphere:

Posted by: Jabindy | 28 September 2008, 10.42am

We had lunch at Pearl after hearing lots of good things and being big fans of Gun Shop Cafe at West End. However, the service at Pearl is dreadful. Uninterested wait staff with no idea of how to offer a welcome or explain the specials. We were given our bill before we were ready to leave - we could easily have ordered dessert but after such unfriendly treatment we went elsewhere. Menu is dull, food was average. The risotto was tasteless and chicken was dry.

Food:			Visit: Sat 20 September 2008 Mealtime: lunch
Service:
Atmosphere: