The regeneration of Paddington Basin in the last decade has been nothing short of remarkable, both in terms of newly developed office and residential space as well as multifarious eating options. By day, it is buzzing; on a Friday night, however, it was almost eerily quiet, particularly once the post-work drinking crowd had dissipated. We discovered this to our cost when we ended up being the last customers to leave Pearl Liang, a Chinese with up-market pretensions, located in the Sheldon Square development at Paddington. My dining comrade checked her watch as we emerged from the restaurant. It read 11.03pm. Even at our arrival, around one-and-a-half hours prior, we were hardly made to feel welcome. Yes, Pearl Liang was still reasonably busy; indeed sufficiently so, that the front of house was unable to pause in his duties and offer us a table, despite the fact he had clearly seen us. We were left standing unattended for a good two minutes before another staff member showed us to a table. At least we had the time to take in the surroundings. Pearl Liang makes up for its lack of natural light (it occupies a basement space) with tasteful plum-coloured décor and flower-blossom designs contrasting with lacquered paneling. Seating is ample, providing options both for large groups and more intimate meals. The main menu at Pearl Liang runs to 28 pages, littered admittedly with numerous illustrations. Tyranny of choice prevailed and possible stress over indecision was not ameliorated by the servers asking with some insistence whether we had yet decided (perhaps they were keen to get home). Eventually we settled for two ‘cold toss’ (i.e. salad – although the venue may want to think about renaming this unfortunately euphemistic page) options, two appetisers and two mains. One other notable event about the ordering was the barely concealed surprise from our server that my comrade wanted only vegetarian dishes. Surely not that controversial a choice in 2019? Onto to the food and full plaudits across the range we eventually settled for. From the six we selected, there were no failures. My tripe salad was quite unique, combining chewy texture with intense spice; soft shell crab was precisely that – soft – and far less greasy than comparable offerings at other venues; and, Szechuan pork with beans an inspired combination, again contrasting flavour with texture. No, the problem was certainly not the food (nor the wine – we had an enjoyable Austrian Riesling), more that the staff desperately wanted rid of us. Halfway through our mains we were asked if we had thought about choosing desserts (since the kitchen was ‘closing soon’) and before our chopsticks had been downed, many of the nearby tables already had their chairs stacked. It was a pity that such good quality food (priced not unreasonably) should be let down by such relatively unprofessional service. If only Pearl Liang did take-aways…
Pearl Liang: Take-away next time, please