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| - Pearl Ocean is by far the best Chinese food I've had in Vegas--but also the priciest. Luckily I won a dining voucher (YAY! Thanks YelpLV!) which helped alleviate the cost. They also have a 20% off locals discount as well, though the offers could not be combined. But yes, this place is so so pricey.
I went with my parents around 3PM, which I know is an awkward time to eat. We missed the dim sum service but were very pleasantly surprised by their dinner menu. We kind of went crazy with the food since we had the voucher. The servers are fluent in both Cantonese and Mandarin and proficient in English as well.
We ordered: jellyfish & ham hock, crab meat & fish maw chowder, sauteed scallops with XO sauce, five guys XLB, steamed tofu and eggplant chiu chow style, fried scallop and egg white fried rice, and herbal turtle essence. Overall, the meal was super enjoyable. They brought out red vinegar and pepper to accompany the soup, just like how you're supposed to do it! I was very happy with the authenticity. The dishes were flavorful and reminded me of all the Chinese food I had eaten growing up in the SGV (Chinese food mecca of the US~). However, portions were on the smaller side and were very pricey. The soup was $22, but I can get a bigger bowl for $13 in SoCal.
Now I have to address the Five Guys XLB. It was all over instagram and is all over the photos for Pearl Ocean's yelp. I'm not sure if I just went at an awkward time, but I would imagine they would steam the XLB when ordered. The skin was pretty thick and very dry. XLB should be bursting with soup when you bite into it--there was none. Despite the pretty colors, there were no distinctive flavors between the different XLB. Of all the dishes, this one was the most disappointing.
Pros:
quick, attentive service
servers were fluent in both major chinese dialects
authentic, tasty flavors (if you chose the traditional dishes)
Cons:
FIVE GUYS XLB IS NOT WORTH
THE PRICE
portions on the smaller side
4.5 stars
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