Thai Pearl Restaurant — Restaurant in Asheville

1st time ever trying this restaurant and I am disappointed. Why?

I would give 5 stars on portions bec clearly they are most generous indeed. When I picked up my take-out, I was blown away by both the size of the order and the sheer weight of it! In this expensive age, that alone would def get 10 stars if possible.

However... I ordered my fave Thai food = Pad Thai then decided to try their Fresh Rolls. (Wish now I had went Spring Rolls instead.) I ordered my Pad Thai w/no spice bec altho' I do enjoy a lil' kick, it's risky bec one cook's mild might be another's way too hot. I also added extra shrimp.

I was so looking forward to this as I had skipped lunch and suppertime was fast approaching. Opened it all up, again very blown away by the huge portions. Everything looked gd.. Squeezed out the 2 lime wedges all over, stirred it up well.

Took a bite of the Fresh Rolls first and loved how fresh all ingredients seemed to be and the sauce was delicious. But! Man the rice paper's texture was like glue = horrible actually. It was like trying to eat rubber cement glue. Google tells me it means the rice paper sat in water for far too long. I ended up peeling off that rice paper, throwing it out then dumping the ingredients into the container and will eat it like a salad instead. ;D

The Pad Thai = Noodles were fine but the whole dish lacked flavor as it was SO very bland. The bountiful shrimp sadly, were clearly overcooked or re-heated? I don't know but rather than that delightful crunch into shrimp sweetness, they were sooo chewy and their flavor cooked rt out of them.

Google tells us that properly cooked shrimp ought be in a C-shape and that overcooked (or cooked then re-heated) shrimp will have an O-shape. Every one of my many shrimp are Os.

Too bad, so sad. Might be whoever was doing the cooking on this day needs a refresher course on the proper and authentic recipe for Pad Thai as well as the art of cooking shrimp. So no, I don't say everything about this restaurant's fd is not gd, I am simply one person who tried 2 menu items on this day and I was very disappointed.

The restaurant itself looks warm, inviting and charming. I was greeted in a very warm and welcoming way which I totally appreciate. I will try them again another day and will definitely try different menu items...

Thai Pearl is a disrespect to Thai culture.

I've lived in Hong Kong, and spent a considerable amount of time traveling in Thailand. I was told this was a fantastic Thai restaurant in Asheville. And when I saw they had Boat Noodles (Kuay Tiew Reua), and Yen Ta Fo on the menu - two very specific dishes that are rarely on a Thai restaurant's menu unless it is fairly authentic - I got very excited.

First, we ordered fresh rolls. A simple item commonly found on many restaurant's menus which is hard to get wrong. When it arrived, I was shocked. The rolls were stuffed with raw red onion, and iceberg lettuce. Neither of which is typical in a fresh roll, and honestly made the dish taste more like a southern coleslaw without the sauce than anything else.

Second, we ordered the Boat Noodles and Yen Ta Fo. The Boat Noodles arrived. In the photos I've included, you'll see what a typical Boat Noodle soup should look like (reference the very professionally shot photo), and the soup from Thai Pearl (reference the soup photo which is not very pink). The first red flag was the broth. Boat Noodle soup typically has a thick, hearty color. Instead, the broth was practically clear and utterly flavorless. And again, there were typical southern vegetables present which should never be in a Boat Noodle soup. The bowl was scattered with tons of sliced and julienned carrots. (Why??? I may never know.)

The Yen Ta Fo looked far closer, with the tell-tale pink present (reference the photo of a fairly pink soup). However, the pink or red food dye used was where the resemblance ended. One of the staples of Yen Ta Fo is the presence of cuttlefish. Not only was this absent, but again, there were tons of carrots present in a dish which has no carrots in it.

I certainly did not enjoy my meal. However, the saddest thing for me is that this is what the people of Asheville are introduced to as exemplary Thai food. Thai food has an incredible complexity which is a joy to experience. This was an embarrassment which brings shame to...

So I never have a hard time writing an honest bad review. I’m going to start with the bad, Styrofoam take out boxes… Come on people, this is West Asheville where you are doing business. Step up and be more environmentally mined about your containers. That’s it for the bad.

For the good, I ordered Drunken Noodles with Calamari. On a scale of 1 to 5 for heat I asked for a 6. They gave me a 5 with extra Thai Chilies. That was perfect! The flavor of the sauce was amazing and could have been enough without spice. The Calamari was tender and delicious. Overall some of the best Drunken Noodles I’ve ever had.

I also ordered the Thai Wonton Tacos. To be honest, the next time I order from Thai Pearl I’m going to have just get a few appetizers, otherwise I may never know what else they do for appetizers. These Tacos were over the top. They had a nice level of spice so that the average person would feel a bite from them, but not have to put them down. The minced shrimp mingled perfectly with the other flavors and the fried wonton shell add a nice crunch with an Asian flavor. I will be getting these again!!!

My wife ordered the Pad Thai with chicken with a #4 spiciness. I was actually surprised she didn’t go with a 3, but she was unsuspecting. She loved the flavor, but had to go real slow due to the heat of the meal. I tried her food as well and was impressed. There was a spice somewhere in there that neither of us can figure out, but it really upped the bar for Pad Thai in our book.

She also ordered a bowl of the Tom Kha Soup with chicken so she could have it for lunch tomorrow. I tried it, it was no less phenomenal than anything else we ordered. It was sweet with a nice light level of spice. The chicken is tender and the overall flavors are very well balanced.

Needless to say, we will be repeat customers. This is our new favorite place on a street with many wonderful offerings. I just hope they take to heart what I said was the bad and switch to compostable to...