The Black Pearl — Restaurant in Dunedin

My husband and I came here to celebrate my birthday and we’ve been here before to celebrate other birthdays. This is what happened that will most likely make it where we will not come back. When greeted by our waiter he was pleasant, he asked if we’d been there before which we responded to yes and then asked what we were celebrating to which I told him my birthday and he did say happy birthday. From there we ordered an item from each area of the menu, all came out in reasonable time. Where it went south is with our entrees. I ordered the filet with lobster added and my husband asked the waiter to bring him something he recommended. Once the entrees came to the table the waiter put the lobster risotto in front of me and I said oh that is not me possibly it’s for my husband since he asked you to surprise him? The waiter looked at the order confused and said I’ll be back. He then went to the kitchen and came back out with the order and attempted to give it to his other table who told him that they also didn’t order it. From there he went back to the kitchen came out and said to us sorry there’s been a mix up your order will be out shortly. It was here that I knew we were going to be waiting at least 20 minutes longer for our food and that my husbands order was going to sit under a heat lamp because what happened is our waiter put me down for lobster risotto not filet mignon add lobster. In the passing of waiting 20 minutes extra for our dinner I noted that other tables were given their ciders before their dinner, this is something black pearl did when we were there last it is a pallet cleanser, our waiter never brought that out to us. Once our food did finally come my husbands plate was searing hot and those words came from the waiters mouth which again no surprise because they put his duck under a heat lamp while making my steak. So his duck was dry, AND the lobster that I wanted added was not with the steak. I told the waiter and he said oh no I’m sorry do you want it still and I said no because we were on a time crunch due to needing to get home to the babysitter. He then went about his time and what was even more off putting is all his other tables got top service, he explained the menu went over his favorites etc things not done for us maybe because we weren’t drinking I’m not sure. Oh I also forgot to mention he brought the dessert menu WAY before our entrees hit the table the first time which I think was premature dessert menus normally are brought after the entree of anything that made us feel rushed and this was before we even said anything about a babysitter. So of course after finishing our entrees I pulled out the credit card and set it on the table at which he saw it and said you’re ready to settle up and took the card. He then brought the bill back but not itemized it was just a bill with how much we owed. He then said I hope this experience doesn’t keep you from coming back. I asked him to please bring us a actual itemized bill as I wanted to be sure he didn’t charge us for the lobster I never got. In short Black Pearl like other restaurants are on board with the auto 20% gratuity due to the minimum wage being raised to $15 in FL owners don’t want to pay waiters $15 a hour and have them get tips. So fine I understand if that’s your business model fine, but there is not a doubt in my mind that his service went extremely down hill without caring about how it effected our experience because they are all still getting the 20% grat. So I say all this to say I’ve worked in restaurants for a better part of my teens to late 20s what should have happened is he should’ve told the manager what was happening and something should’ve been offered as a sorry instead everything was so messed up and I left frustrated without even getting to blow out a candle. This was a very unfortunate experience because we live up the road and do love the food but the way we were treated and the fact that literally nothing was offered to say sorry we really dropped the ball just makes it where we will have a hard time...

2021: this was 7 years ago and my (now) wife still talks fondly about the food. Planning a trip back because she wasn't even 21 yet last time we went haha.

My girlfriend and I ate here the Saturday after Valentine's Day. It was nothing short of spectacular. You HAVE to have a reservation to get in, and it is a place you need to wear slacks and a button up or a dress. Make your reservation a week or two in advance, as there are only a few tables inside. Also, expect to spend $30-50 a plate. Entree's come with salad (poppy seed dressing with mixed greens and pine nuts). Wine is easily $40+ a bottle, although my girlfriend is 20 so we didn't have any. Also we spent 3 hours enjoying our meal. We were not rushed.

FOOD: It started with chibatta rolls cut up into small pieces, with a garlic and herb oil to dip it in. Very delicious.

We ordered off the weekly menu, pork belly over blueberry grits (3 medallions) which were wonderful and melted in my mouth. The weekly items change depending on what is fresh and local I assume, and I notice that the weekly items are different on the website from last week, so they do update it.

Our salads came after this. All tableware was taken and replaced with fresh utensils as needed (as it should be at a restaurant of this class).

I ordered off the weekly menu, a steak with home made mac and cheese, cheese hush puppies, asparagus and a sauce on the side. It was wonderful, but perhaps a little too much on the cheese flavor. My girlfriend ordered the cedar planked salmon which was wonderful and had a wonderful smokey flavor. Hers came over very well seasoned and moist rice with asparagus and a horseradish sauce. Everything had a wonderful artful presentation, which I expect from a restaurant of this caliber.

There are two deserts that need to be put in with your entree if you want them, so we ended up doing that. We split a sort've chocolate lava cake with home made vanilla ice cream. Also we ordered a latte and my girlfriend had a decaf cappuccino (hard to do if someone doesn't know how to use an espresso machine properly, doesn't have a bean grinder, or doesn't keep espresso decaf grind).

All in all our meal was $116, plus I left a 25% tip. The servers are all very friendly and proper. The waiter even set my girlfriend's napkin on her lap for her which is something I haven't seen in this area very often (I want my lady treated right!)

Way better than my experience at Bern's Steakhouse in Tampa (where they threw the steak on the plate and had no presentation at all. Also the steak there was terrible.)

Very great place for a date. Gay friendly. Also noticed that they were very open and gender neutral about who got the check. (Any women's studies majors, gender queer, or feminists will appreciate that the 'man' does not always get the check.)

We left after having a slow relaxing meal (which is good, you need the time to digest all the food!)

I highly recommend this to anyone looking for a world class dining experience, foodie, or looking for a date restaurant.

5/5 on cleanliness 5/5 quality/taste of food 5/5...

We went to celebrate our wedding anniversary and this is a perfect place for occasions like these, the romantic atmosphere is special, from the music to the lighting and decoration. What to say about the food, between my wife and I we tried 8 dishes between appetizers and main courses plus two desserts and the quality is "exceptional" approaching perfection. I would go back for the lobster risotto, it is without a doubt the best I have ever eaten and I have tried many from the most well prepared to the ones that are insulting and this is simply Perfect, I would go back for it although I will surely try more dishes for sure than in In that kitchen there is an artist who seeks perfection and achieves a unique flavor experience. In short, I think this restaurant deserves to be in the Michelin guide. *(Black Pearl OWNERS please read this part) Now if I have to say what I think they should work on to live up to their exceptional food, and it is in the service, years ago I had the opportunity to visit a restaurant in Miami that shortly after closed and I have never been able to forget that culinary experience, the food was just as exceptional as this one but what left a permanent memory in our minds was the service, the passion with which the waiters explained each dish, the time they spent with each client They achieved what I truly consider to be a unique dining experience. I cannot say that the service is bad if I compare it with what abounds in other restaurants, but for a restaurant like this with such a special culinary proposal, the service is not up to par. I think the waiters need a little more passion in explaining the dish and getting to know the ingredients even better. I also believe that they should prepare for the diversity of cultures and languages ​​of a diverse region like Tampa Bay and be patient with a public that, despite the fact that English is not our first language, understands and appreciates culinary experiences like these. I like wines but I don't usually drink a lot and that's why I'm not a connoisseur, I consider that the sommelier lost patience very quickly at the same time he lost the opportunity to promote and educate, he offered a glass of white wine and a glass of red for the end and he made the mistake of repeating the same wine twice, honestly this is a very big mistake and I consider that the cost was high, $56 dollars only two glasses, I paid with pleasure for the food but I am not satisfied with the wine taking into account the lack of patience and the mistake of repeating the same wine when a different selection is offered. I don't know if the fact that they know they have a 20% tip included has them in a comfort position and that's why they don't make an effort for excellence or it's that they are overloaded with work, the reality is that I cannot stop highlighting this details so that they continue to grow and offer the culinary experience that we all want and expect from a fine...