China Pearl Restaurant [UNDER NEW MANAGEMENT] — Restaurant in Friday Harbor

Update: we returned October 2024. We ordered sweet and sour chicken, tempura veggies, rice. The chicken was all dark meat bits. Severely overcooked or double cooked. Rice was not fresh steamed. Tempura was decent, but not nearly enough pieces to justify cost.

Original review: We never ate at this restaurant when it was run by the original owners because of the reviews. Anyone reading these reviews should not look at any earlier than middle of March 2024, when new ownership took place. This is opening week for the new owners of China Pearl.

The menu is ambitious. It nods to many Asian foods missing on the island. It's a combination of Chinese, Japanese, and Korean offerings.

At first glance the prices may seem high, but if you stay on the island for a weekend or more, you will understand that this is part of the islander experience and not just the tourist experience. When you order an entree at China Pearl, there is an equal amount of rice. That is not common on the mainland, where rice is typically a single scoop add-on.

They are learning their max limits on take-out and dine-in this week. The hostess offered a 40 minute wait for pick-up and our order was ready just before the 60 minutes mark. We were not phased by this and our rating is not affected by this, as it's opening week.

When we arrived for pick-up they were not accepting anymore to-go or dine-in orders before 5 pm. They needed a couple hours to catch up. The hostess was clear about this and that's ok.

Order: Egg Rolls Hot & Sour Soup Sweet & Sour Chicken/Steamed Rice General Chicken/Fried Rice Cashew Chicken/Fried Rice

Egg rolls were still chilly in the middle, but they were full size and needed a little more time cooking. Temperature of the entrees were room temp after a two minute car ride up the hill. We understand the struggle to crank everything out at once. They also use eco containers, so a lot of the heat is lost via the paper pulp.

Soup had a flavor more like kimchi than of the Chinese hot & sour we are used to. I had to quickly pass on this soup dish because I cannot enjoy any fermented foods without migraine consequences and until we can verify what we 'think' it is, someone else at home can have it for themselves. The soup had a generous amount of tofu.

All the chicken entrees were thoroughly cooked, but also cooked longer than necessary. The sweet & sour had a good tang and more vegetables than we get on mainland. The cashew was mild and salty with baby corn and a lot of zucchini. The General was mild and lightly sweet. The fried rice was mostly soy, egg, and peas.

The kids would choose to have the General's chicken and steamed rice again. I think I need to try the Korean fare, maybe bulgogi, in hopes of finding a craveable option.

While we can't throw 5 stars at the food we experienced today, it is on par with mall food court and fast Chinese food chains for presentation, texture, flavor, and choices. They still get more stars than we could give the Thai restaurant nearby--which are none. (I just cannot put the words out there yet about that experience.) For our kids who miss fast Chinese fare, this checks that box for them.

If we can offer anything positive here, we say to customers to be patient, be kind, and don't expect everything in our small town to be perfect yet. We would also like more visibility of ingredients in items by description.

We hope this new ownership prospers and renews islander appreciation of the...

Friday Harbor was hopping. The streets were full of cars and tourists were staring at ads in front of the real estate office and dreaming about island life. I had a bit of business to take care of up by the airport, so I was able to stay out of the bustle. Once my business was done, I was hungry. I had heard that there were new owners at China Pearl. Why not give that place a try? The sign outside advertises Chinese food, sushi and teriyaki. The menu also offers some polynesian options. This Asian smorgasbord is prepared by Koreans. I was trying to figure out what direction to go when I spotted something on the Appetiser menu - A pupu platter. I'm a sucker for variety, so that was perfect. The waitress laughed a little when I ordered that and a California roll. The California Roll came out first. It looked perfect. Everything looked fresh and properly formed into a roll of rice and goodies. The first bite was a mixed event. On the one hand, the flavors were perfect. On the other hand, the rice was slightly undercooked. I was willing to overlook the flaw while I got ready for the pupu platter. When it came, I realized why the waitress laughed. There was a lot of food on the little wooden tray. Egg rolls, fried wontons, gyoza, a drumette and flat from a chicken wing, char siu pork and a couple of beef skewers. The beef already had grill marks on it, so I didn't worry about the fact that the little grill in the middle was not lit. Since most of the food was fried, it was a real shame that the fryer oil was burnt. Everything tasted like KFC on a bad day. The char siu pork was over cooked and under flavored. Then, I went for the skewers and realized that they were cold. I looked into the grill. It did not even have any fuel in it that could be lit to warm the meat. I ate everything up, but I was not thrilled about it. I was the only customer in the place, so the staff decided there was no reason to come out of the back. I had to go up to the cash register to pay my bill. I forked over a lot of money for the disappointing meal and headed for the...

If you’re looking for an Asian restaurant with a variety of options like Chinese, Japanese, Sushi, and Teriyaki, this spot offers a decent range of choices. We stopped in hoping to grab a quick meal before catching the ferry back to the mainland, especially since we’ve visited the San Juan Islands several times and hadn’t tried Asian cuisine here before.

Unfortunately, it seems we may have caught them on an off day during a busy long weekend. The service was noticeably slow, with only one waitress handling all the tables, and she was not the friendliest. We were really hoping to get our food sooner rather than later, but the wait felt longer than expected.

As for the food, it was just okay—nothing particularly memorable or worth raving about. We went with a combo meal, and the Chicken Chow Mein stood out as the highlight of the meal, but the rest was fairly average. It’s a decent spot if you’re craving Asian food and are in the area, but based on our experience, it may not be the best choice if you’re pressed for time or looking for standout flavors.

Hopefully, it was just a busy day, but the overall experience could have...