Hong Kong Pearl Seafood Restaurant(MD) - Cantonese Dim Sum Seafood Chinese Restaurant Banquet Asian Gaithersburg Maryland — Restaurant in Gaithersburg

We had our reception here last fall, and I have just come around to write this review. I come from the culture of having receptions banquet style, so I was used to the idea of trusting a restaurant to host our special night. Despite the atmosphere being a fun reception venue, the management of this restaurant made empty promises, and at the end of the night, one of their employees tried to “find out what’s inside the contents” of a sealed envelope addressed to my husband and me (obviously, it was a wedding card/gift). During our initial meeting several months before the reception night, the event coordinator representing restaurant management had promised to include all 8 of my vendors’ dinner in the agreed price, and we wrote it down with our wedding coordinator. They were adamant on it being a family owned business and claimed to prioritize happy customers. They also agreed upon an open bar, with a set price per person. 2 weeks before the wedding, as we were reviewing final details, they informed us they cannot serve us the open bar we had previously agreed upon- it put my husband and I into a stressful situation as we had to find full bartending services LAST MINUTE, during the height of wedding season. On the actual night of the reception, I was informed that management was not covering my vendor meals, and when I texted the manager about it, she said she “only promised a plate for 1 vendor,” which was a lie, as me, my husband, parents and wedding coordinator all knew the previous agreement. Lastly, we accidentally left an envelope at the venue at the end of the night. Within 30 minutes of leaving we noticed it wasn’t in our possession, so we called the restaurant. They said they had it in their hands and would save it until the next day. Knowing it was a gift from my father in law, we drove straight to the restaurant. The manager said an employee “opened the envelope to make sure what it was.” The sealed envelope was obviously addressed to my husband and I, knowing we just had our reception. The check inside was intact, but I would have hoped the restaurant we spent so much money on wouldn’t rip open our possessions. It disheartened me to think that we put so much trust into the outcome of our reception, for it to be filled with last minute and stressful changes. Learn from my experience so you don’t have to go through what I have- be weary, and triple check your agreements (maybe add a signed and witnessed contract) before booking this...

The service was ok, mediocre at best. There was a language barrier, none of the servers seemed to know English. The food was not hot, it was lukewarm. It was just ok overall.

The biggest problem I have is with the arrogant man in glasses. I personally do not believe in America's tipping culture. I usually do not tip a lot unless if the service was exceptional(which it wasn't), but I still tip nonetheless. I was leaving the restaurant and as I was exiting the door, this man stopped me.

He said in an annoyed tone "Was something wrong, is the service bad, why did you leave this amount?" Mind you, prior to coming to this restaurant, I saw there were numerous reviews about how staff will complain about a small tip. So I responded saying "No there was no issue, that's the amount I want to give." He started rambling on saying "You didn't even tip 15%! No, you have to give 18% we wrote it here(as he points to the suggested tipping text)." I responded "I have to? A tip is a tip, it is what I am willing to give. If it is mandatory, it is a fee not a tip." I stood firm and he then SWATTED his hands as if to shoo me away or to say whatever and he then walked away.

I understand if people are displeased by a small tip, but to literally chase the customer down and then swat your hands at them is absolutely unprofessional. In addition, to expect a 18% tip from doing the absolute BARE MINIMUM(maybe even less) is unreasonable. Not only that, this man was not even our server. The only interaction we had was when he handed the check and gave it back with my card. When that happened he didn't smile, no words were spoken at all. His facial expressions were not friendly but I didn't care too much for it until he confronted me so rudely.

I truly believe if I tipped anything less than 18%, this would've happened anyways. It is embarrassing that this man is a grown adult and acted out this way. I have never written a review before in my life, nor have I ever been so compelled to write one. But due to this experience, I knew I had to write one cause it was unbelievable that this had happened. If you're coming to this restaurant and plan on leaving a tip less than 18%, expect to...

Nov 2023 I remember we used to go to this place a lot as a kid but then the quality went down over the years. Haven't been back in almost decade. And it honestly hasn't improved, maybe it's gotten a teeny bit worse.

We came Sunday for the dim sum and it was VERY busy. They had blocked off half the dining room for a wedding party, and then further sectioned off a quarter of the public half for a birthday party. So the public dining area was...much reduced. Also, the public bathrooms in the dining hall were blocked off and you had to go use the toilet by the kitchen/storage area. It was kinda convoluted and secluded, but at least there were signs, kinda. Not sure if that's temporary or permanent.

When we arrived around 11:45am, there was a 30 minute wait. I also feel like I am judging hard in that they handed out token with numbers for the waitlist. Just plain tokens, not even those buzzer things. I mean, other dim sum places just shout out your name. But if you're gonna give out stuff to the waitlist people, doesn't a buzzer make more sense? But these people were very old school.

The service was very...chaotic. I think maybe they need more staff? There was a lot of running around (fast walking) and stressed, rushed conversations between the staff. We had to wave down the staff once to remind them of our tea order. Note while they do offer free refills of tea, they just add hot water to the pot and don't change the tea leaves. They also don't provide sugar for the tea.

The cart people were ok, they seemed pretty composed and were polite but not exactly friendly. They pointed out what they had and handed things off, then moved on. All of them except for one lady wore masks and gloves; the one lady only wore gloves. We saw some carts more than others. The sweet tofu soup came by once and the cart with the mini bamboo steamers came by 10 times. Most of the carts came around 3 or 4 times. Maybe the carts also need more staff?

The food was so-so, not really worth mentioning. Gourmet Inspiration's food is...