Perla — Restaurant in Philadelphia

This place has been a long time coming. The anticipation has been a full year and hasn't dwindled. Today I finally got the chance to eat there, and I must say that the anticipation was for good reason.

There aren't many Filipino restaurants in the Northeast, and certainly none that capture the presentation and utter flavor perfection that has been achieved by high-scale French restaurants...Until now.

I went on a romantic occasion with my wife. I married into a Filipino family and have been eating their food daily for almost a decade now. My in-laws are accomplished cooks themselves, enough that I would say they could open their own successful restaurant, had they the logistics in order.

I have eaten at Cebu in Old City. I have also traveled as far as Manhattan to eat at the renowned Jeepney and Maharlika restaurants. Even eaten at several authentic Filipino places in Los Angeles. Not to mention, I spent a month traveling the Philippines. I am pleased to say that the Filipino food at Perla is among the best I have ever eaten. Mind you, it is not plain Filipino food...It is artistic liberty taken on traditional dishes, but it is still food that has never lost its identity in the risky creative freedom we call fusion.

We enjoyed the food so much that we asked to meet the owner, who is also the chef. We have eaten at hundreds of restaurants in our time, both domestic and internationally, and we have only done this enough time to count on one hand. The gentleman, Chef Lou, was very personable and showed through his conversation that he truly has a love for what many of us call cuisine, or in this case, art.

Please see the photos I took, and if you venture in the general area, it is worth a drop in. It is actually worth driving quite a long distance to eat here.

The items at the top of the menu are smaller portions, and the portions get larger as you go down the menu. The menu pricing can catch up with you if you don't plan ahead with portion sizes, so be clear with your server up-front. Our server was an integral part of our positive experience, so props to him. Always on top of things.

We were served pandesal that has sweet crunchy breadcrumbs on the outside. Really enjoyed that. Then the chef sent out something that was similar to a sweet corn gazpacho with long hots in it. That was pretty good. We ordered the octopus as our appetizer, which was my personal favorite. Tender and tasty, with a grilled flavor I never had before on octopus. That was followed by lechon (fire-roasted pork belly), which was tender, crunchy where it was supposed to be, and not dry. We also had the duck, which I liked the least of the three, but still enjoyed. All three dishes has a great pairing of vegetables that were unique and flavorful. The one thing I would ask is that the chef include more of them. We found ourselves running out halfway through eating the meat portions! Especially the tiny red bell pepper pieces on the octopus. Could use LOTS more. and the shaved celery seemed like it was pickled or something. Uniquely delicious. And then the shaved fennel...So good.

And did I mention this is a BYOB!? We brought a nice white wine which went well with the food. The server chilled it and served it to us in nice wine glasses, and left a large bottle of ice-cold water at our table so we would never be thirsty. And, as mentioned earlier, the chef included a mini appetizer for free, which was super creative and unexpected, but very good. Little things make a big difference.

It seems like Perla is really off to a good start, and I hope it continues to deliver as the menu changes seasonally. Hats-off to you, my friend. Make your...

Stepping into the restaurant it was very cozy and minimal. There aren't that many tables, so I can't imagine what dinner hour must feel like. I came here with 2 of my friends around 9:30 PMish and by then there weren't that many people left. We were seated very quickly which was great.

If you're seeking authentic Filipino food, then I wouldn't suggest coming to this place. Don't get me wrong, the food here is great and tastes delicious, however, it is more modern style of Filipino than anything else. The presentation is impeccable, makes you feel like you're in a classy/trendy restaurant. My friends and I ordered the sisig, lichon, and pancit.

The sisig was very soft and will melt in your mouth, very different than the sisig I am used to which is crunchy/has varying textures. If you like calamansi, then you will love this because it is very strongly flavored with it (but not overpowering). It was served in a small skillet about 7 inches in diameter.

The lichon was crispy and accompanied with grilled lettuce (I think it was lettuce at least) and mushrooms. I didn't really enjoy the vegetables because they were charred, but it was deliberate charring not a mistake.

The pancit was a bit lackluster, taste wise. The noodles were under a tent of jumbo shrimp. i felt like the dish was kind of imbalanced for that reason because of the ratio of noodles and the shrimp. That and there was some other vegetable that seemed out of place in the dish. This was probably my least favorite of the dishes.

Overall, the staff was very friendly and the food was delicious. Our server recommended like 4 - 6 dishes since the portions are relatively small, but after the end of dinner my 2 friends and I were contently filled with the 3 dishes we ordered. If you come hungry to dinner, then you should probably get more plates, but if not then order less. I recommend this restaurant if you are looking to try new cuisines, but don't particularly feel like diving in too quickly. If you are looking for real Filipino food, this is not for you. Also this seems more like a special occasion place because it is a bit pricey, but the ambience + food quality...

We refer to the method they serve the dish as Boodle Fight. Even though you have the preference to use utensils, eating with your hands is enjoyable and although it appears unclean, it's a great method to experience the true flavor of the dish. Back home, it's fairly prevalent in the provinces, on farms, and in rural places. The cuisine, not the setting, is the main reason for my evaluation. I rated it two stars because of the way it was served, not because I didn't enjoy the cuisine. The second reason is that I want this place to succeed by providing the meals in the proper manner. Rarely is food served with soup in the actual Boodle fight. This is due to the fact that scooping rice with your fingers when it is already wet is difficult. The issue is that they serve the rice first, followed by some wet vegetables, and then the remaining meat, which makes it resemble a pig wash. The once-crunchy egg roll turned droopy, and the rice began to taste like the concoction of all the food juices. It would have been better to offer the vegetables with soup on the side or in a bowl, or to serve the entire meal dry, including the vegetables. Another issue I've observed is that because the food was all provided in one serving, customers had no choice in what they ate. The food in a restaurant-style boodle fight is served in sections or groups so that patrons may distinguish the flavor of the fish or egg roll from the other items if they would rather eat just that. And so, I felt compelled to consume the rice in my situation even though I dislike the taste of the vegetables or their juice because everything was already mixed together. I hope that this review can contribute to PERLA's success. And as I said, the food was excellent. I just felt like it was simply not served the way...