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Ready for assembly: red duck curry at Pearl
It certainly is one o the most tasty and whenever I bring up Pearl (631-633 Church St, Richmond +61 3 9421 4599) friends rave about the red duck curry. I usually rave about the restaurant’s full moon crab suppers but tonight isn’t one of those nights and I’m in for a quick Sunday night snack. While Jak’s away (in Queensland) I will play!
The curry comes with its rice and condiments deconstructed and in separate bowls. The waiter tells you how to put the coconut rice, deep fried egg, herbs and lime together. My mate Ben is particularly fond of being told how to eat his food I think because it means he doesn’t have to think on his nights off.
But at $40 a bowl it is possibly one of the most expensive dishes in Melbourne – unless there is some whacko out there spicing up crays or wagyu. I’m eating at a fairly pricy $2 a minute on this dish and you can work out for your self how long it took me to wolf down. After eating on behalf of the Good Food Guide so far this year I’m finally paying for a meal myself. With starters averaging $25 and mains nearly $40 I’m a little stunned at the cost.
Perhaps I’m not doing this right and rather than dropping n for a snack should be saving Pearl for a special occasion.
My partner’s cost per minute is even higher with four tortellini of cray, two mussels and a single scallop with three tiny asparagus spears costing $42.
But with the Cray being so rich we are not complaining about the size. Everything tastes brilliant.
My only complaint about the meal is the dumpling that comes with my desert of Passionfruit dumpling with tapioca, coconut foam pomegranate and mango. The composition would work perfectly if it wasn’t for the tough sort of soft chewy leather texture of the dumpling. It was off putting and to be quite honest I was tempted to leave it but was in greed mode so chewed and chewed and chewed it up.
Nevertheless we’ve enjoyed our meal, two mains, the wok fried lettuce, two desserts and four glasses of wine. The service is efficient and friendly and having arrived at around 7pm we are out by 8.30pm which is cool. I was driving and didn’t want to make a big night of it (so why did I find myself in Topolinos in Fitzroy St at 3am later the next morning?).
After 90 minutes we’ve been eating at $2.13 a minute – the bill comes to $192 – which ain’t bad as we’ve thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. It is nothing like the torturous $2.875 a minute in a long drawn out but tiny meal at Three, One, Two.
Pearl is expensive any way you look at it but the food is that good that somehow I can overlook it. And you should too but on the riht ocassion.
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