Pearl Bistro & Oyster Bar

The service was amazingly poor. It seemed as if all of the staff was very poorly trained. The bus boy was spilling water all over himself. Our waitress did not know her menu and did not know anything about wines. She did not attend to us while we dined and simply disappeared for most of our dinner. The food also left a lot to be desired. They were out of items which leads me to believe that they were out of frozen goods. Food was not fresh tasting and more to the bland side but at least the portions were small. We finally flagged down our waitress to get our bill and promptly left to go next door for dessert at Le Vol Au Vent which was next door. Le Vol Au Vent was amazing!!! I highly recommend any other restaurant other than the Pearl Bistro & Oyster Bar on the White Rock strip.

We went during their happy hour on a Monday. It wasn’t busy at that time. Their $ 1 oysters buck-​a-​shuck were awesome. Their oysters rockefeller were awesome! The service was good.
****The paella was terrible****. We’ve had authentic Spanish Paella and their paella was just risotto rice tasted like chicken broth mixed with some vegetables and a few pieces of sausage and mussels/​clams. I was so excited to try their paella but it was not good at all.
The guava drink was okay but we were drinking the seeds and we asked for extra simple syrup because it wasn’t sweet.
I would come back only for the oysters.

Great Happy Hour with ‘buck a shuck’ oysters! Stylish but comfortable atmosphere with live music on Fri and Sat nights. Try the Guava Soda cocktail ;P

Difficult to find parking, service’s good, food was OK, average. Happy hour $ 1 fresh oyster was very small, sauce was tasteless.

I would give 3.5 stars but since I can’t do half a star, I’ll round up since the server was very nice.
We had $ 100 in gift cards that we wanted to use up. Originally we were going to go to Onyx in Port Moody but it seems that location is no longer listed on the website. So it was off to White rock for us.
FOOD is SLOW. We were here for 2.5 hours but sat waiting for food for most of it.
Came in time for buck a shuck oysters. Ordered 24 to start. We waited 35 min and since happy hour was going to be over soon, decided to just order another 24. Our first 24 oysters came. As we finished up, the waitress came back and apologized saying they were out and couldn’t give us the extra 24. She then went on to say as an apology, she would give us our appetizer (1 lb clams & mussels in garlic Chardonnay sauce) on the house. Very generous of her! The oysters were royal miyagi. Many pieces of shell were found when eating. Must’ve been because they were so busy.
We ordered another 1 lb of clams & mussels, plus oysters Rockefeller (min order is 4 so that’s what we ordered), and cod fish & chips. We wanted to order the halibut instead of the clams & mussels but we were told it wasn’t in season. She offered to substitute salmon but at 29.75 for the plate, it didn’t seem worth it.
Clams & mussels were generous, the mussels were huge. The sauce is quite watery though. The oysters Rockefeller were tasty — probably the highlight. Cod fish & chips were good, but nothing to write home about.
For dessert, I had the salted caramel bourbon sundae. The description says it will be topped with chocolate shavings. No chocolate shavings in sight. Whipped cream was tasteless and I couldn’t taste any hint of salt or bourbon. The pecans and the ice cream itself were delicious though.
Not sure we would make the drive again for this place but wanted to write a review because of our server since she was very patient and came back to check on us constantly.

We haven’t been to this restaurant for years, and with my daughter back from university for the holidays, we thought we’d treat ourselves to some oysters.
The night was going great. The atmosphere was relaxed. It was nice and quiet as it was the post-​holiday period. We were really enjoying the food, and I mean really enjoying it. Until we ordered the risotto balls. When they came, they were still cold. After sending them back to the kitchen, they came back cold again. The cheese was solid and cold in the middle.
Ok, we went for more oysters… Magic! Seriously, they were great. Then we ordered another round of muscles. When they arrived, half of them were closed. We pointed this out to the waitress and she immediately took the closed ones back to the kitchen.
Upon returning from the kitchen, our waitress presented us with a bowl of watery muscles. Literally a bowl of muscles in boiled water. Needless to say these tasteless muscles went straight back. Upon their return, they now had a little white wine sauce mixed with, what seemed, the very same watery muscles. They were absolutely tasteless; nothing like the delicious muscles that preceded them.
At this point, I should probably point out that I work with restaurants based across the U.S. and Canada for a living. I am Director of Client Services for a software company with over 4,000 restaurant locations under management. I rarely experience such ineptitude from a chef, especially with a restaurant at this price point. Why they wouldn’t just accept that I wasn’t happy, and just prepare the whole dish again. Instead they tried to do the minimum. After the debacle with the risotto balls, that was the least they could do.
As I pointed out to the waitress, she had done a great job, but her chef had really let her down. It’s really unfortunate, as apart from the mistakes, the rest of the food was great. The oysters were excellent. Such a real shame the chef had to cheap out with the service. We skipped dessert and left disappointed.

true tustist place where they sell you a location but a good food, cheap redneck menu.

Visited Pearl this weekend, the food is good but the prices are a bit unrealistic. For example, we ordered stuffed mushrooms, they were 2 small portabello mushrooms for $ 17. We also had grilled oysters, flamed prawns and chowder; all were fairly good. I would be back but would try to come for happy hour or for specials because the regular menu is too steep.

We didn’t stay, they changed there menu and it’s terrible. Wine list was also trash. They went from a 5 star to a 1 star for us. Too bad.

Delicious food. Amazing service. Great music. Cozy environment. All my fingers thumbs up.

Wanted to take some out of town guests to the beach so 15 of us went to Pearl. Great atmosphere for our crown and staff was very accommodating. We mostly had the tapas and cocktails… The Margarita Cesar is something I would definitely come back for. Mussels were good but a little on the small side. Calamari and ceviche were tasty. Going to go back for buck-​a-​shuck soon!

Ew. Came here a couple weeks ago with a large group. We ordered beers and oysters to start — the oysters were hacked open and there were lots of shell pieces left inside while the oysters were still partially attatched.
Service was okay, but the server was not very attentive and had an awkward air about him.
We all ordered brunch items — I had the tomato/​garlic eggs benny and it was so gross. No flavour, cold, and there wasnt even any recognizable tomatoes or garlic inside… it was a sort of mushy mix of tomato and something else but it was a pinkish colour and hardly any garlic flavour. The «hashbrowns» on the side were clearly pre cooked/​frozen and reheated in a microwave. They were shrivelled/​dry/​cold and just plain gross. We all had to ask for salt, pepper and hot sauce to add flavour. Not to mention the portions were small and you could clearly tell it had been sitting out for a bit.
I couldn’t finish my food it was just so unappetizing and the owner/​manager (?) came over because he probably saw us discussing our food with unpleasant faces… I felt bad for him because he was trying hard but you could also tell he was TRYING HARD because the food/​service was bad.
Very disappointing and really not worth it. I would rather go to Dennys or Ihop… just plain gross.

We always come for dozens of Buck a Shuck oysters with Pearl’s Ghost habanero sauce yummy!!!

Love the patio and ambiance! Great menu selection and extensive wine list for all foodies. You definitely have to try!

This place was such a let down. Went on a Friday evening when the weather was starting to warm up. We had made a reservation for the patio and when we were seated at our tilted micro table with zero breathing room we asked to be brought in side. The inside was not what I expected. I thought this place was fine dining. I was wrong. It’s casual and the menu was a let down. Food was a big let down, could have paid less and had better quality at cactus club!
All in all I would skip this place. Head to the next patio!

The waitresses were very welcoming and very accommodating and playful with our under two year old. The wine list is decent.
The food was pretty good.
The baked brie with blueberry compote was quite delicious. The seafood chowder was just ok, it was a little grey looking and needed pepper. However the shrimp and mussels on top of the chowder were amazing.
For mains we went with steak and sablefish both which were cooked to absolute perfection. The accompaniments could have been a tad more creative but overall it didn’t take away from the dish.
The chocolate pâté with sour cherries was the perfect indulgent way to end a meal.

Pearl Bistro has been on my mind for a while every since my last visit. It is a little out of the way so I had intended to return for special occasions later on this year. However, I came across a deal I could not pass up so The Boy and I ventured off to Pearl again.
The One Hiccup (Lost Reservation) — — -
As per the instructions on the deal, I called ahead of time to make a reservation. The gentleman was pleasant and made my reservation effortless. However, when I arrived at Pearl the day of (amidst extremely heavy rain and merciless wind), I was told there was no reservation — none, zip, nil, zero — and that there were time restrictions that came with the deal which was not listed on the deal site. The Boy, disappointed, was ready to retreat back into the dark wet windy night for a night of instant noodles, but before he could, Rachel, the hostess, stepped up and honored the deal. Que? J’étais si heureux!!!
The Food (Mussels, Calamari, Sable fish, Chocolate Pâté) ——
For the appies, I chose the mighty mussels — the sauce was every bit as good as I remembered it to be. I was once again asked if I wanted bread but remembering how the sauce had more soup-​like consistency last time, I declined. The Boy had the calamari, which was very interesting as there was this spice (cumin, curry maybe?). I ate mine and snuck a few bites from The Boy’s plate.
We both had sable fish for entrees this time and we were both happy with our choices. It was every bit as good as I remembered it to be. In my opinion, it is the BEST entrée on any seafood menu I’ve been to. One thing was that there was a bit too many potatoes on the side, which I greedily devoured, resulting in a semi food-​coma for the rest of the night.
The dessert was the chocolate pâté with crème fresh and cherries. I wasn’t expecting much from the dessert from a seafood restaurant plus I hated cherries with a passion. A ordinary dish with two small squares came out — nice plating. But then… BAM! I was hit with the most amazing melt-​in-​your-​mouth perfectly sweetened bite of chocolate I’ve had in my whole life. The Boy and I did not speak until after we licked the plate clean. Best Dessert Ever!
Love this place and would return over and over again if they keep the food as good as it is now.

Good location, OK service, but food was below average.
We visited Pearl Bistro on a Saturday afternoon, the servers were trying to be professional, but lacked organization and one girl was quite inexperienced. On to the food, here is what we got:
— buck a shuck oysters: average, very small, the sauces looked like they have been in their containers for days :(
— mussels with potato bread: so terrible, possibly worse than what I can make! They were tiny, shriveled up and sad looking
— baked brie: this dish was OK, nothing special, but acceptable
— crab salad: very bland for $ 18. Crab was almost flavorless
I will not return unless they start making major improvements on the food, it’s a restaurant after all.

Went for my father’s birthday last week. We used to go to Cielo’s, but that’s really gone downhill due to the new ownership.
I started with buck a shuck kusshi oysters which was good. My mom had the smoke salmon. She liked it, but it was very smoky — a little too much. My dad had a caesar salad which was good. The manager knew we hadn’t been before so he brought us some of their flamed prawns to try which I thought were fabulous and such a nice gesture. In fact, the entire service was really good.
For meals, my dad had the halibut which he said was cooked well and tasty. My mom had calamari which came cold, and were just «ok» but we didn’t complain. I got the crab cakes which were very meaty.
We did start off with some drinks — my dad had a beer cocktail which was vile — he didn’t drink it and got a beer next. I got the Pims cocktail which was just so-​so.
What we thought was unfortunate was the prices. My crab cakes, for 2, were $ 24.00 and came with a few potato chips and some broccolini. That’s a high price for 2 little cakes.
If I were to recommend it for food — sure, I would. But for prices, I think they need to adapt them to the population and food.

You can’t beat the location — right on the strip at White Rock, with ocean views from the patio seating.
Our waitress was very helpful in providing advice for our first time to try oysters on the half shell. The oysters were great, but I didn’t like the idea of the communal side sauces being moved from table to table. I would have preferred a small dish of my own sauce, to ensure no contamination from other patrons.
I ordered the tuna nicoise and can only give it a C+ rating. The tuna was perfectly seared, but the small amount of greens was a disappointment. Also, the dressing was very high on vinegar content, so the pickled egg was too much briny flavour.
Overall, it was a good experience and we will go back.