A Single Pebble

I really wanted to like this restaurant. My clients suggested very strongly that we go here. The wait for the food was very very long, I think 45 minutes. The air-​conditioning did not seem to work, which was not a help. Several of the ingredients were of a high quality. We could not request all white meat chicken and the baby shrimp was less than terrific. The waitress suggested we order the jumbo shrimp next time because it’s better. I prefer she told us before we ordered the smaller shrimp. The green beans were a high point and the Cosmo was made with a freshly squeezed lime to my liking. The waitress suggested we ask for her advice the next time we go there and that we order according to what she thinks are her signature dishes instead of the dishes that we ordered that she thinks are less stellar. Again, it would’ve been better if she told us that in the beginning. I don’t think we will be going to Pebble again.

I’ve never had a bad entrée or even appetizer here. It’s really great food with fantastic different flavors. It is however, expensive.

I really like going to A Single Pebble for lunch and dim sum. They have a great lunch menu and it’s a lot more affordable than going for dinner. I’ve never had a bad dish. It’s not always what I expect but I love trying new things so it is always worth ordering something new. Personal fave: Hong Kong style noodles with roast pork. If you go with a friend for lunch and get an app and an order of HK noodles it’s more than enough food.

Oh yum! This is Chinese food that takes me back to San Francisco. Of course we ordered way too much and it was all delicious. The Red Oil dishes were my favorite, the dumplings and the chicken. We also had scallops and dry fried green beans. This place is a treat. Everything is serve family style on a lazy Susan. Bring a big group and a bigger appetite.

Had an excellent dining experience at A Single Pebble. My girlfriend selected this location for her birthday dinner, she had been multiple times before but this was my first.
The dining room was comfortable and cozy and the staff were friendly and attentive. The specials list for the evening was quite long and included a large variety of different dishes.
My girlfriend had several must get dishes and as a result we ordered far more food than needed for two people. Dishes are served family style but the portions weren’t excessive in size. We started with green beans and the mock eel both of which came out right away. Our other dishes included pork potstickers, lemon sesame shrimp over rice noodles and a chicken dish that I can’t remember the name of.
The food was amazing. Take the subtle flavors present in average Chinese food and intensify and enhance them one hundred times and that is the flavor explosion you can expect from A Single Pebble. Ingredients tasted fresh which added to each dishes appeal. The amount of food we ordered could easily have fed a family of four or five. Considering the quantity we received I found the price to be reasonable. Five dishes and a glass of wine came out to under $ 100 before tip. For a higher quality dinning experience I found this to be very acceptable. Would recommend.

This is our favorite restaurant ever! We will drive a couple of hours to eat here. I first came here 15 years ago and it has been phenomenal ever since. I have never had a bad meal here and recommend this for vegetarians. My niece is one and got a dish called mock beef. It tasted so real that we didn’t believe the server until she told us that it was made out of something called satain. This is a must stop if you are in Burlington!

Was passing through staying at a B and B that mentioned this restaurant. Since we were in the mood for Chinese food this sounded like a great option. However the food was unlike and Chinese food I have had. Far different and fabulous, great presentation and great wait staff. We ordered from the small plate menu but still over ordered. Three small plates would have been enough for the two of us.
Had the fried beans, garlic broccoli, duck, brown rice, and dumplings (there are a number of types, but we selected #1). Far too much food, all from the small plate menu. But all truly delicious but enough for 3 or 4 people.
Had a sakitini, saki vodka an cucumber. Wonderful choice. Everything was fabulous, just fabulous. A real find.

Very good Chinese restaurant.
Working with fresh ingredients.
Very nice daily specials.
Soups bowls for sharing.
Friendly staff.

Well done dim sum, the kitchen clearly knows what it’s doing here. So many great options it hard not to over order. It was better than dim sum I’ve been to in San Fran and Seattle.
My only concern is our server seemed to forget about us for a while, and I was hungry at the time so I think it bothered me more than it normally would.
I’ll likely be back to try the turnip cake.

Relatively high price (well consider the amount actually that’s not really expensive) with no better quality. Tried the cook’s decision, but every dish came out nearly the same, just different meat combined with broccoli, heavy dark sauce and a lot of salt. Dessert is the best part. Btw you need really good appetite to try this decided menu, we had eight or nine dishes for two and that’s too much!

So I blew into town on business and quickly hit the Googles (and my trusty Unilocal app!) for the best eats as I often do and this place popped to the top of the searches quickly thanks to its appearance on a TV Food Network show; so of course I had to go!
Immediately the collegiate crowd, youthful staff, and local beer gave this a very hipster vibe; however the setting was still classy in a very northern New England cozy kind-​of-​way. Really enjoyable and quite perfect for blustery winter night I strolled in on.
The bill of fare was a bit overwhelming because of its adventurous Asian stylistic perspective but the menu’s descriptions and very knowledgeable staff took the pressure off right away, with a good beer selection and some off the menu favorites I didn’t sweat the choices and trusted their direction. Moo Moo beef dumplings to start and the Wok stir fry du jour for me! Honestly it did not disappoint. Really great flavors and besides having some items my relatively limited pallet was not yet familiar with it was really delish! I did not try any of the ‘famous’ choices trusting my bartender to lead me down the right path and I suggest you do the same.
Some odds and ends of note, the parking is on the street in the busiest city in the state; I imagine that can get hairy on weekends, particularly when the snow begins to pile up. That said it was able to find a spot directly out front, so take that for what it’s worth. The seating was more than adequate and there were several tables that set up really nicely for groups; and based on what I saw they prepare their dishes to accommodate the family style meals. Volume level is conducive to conversations which is great, has a bar but after setting at it, the better dining experience is at the table.
Overall a recommended spot, and the only thing keeping it from a full 5 star rating is the adventurous menu that may not appeal to all. As far as a delicious modern Asian bistro, best in class, in my opinion.

Perhaps the best restaurant I’ve been to in years. We went for lunch, tried the tasting menu to be adventurous, and it was extraordinary. It can be ordered vegetarian (not vegan, eggs might be present). The menu appeared to be vegan-​friendly.
The service, food and atmosphere were perfect. It’s an old building and difficult to heat in January so we were a bit cold… but that’s a minor complaint.
Five stars, period. If I ran a restaurant, I’d send my employees there as a covert learning experience.

Expectations exceeded!
This is sort of a farm to table asian place and I looove good chinese food. My expectations weren’t very high since this is Vermont after all, but they did a great job. We tried for appetizer: the sesame chicken dumplings, the pork steamed dumplings, the vegetable dumplings in hot oil, the scallion pancakes and each got a cup of the soup special. Yes we brought our appetites. The dumplings were a little doughy but had great flavor. The dumpling dipping sauces were great. The sesame dumplings had a peanut ish sauce and sesame seeds on top– not amazing unless you really like peanut sauce. The hot oil dumplings were also just okay also. The scallion pancakes were also great! Not too oily like they sometimes are. The soup was AMAZING, possibly one of the best things we ate. The broth was very flavorful, it was just extremely well done.
Now onto the main courses. Let’s be honest, normally the appetizers are the best part of the chinese food meal experience. But that is not the case here! The beef with broccoli I highly recommend. It is so refreshing to have really great quality beef at a chinese food restaurant. It was tender, cooked perfectly, and the black bean sauce was great. We had the noodles with mushrooms, pork, and onions which were okay, but were lightly flavored– but we don’t usually get noodles so maybe we just got the wrong noodle dish. We also got the hanging pork– it’s served on a bed of cooked greens, and the pork is cantonese BBQ style (not saucy, just a light sweet coating with the pork thinly sliced). Pork was also great quality.
In all, definitely coming back. It was a relaxing meal and the service was friendly and the food was great. A gem in Vermont!

I wasn’t too impressed with the food… especially for the price. I didn’t find anything special about it and feel I could easily recreate it at home. It was very salty, and the flavor was similar for each dish and reminded me of the frozen food section in the grocery store. $ 75/​person for a vegetarian tasting menu that was nothing to write home about? The atmosphere wasn’t my cup of tea either, loud, dark and common. I won’t be back or recommending this place anytime soon.
I have to say our server was fantastic, contrary to many reviews I’ve read.

Still an overpriced dining experience. Beer selection is decent and the food is okay with local produce. Sauces are heavy and flavors of the dishes are more for the American taste. We have gone here twice this year for a family celebration meal for our newborn daughter and cause we had a Localvore voucher. Service is decent. With the variety non-​Chinese but Asian cuisines in the area, this place would not be my top choice cause of the price and average meal. My previous review still stands.

Talk about shangri la! A delicious, well rounded Chinese restaurant with huge portions. Everything is tasty and has great flavor.
The Hot & Sour soup came and I thought we would need an entire Football team to finish it!
Highly recommend the peeking duck: a fun item to DIY and very yummy.

The variety of the ten plates was fun and tasty, but the service wasn’t what I had hoped. They could work on being more personable at least the two ladies I had. I probably won’t recommend easily.

Had an amazing meal at the single pebble this evening. Wonderful ambiance, service, and food. Our waitress recommended the perfect Riesling for our meal which consisted of …
1. Double garlic broccoli — absolutely amazing, possibly my favorite dish of the night.
2. Sliced BBQ hangar pork — so delicious, highly recommend ordering this
3. Fried string beans — great but the broccoli was so much better that We didn’t even come close to finishing it.
4. The peeking duck — also very good but I’ve definitely had better
5. Dumpling sampler — ehh it was tasty but the flavors and textures just weren’t for me and honestly one of them tasted like a hot dog which threw me off definitely don’t recommend ordering this special
6. Sorbet sampler — amazing sorbet but the edible bowl should have been more like a cookie and less like a cracker

Always a bustling experience — so come prepared to wait or call ahead to make a reservation. It’s definitely worth it!
We stopped in for dinner on a whim and were lucky enough to get seated right away: table for two and outside seating on their small patio area. We entertained the Vermont Restaurant Week menu (chefs tasting) and decided to just go with several small plates — my recommendation to get the widest sampling while still having control over what you get. They serve ‘family style’, which is all dishes are made to share and come out in the order that the kitchen puts them out. Plus and minus here, it can be great to have things right out of the kitchen, but you have to portion yourself since the food doesn’t all come at once. Tonight we got our fried rice and broccoli last but we were already full on ribs, dumplings, and mock eel! Their staff is upfront about the style of service, so you know how your food will be arriving to you. If you’re picky at all about how your food comes, be warned or perhaps call the order in to take out. The portions are always generous and you will more than likely have leftovers (which make excellent snacks for the next day)!
I highly recommend the mock eel (it’s actually shiitake mushrooms) — and if you can, do their dim sum (chefs choice for 5 or so courses)! It’s like restaurant week every week :)

A Single Pebble — Burlington, VT — 4÷7÷2015
For over a year I’ve had the single pebble the hostess gave me last time in my cup holder… For over a year I’ve been yearning my eventual return to the area to experience the Chef’s Sampler again…
The Chef’s Sampler… A array of small plates of varying flavours, courses and sauces that comes out of the kitchen like a progressive dinner… It is different every time and completely at the whim of the chef… Tonight, 13 courses and a dessert… If you pace it just right you’ll be able to have most of it.
Here is what tonight’s sampler consisted of…
Meddley of peanuts and spicy wasabi nuts
Red miso soup with watercrest leaves and tofu
Sauteed green beans with ground pork and black beans
White sticky rice
Eggplant seared in a house garlic sauce
Crispy scallops with red and green pepper, carrots and onions
Lemon Chicken
Braised local beef shank wraped in panko, deep fried served with Chinese vegetables
Skirt steak, Chinese brocolly, onions and braised shittake mushrooms in a wine sauce
Salt & pepper tofu with a white BBQ Sauce
Braised smoked pork with tofu, bell peppers, pea pods, mushrooms, black fungus, water chestnuts and Chinese cabage
wheat noodle, water crest greens in a rich venager sauce with ginger & chilli
And for dessert…
Blood orange sorbet with raspberry sauce and a coconut tarte with a caramell sauce
One recommendation when you come, and I know you will because it is absolutely amazing, just politely mention to your server to slow the pace just a tad so that you can enjoy each of the dishes individually… Plan on spending two hours+ Don’t feel the need to finish each course as this will only prevent you from being able to fully enjoy all that is brought before you.
Tonight I leave with my second pebble…