Double cooked pork at Pearls
Did y'all catch the whole SAT cheating scandal recently? Apparently some kids got busted for taking tests for other students. What's the problem here? It's just kids taking advantage of what they got. The test taker was utilizing his skills and those who paid him were utilizing disposal income. It's a win-win situation, especially since the SATs is a completely poor indicator of student performance and human being life performance. Taking advantage of what's available is exactly what everyone should do. It's easy to take a hole-in-the-wall Chinese take-out restaurant in Times Square for granted. How many restaurants in the heart of Midtown is actually good? Obviously more than a few if you follow Midtown Lunch, but it's also a wasteland full of Olive Gardens and shitty pizza fit for Palin and Trump. Well, taking advantage of what's in front of me is exactly what I did this week. Pearl's is a completely random looking restaurant that looks like nothing much on the outside, but they sling a decent version of one of my favorite lunch take-out item: double cooked pork belly.
Sometimes this is called double cooked fresh bacon or whatever, but it's all the same dish. It's essentially pork belly that's been boiled, sliced thin, and then stir fried with some peppers and leeks. Everyone's favorite Midtown sichuan restaurant, Szechuan Gourmet does a good version of this. And surprisingly, Pearl's is right up there with SG in terms of quality and taste.
For $7, you get moderate sized portion of the double cooked pork belly that's been stir-fried with some leeks and black bean sauce. It doesn't carry much heat, so if you're into that, perhaps one can ask for it to be extra spicy? For those who like a milder dish, this is perfect. There's not much leeks in it really, it's mostly just a pork belly dish, which is great if you just want to get right into your meal. The lunch special comes with either egg roll or spring roll. I picked the egg roll which tasted like America when I added the spicy mustard and duck sauce. Double fist your sauce packets, it's the only way to go.
I must have walked by Pearl's countless number of times before stopping by to see what it's all about. Even after reading a dumpling post on Midtown Lunch, it still took me a while to visit Pearl's. Overall I liked it since it was filling enough, although the portion might be a tad smaller than what's at Szechuan Gourmet. I can't speak to the other items on the lunch special menu, but if you're sticking with double cooked pork belly, you're gonna be alright.
Pearls
732 7th Ave.
New York, NY 10019
212-582-7380
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I find that I took NY Chinese food for granted, even the dive joints every block or so in Sunnyside. Now that I'm not in NY anymore, I really miss what I used to turn my nose up at. Eastern Pa has given me perspective.
catskann64
December 10, 2011 4:30 pm
what are you talking about "the SATs are a poor judge of life performance," I did pretty well and look at... oh :[
I see what you're saying now. Carry on.
Nicholas
December 11, 2011 7:25 pm
@catskann64,
Word. The suburbs always give me perspective about how awesome New York City is. It's just not even close.
@Nicholas,
haha well I did avg on the SATs and now all I do is this stupid food blog. So yea, I guess it works out!
Danny
December 12, 2011 12:03 pm
this looks yummy right about now since its my lunch time =D
steve
January 26, 2012 12:58 pm