Fine Dining in Webster

Ribbon cutting for the Pearl's opening last year.

We had a nice meal at the EASTERN PEARL in Webster, although I do wish restaurants around here would use a more specific Asian menu rather than try to incorporate every culture under one roof.  Cantonese, Mandarin, Japanese and Thai are all very different in both style and flavor yet to a lot of people it just falls under the umbrella of "chinese food", and that attitude is never going to change if restaurants don't start taking the risk of offering authentic cultural food.

Regardless, the food was very good-- the sushi was nice and fresh and the Hibachi Chicken I got was really good even if I suspect it's not very different from the Teriyaki Chicken as it should be.

The biggest thing that shocked me was the clientelle.  I wasn't sure if I was in a nice restaurant or if I'd stumbled into the filming of the latest episode of Hillbilly Hoe-down.

The large table beside us was filled with long beards, jeans and t-shirts.  I'm betting they were some of their nicest T-shirts because the graphics were bright and lively.  Behind us a pregnant woman with two kids who looked to be about 19 was eating with another woman and a man who was rocking his wife beater t-shirt and sideways baseball cap.

On the other side of us was a group of older hillbillies whose dress T-shirts were likely underneath their dress sweatshirts.

I don't think this is a reflection on Webster-- I used to work there and did business with a lot of locals all of whom seemed hard working and well educated.  I did have an assistant who lived there for years and he once called it "The town that chews with it's mouth open."

And last weekend I got to see that first hand.

But give the Pearl a chance-- it's solid asian food and reasonably priced.