The Pearly Queen Evaluation – The Luxurious Editor
Pearly Queens (together with their Kings) are a dying breed, a flamboyant providing from a bygone period of ‘Cor-blimey, guv, ain’t it a scorcher!?’ summers when Chas and Dave performed the Joanna on Prime of The Pops, East Finish households holidayed in Margate and the cell phone wasn’t even a sparkle in its creator’s eye. Feted for his or her charity work and apparel, their jet-black fits glisten with pearls that are, in fact, present in oyster shells. Model structure going a go-go, right here, while oysters don’t dominate, it ought to come as little shock that The Pearly Queen’s menu is strictly seafood.
The restaurant opened in November final yr to some anticipation, it being the second endeavour by feted younger chef, Tom Brown, who earnt a Michelin Star with Hackney’s Wick’s Cornerstone. Sat on a nook of Business Avenue, in direction of the quieter, Whitechapel finish however nonetheless only a stone’s throw away from Spitalfields, Brick Lane and the Truman Brewery complicated, it caters for metropolis staff and hipper younger issues craving an idiosyncratic eating expertise, looking for dishes they wouldn’t discover elsewhere.
A couple of tables and chairs are optimistically positioned outdoors, on the nonetheless Spring pavement. A slim however buxom mermaid with flowing hair and raised palms capabilities as an attention grabbing and themed door deal with. Above a protracted banquette on the left, a Tracey Emin like neon sculpture glows with the phrases ‘The World is Yours’ (yep, one other oyster twist). It’s a small however slick inside with painted white brick partitions and a poured concrete ground. It’s full upstairs so we head downstairs which is even smaller however, with candlelit tables, cosier. There’s additionally a hideaway nook (or is it cranny?) for about 10 which seems to be like nice enjoyable, ideally suited for a party, and so on.
It appears impolite to not attempt the oysters, of which there are 4 on supply. The Uncooked Oyster is the meal’s most dressed down dish, as its title suggests, however remains to be served with seaweed sizzling sauce and lime. The Crispy Buffalo Oyster is coddled in tremendous breadcrumbs and egg, and lined in a snake of ranch sauce. In look, it could possibly be a cousin of the McNugget and it’s laborious to differentiate the oyster’s id inside.
The ranch sauce reminds, as a lot as it’d comprise dill, of American bars and soccer nights. Nonetheless, the serving’s irreverence and joie de vivre is difficult to withstand and my remorse is just having ordered one. The Oyster Paté, with prune and bacon, is a molluscular reconstruction; take the oyster out of its shell, give it a make-over, and put it again in its shell. The prune jam provides a sweetness and the bacon pancetta crumbs, virtually crystallised, add a texture not dissimilar to popping sweet (earlier than the popping). It’s fishiness is silky and easy with candy and savoury vibes and it’s fairly scrumptious.
One of many Pearly Queen’s signature dishes is the Crab ‘risotto’ fritter with wild mushroom butter and celeriac. Primarily it’s a swollen arancini settled in a moat of creamy sauce and evokes an analogous ‘WTF’ness to the oysters. Reduce it in half and mushroom butter floods out so {that a} handful of flavours, parmesan and black pepper in addition to the above, vie on your style buds’ consideration. It’s very moreish, as soon as once more, and will simply be described as extravagant consolation meals, albeit with angle.
Subsequent up, if not precisely stunning, is an intriguing dish to behold and speculate upon. Speckled with microdots of herbs or simply pepper, an ideal solar of egg yolk sits on high of a viscous, virtually muddy combination of one thing not possible to establish while bends of chicory, two lettuce like, two burgundy in color, curve vertically up half of the bowl. That is Trout Tartare, Tomato Ponzu, Egg Yolk and Chicory and it isn’t for the feint-hearted. Combine it up, as our waitress instructed, and it turns into a visible free for all with the small chunks of trout swimming within the sea of different substances. It’s fairly an ‘interactive’ dish and you employ the chicory as if it had been a taco shell, scooping up the tartar. The trout works, right here, extra as a texture to the oily, ponzu dominance.
This eating expertise is actually a tastebud curler coaster, a textural bumper automobiles so it’s necessary to have a bottle of water to cleanse the palate earlier than and after every dish. The Candover Brook Brut from Hampshire additionally helps. This glowing wine is especially a Chardonnay however has a combination of Pinot Meunière and Pinot Noir. It’s award profitable and comes from the property of Lord Sainsbury. It’s not essentially the primary tipple one would affiliate with followers of The Strokes, The Smiths or Tame Impala, however, hey, that is Shoreditch, and, frankly, three hurrahs to The Pearly Queen’s jukebox jive for bucking the pattern of most eating places’ innocuous dance/elevator/lounge music.
If the Lobster sauce, much like a bisque, could be very beneficiant in portion, then so is the John Dory it hides. It’s not one of many prettier dishes, extra a multitude of sauce than a celebration of fish, however the Dory is tremendous contemporary, chunky and meaty. The cauliflower is a purée, easy and velvety.
The 1/2 Native Lobster, Chili Crack, Dashi Hollandaise is smaller in measurement however no much less delectable. The kitchen has, considerately, minimize the lobster meat so no fussing round right here with loopy instruments and obstinate flesh, simply straightforward forking, luxurious consuming at its most indolent. There’s a spiciness to the sauces however the chunks of lobster are extremely satisfying. To explain the Mashed Potato, Guinness and Oyster Gravy and the Grilled Spring Greens in Mussel Butter as sides diminishes their standing as each are excellent, however sides is what they’re, including extra intricacies to an already brimming desk.
In for a penny, in for a pound, because the saying goes, we’re fairly stuffed however given the general ingenuity and, I feel it’s truthful to say, decadence of what has handed, we are able to’t refuse dessert. Cashel Blue Cheese, Walnut Cake, Honey is the ultimate eyebrow arching, jaw-dropping conceit which is actually, half smooth, tangy blue cheese, half walnut cake. Honey sweetens the cake, candied walnuts adorn the plate, and a brown sauce which could possibly be associated to HP however is definitely a walnut vinegar/pickle, offers an surprising kick. The dish is discombobulating. It’s laborious to know what to eat, how a lot, and in what order in order that, in the long run, with little decorum, we shovel it down, all of it, fully randomly, as shortly as we are able to.
For those who’re on the lookout for a plain, easy, purity of fish expertise, The Pearly Queen isn’t for you; that is no competitor to Scotts, Sheekeys, or Wheelers. It’s a smorgasbord of inventiveness, typically sensationalism, it’s a riot of concepts in a sea of sauces, a gladiator battle in an enviornment of wilful creativity. One minute you’ll be confused, the subsequent delighted. The menu is consistently evolving and modifications on a regular basis, typically each day. It’s so much to absorb and so much on your style buds to register. If it’s a loopy journey, it’s additionally a number of enjoyable, and one value happening – if you happen to dare.