Thai Pearl - Asheville

This was my second time trying Thai Pearl and I wish I could say it was worth the money, but it was just overall disappointing. Everything is EXTREMELY over priced for the amount of food you get which seems to be a repeated complaint here. This was a picture of my shrimp and vegetables- half filled and barely any vegetables : I always want to support local restaurants, but unfortunately after spending $21 on this I won?t be returning.

Thai Pearl is a disrespect to Thai culture. I've lived in Hong Kong, and spent a considerable amount of time traveling in Thailand. I was told this was a fantastic Thai restaurant in Asheville. And when I saw they had Boat Noodles (Kuay Tiew Reua , and Yen Ta Fo on the menu two very specific dishes that are rarely on a Thai restaurant's menu unless it is fairly authentic I got very excited. First, we ordered fresh rolls. A simple item commonly found on many restaurant's menus which is hard to get wrong. When it arrived, I was shocked. The rolls were stuffed with raw red onion, and iceberg lettuce. Neither of which is typical in a fresh roll, and honestly made the dish taste more like a southern coleslaw without the sauce than anything else. Second, we ordered the Boat Noodles and Yen Ta Fo. The Boat Noodles arrived. In the photos I've included, you'll see what a typical Boat Noodle soup should look like (reference the very professionally shot photo , and the soup from Thai Pearl (reference the soup photo which is not very pink . The first red flag was the broth. Boat Noodle soup typically has a thick, hearty color. Instead, the broth was practically clear and utterly flavorless. And again, there were typical southern vegetables present which should never be in a Boat Noodle soup. The bowl was scattered with tons of sliced and julienned carrots. (Why??? I may never know. The Yen Ta Fo looked far closer, with the tell tale pink present (reference the photo of a fairly pink soup . However, the pink or red food dye used was where the resemblance ended. One of the staples of Yen Ta Fo is the presence of cuttlefish. Not only was this absent, but again, there were tons of carrots present in a dish which has no carrots in it. I certainly did not enjoy my meal. However, the saddest thing for me is that this is what the people of Asheville are introduced to as exemplary Thai food. Thai food has an incredible complexity which is a joy to experience. This was an embar

Best Thai food I have had! We tried so many dishes (larb salad, papaya salad, drunken noodles, green curry, wild ginger curry and Tom Kha), they were all fabulous. Our surprise favorite was the papaya salad. We frequently order papaya salad when we get Thai and the Thai Pearl rendition blew us a way. The food is perfectly spiced, super fresh and complex but not heavy. The service was absolutely lovely and just the right amount of attention.

Drunken noodles, Tom kha soup, secret wife with chicken, papaya salad and pad Thai. Wow we ordered too much food, each portion could feed 2 people. Prices are affordable, food is fresh and so well seasoned. The veggies aren't soggy, fresh rolls are crazy good and crisp. This is the best Thai food I've had in North Carolina.

The server was very friendly and nice. For food we started off with the crispy calamari rings which was good. We enjoyed the hints of lemon and pepper and the sweet chili sauce. However there was a bit too much breading and some of the rings stuck together into a big clump. Next we got the Pad See-Ew with shrimp which was okay. The shrimp was very tender and fresh however the Pad See-Ew tasted a little too sweet and oily. Then we got the Eggplant Basil with pork which was also okay. The pork was a bit dry and burnt and I think the burnt taste from the pork affected the rest of the dish and caused it to not taste as intended. In the end I would definitely be willing to go back and try some of the chef specials like the wild ginger curry noodles and hopefully give Thai Pearl a better review like the ones I saw before we visited.