Of course, now I am craving my favorite dim sum. Who isn’t? Does anyone know whether China Pearl is available for ordering takeout? Are there other CTown dim sum places that offer takeout? I want to patronize those folks who have given us so much taste pleasure in the past, so I welcome any info you have. Plus, I am REALLY getting tired of my own cooking!
from the last lists I saw on what was open in Chinatown (from a couple weeks back, I think China Pearl, Hei La Moon and Windsor Dim Sum are all closed, sadly. Sun Kong in Malden is also totally shut, fwiw.
For other stuff, I believe that Gourmet Dumpling House and Great Taste are both open for dumplings & Cantonese fare. I think China King is also still serving takeout.
From https://www.bostonmagazine.com/restaurants/takeout-delivery-coronavirus/
China King
Beginning Thursday, April 23, Chinatown’s best-known Peking duck can be delivered to your door. China King owner Doris Huang is opening up for pickup and delivery via UberEats and Deliberr, on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights (for now). It’s a limited menu to start as well—but it’s one that includes a $70, three-course Peking duck feast once enjoyed by Julia Child, Larry David, and other luminaries: crispy skin with pancakes; shredded duck meat and hand pulled noodles; and duck soup with tofu and vermicelli. It must be ordered by 3:30 pm the prior afternoon, and it will serve four people. Other takeout options include handmade dumplings and scallion pancakes, both to enjoy for dinner or to buy frozen to cook at home. For now, China King is open for takeout Thursday-Saturday from 3:30-8:30 p.m.
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Brian Moy, whose family owns the China Pearl restaurants in Boston and Quincy, worries the hiatus will reset the culinary pecking order. Chinese restaurants were the first to feel the financial fallout from the virus because COVID-19 originated in China, a fact that scared customers away. Business was so slow the Moy family shuttered China Pearl in Chinatown in late February. The Quincy location remains open for delivery.
As hard as it is to close restaurants, Moy finds the prospect of reopening just as daunting.
“That is one of my biggest fears. Who’s relevant anymore?” said Moy, who also runs ShoJo and Ruckus in Chinatown. “How do you get people back to your place? There are probably 100 restaurants we all miss. You can’t eat through 100 restaurants in a week.”
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it’s hard to imagine the dim sum cart joint model being viable anytime soon for places like China Pearl or Hei La Moon. Those places thrive on big crowds at tables and circulating servers. With that building that Hei La Moon is in having been sold to a developer, it sure wouldn’t surprise me if they never reopened.
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There’s needs to be a thumbs or fork&knife down/sad face reply.
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I know! I hadn’t really thought about this angle before this thread, and it’s pretty depressing (sad face).
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Update on China Pearl as of 7/20/2020
Just ordered a big batch of dim sum from China Pearl. You call in your order, then drive to the place and wait in your car outside. They happily come out with your order, take your credit card, run it, and you’re on your way. Today everything was as flavorful as we remembered. Plus, there was a new dumpling with delectable chopped Chinese chive or leek and straw mushrooms inside. Would def order that again. Here are the regulars that we (piggily) ordered and there was plenty left over for a late supper: chicken feet, ginger steamed tripe, hagow, steamed Chinese broccoli, BBQ bao, shu mai, steamed beef ball, bean curd stuffed with pork, shrimp and veggies, sauteed green beans with garlic (we were craving greens), and what they call 'shrimp sticks (shrimp paste wrapped around a piece of celery with a smidge of cilantro.
quickly fried in a very very thin piece of bean curd skin. We were making up for lost months without CP dim sum so waaaaay over ordered, but none of it will go to waste. They seemed delighted to have the business and we were delighted to have their food.
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Thais is the most awesome thing I’ve read today!
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Is this the Boston China Pearl, or the one in Quincy? I’ve been having a hankering for dim sum too. I’ve typically relied on the Winsor in Quincy who’s always offered delivery and I hear their dim sum delivery has been going strong.
good stuff. that ginger tripe looks great1
Debora First reports on the Boston China Pearl reopening today in the Globe.
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We just ordered from memory.
This was Boston. We pulled in to the paid parking lot, idled our car, and took care of business. No one came over to ask us to pay for parking. Honestly, they couldn’t have been nicer at China Pearl.
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I see that China Pearl is ‘closed for renovations.’ As a loyal Pearler, I’ll look forward to their reopening. Haven’t heard when.
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There was a Harvard Crimson article about the changing of Chinatown about a year or so ago where the manager (maybe owner?), Patty Moy, talked about how they were going to renovate and modernize the space. I think it might be Brian Moy, the Shojo/Ruckus guy, who manages their whole operation now including the Quincy branch that I believe stayed open thru the pandemic.
So while I have no info on the reopening, I do think it’s an active remodeling and the upgraded space should reopen at some point.
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Quincy is open for takeout.
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