Restaurant: Pearl Liang 漂亮

By Yu Sen-lun
STAFF REPORTER
Friday, Apr 04, 2003, Page 19

Pearl Liang combines the best in Eastern and Western culinary arts. PHOTO: YU SEN-LUN-, TAIPEI TIMES

Pearl Liang is not just the name of a restaurant at the Grand Hyatt Taipei. Liang, a Shanghai-born Taiwanese woman, a traveler and art collector, helped create the restaurant's atmosphere, designing the interior with her friend, well-known interior designer Tony Chi. Together they opened this restaurant under her name in 1996. You can expect, therefore, a much more personal kind of decor than you'd normally expect in a hotel restaurant.

The space is very modern, reflecting expensive Chinese chic. Large glass screens are painted with Chinese calligraphy, and sparse ornamental plants give the reception area a Zen-like ambience. Other decorations include Ming Dynasty antiques and photos brought back from her recent trip to Hunan and Yunnan provinces. The setup is not dissimilar to that of her own gallery.

The food is Chinese-style seafood. But in presentation, the cuisine is, like the decor, a mixture of East and West. Chef Herman Lai has designed a menu with more than 100 delicacies. "Even if you come here everyday, you can't try out all the dishes in a month," he said.

The restaurant's signature dishes have been created by the interaction between guests and the chef -- these are the kind of people who bring in acquisitions of caviar or exotic seafoods for Chef Lai to make into new dishes. Such dishes include stewed whole fresh abalone with morel reduction and kailan (羊肚菌燒原汁鮑) and wok seared duck liver with Peking duck (香芒鴨肝片皮鴨) -- innovative couplings to titillate the tastebuds of the gourmet.

The duck dish uses duck liver, a common ingredient in French cuisine, with Peking duck, topped with a refreshing mango sauce. This dish perfectly reflects Lai's style -- a foundation of Chinese cuisine and a wide knowledge of French and Italian cooking.

Stir--fried egg white with cod and vinegar (銀鱈醋香賽螃蟹) is a presentation of cod made so delicate that it tastes even better than crab -- something that its Chinese name emphasizes.

The Hangzhou cat-ear noodles in soup with jinhua ham and shrimp (杭州高湯貓耳朵) is also a must-try -- cat-ear noodles are a little like gnocchi, and are served here in a rich ham and mushroom broth.

Pearl Liang is not constrained by regional differences in Chinese cooking either. Beijing dishes can be eaten with Sichuan and Cantonese dishes.

And don't forget the desserts, which Pearl Liang is also very proud of -- even though these are mostly Western in inspiration. The tea creme brulee and mango pudding are both must-try items. For the warm weather, pineapple and coconut tart is highly recommended. The pineapple and the coconut milk, topped with a scoop of ice cream are a perfect match.