EATINGOut
by Barry Becker
The Cultured Pearl Is Always Fresh and Always
Fabulous
What a great way to start a new year of exploring
the area’s rich cuisine... a night at The Cultured Pearl (19 Wilmington
Avenue, Rehoboth Beach). I have had many, many fabulous nights there over the
past 5 years. It’s always a dining experience full of adventure and great
food, always leaving me looking forward to my next visit.
Although it may be the first thing to come to
mind, The Cultured Pearl is so much more than sushi. It has a full menu of
entrees that include beef, chicken, pork and seafood of many varieties, as well
as great appetizers, soups and salads.
On this particular night, we began with soup, one
a regular on the menu (Thai lemongrass) and the other a special of the day,
cream of crab. The lemongrass was exquisite, billed as "extra spicy,"
which it was, and which we loved, taking a little bit of our breath away with
every spoonful. It has a light lemony broth swimming with huge shrimp and straw
mushrooms, and our mouths felt so alive! The crab soup was also delicious, rich,
thick and buttery, with a drizzle of sherry on top and lots of huge chunks of
lump crab that made it divine.
The salads were creative and fabulous and very
generous in size, creative and fabulous. The house salad sounds simple, greens
with fresh vegetables, but it’s tossed in the most incredible ginger dressing
(and I LOVE ginger!), so I could have eaten plates of this and been beyond
happy. We also sampled the Mandarin salad, which is Boston and curly endive with
a wonderful light citrusy orange soy vinaigrette. This was served with Shittake
mushrooms, Mandarin orange segments, and cashews, and of course we added red
curry lacquered duck breast on top, just because it sounded too delicious (and
it was!), a juicy and generous portion of duck that added great flavor and depth
to the salad.
We decided to order one entree and several
selections from the sushi and handroll section of the menu. The Thai salmon,
well, all I can say is "Oh, my God!" Start with a thick, fresh piece
of salmon, pan sear it in a red curry cream, top it with Thai crab imperial with
peanuts and fresh basil, and you have a meal to die for. Rich and flavorful,
each forkful melted in our mouths and sent our taste buds into bliss. It’s
served with buttery sesame broccolini and wonderful jasmine rice, and is worth a
trip into Rehoboth no matter where you live.
But it is the sushi and handrolls that are what
keep me (and many others) coming back for more. Rule of thumb: throw caution to
the wind and experiment, even if it sounds like something you never thought you’d
put in your mouth. On recent visits I had eel, which I never thought I would
like, but it’s now one of my new favorites!
I think I’ve tried almost all of the rolls over
the years, and have many that I have every time I dine here, but on this night
we savored four. The dynamite roll features tuna and salmon wrapped in rice and
topped with a spicy mayo and lightly broiled. You can also get this topped with
lump crab, which just sends this over the top in rich decadence. The Spider roll
is a huge mouthful, with softshell crab tempura, cucumber, avocado, flying fish
egg and scallions, a crunchy, tasty delight. Rock ‘n Roll has rockfish topped
with crab imperial, which is also lightly broiled, a new favorite which is just
too rich and fresh to describe. You’ll want to order another round of it, so
just get two orders to begin with. I had not tried the Telluride roll before, so
we sampled that, which was also added to my "eat this every time you come
here" list, cucumber and flying fish egg colorfully draped with eel and
avocado, which was a fantastic blend of textures and flavors. (On another recent
visit I tried and loved the Mexican roll, with tuna, spicy mayo and crunchy
tempura bits.) On the sushi side of things, we had incredible fresh scallops
that were sliced very thin and layered with sliced limes. The lime itself was
hollowed out, with a lime handle left intact, then the scallop/limes were rolled
and inserted back into the lime. Very fun, and VERY good, as was the tuna sushi.
All were served on a gorgeous red lacquered tray, offering a great presentation.
Dessert? Of course! We tried the fried fruit
wontons, stuffed with chocolate and fruit and served with candied nuts (yum!),
as well as a perfect ginger creme brulee, which had a real kick of ginger in it
as well as a large candied slice of ginger, very spicy, and very good.
The wait staff here is very seasoned and
personable, and can help direct your decisions and answer all your questions
about the food. Our waiter, John, who is an institution himself here, helped us
make our choices, as everything sounds so wonderful. Not feeling adventurous?
Stick with the fabulous entrees, soups and salads. Otherwise, this is a place to
let loose and find some new treasures.
Always fresh, always fabulous, The Cultured Pearl
can always be counted on for a remarkable and memorable dining experience. Plan
a visit soon!
The Cultured Pearl, 19 Wilmington Avenue in
Rehoboth, is open for dinner Thursday through Sunday from 5:00 p.m. For
reservations, call 302-227-8493.
