sea pearl restaurant

our new "go-to" restaurant. we live in arlington, and my husband and i have been looking for a restaurant where we can have good sushi and fish. i tried sea pearl the other evening with my son, and we were both very impressed. i had the spicy tuna tartar and the whole branzino, and my son had the crispy duck dumpling and the short rib. everything was prepared just right. for dessert, i had the coconut cake, which i should have shared, but didn't, and my son went for an espresso and cognac. the espresso passed his "sugar" test, and the serving of cognac was generous. needless to say, we both enjoyed our meals very much. what will make this our "go-to" restaurant is that at the end our meal, the bill was very reasonable. the decor and atmosphere is upscale, but everyone was comfortable in their casual clothes. the service was great.

the decor is nice and the salmon was very good. the place wasn't to busy and i was looking for a bar scene with scenery.
regardless the food and service was above par.

let’s call a spade a spade: buffets are difficult. some people are even overly critical solely because they’re expecting the impossible. the food is typically not made to order, and we should all know this. with that caveat, sea pearl restaurant in the mosaic district is offering several items that do actually come right out of the pan and hot off the griddle, which raises the stakes as far as we are concerned.

food was very good. why am i not impressed???? everything was just a little too slick and rehearsed. there wasn't any intimacy, with the restaurant, staff or food. no connection.

this restaurant uses msg in their food. i have no allergies to anything food or medicine but i do have a sensitivity to msg. after eating a few appetizers at this place, my tongue and lips were tingling. i was done for the night. the service was great , it's a beautiful place but beware of what they use in the food.

awesome atmosphere, service & food!. we had a reception and dinner here for a board meeting gathering and it was awesome! great seafood, fresh veggies, nice wine list. can't wait to go again!

i love the sea pearl. best restaurant overall in the area. great addition to merrifield. the food, drinks and service are impeccable.


-----18 feb, 2011-----

this is probably my favorite restaurant on the area. i've dined here many times, tried different dishes on the menu and each and every time i've been impressed.

great dining experience. my boyfriend and i came here after a day in dc. i loved the decor. everyone who worked there were very friendly. the seafood was grand. will definately come back when i'm in the dc area again.

i rarely venture out to new restaurants that are outside of the dc area, because i have been on a car free diet. it is just a lifestyle choice i have gotten used to from city living and i love it! that do

friday night 3/5/10. the place has a great vibe. the food was good but we were expecting wow. i had the crab cake sandwich with fries, nothing speacial about it but a crab cake on a bun with lettuce and tomato and the normal sauce. the wife had the cod special which was good but again not wow.

with the vibe of an upscale type restaurant i would have thought that when they brought the food out they did not have to ask who ordered what this is not tgif or applebees.

the dessert was okay but overpriced for what you got. i marked i like it because there was really no in between. maybe down the road we will go back but there are alot of other great places in dc to go to before coming back. this wasn't one of those that we said we have to go back soon.

great experience at sea pearl. i just wanted to comment in response to the previous poster. my family put together a dinner at sea pearl recently, we were a party of 48 for a birthday celebration and we had no problems whatsoever. everything was excellent - great food and great service. we heard about this place through a few friends who also took large parties there and they also had wonderful experiences. i definitely do not agree that they "can not handle complex parties." if anything, they're really good at them.

you said that the order had change numerous times and a lot of last minute changes? well, perhaps, then, it was not sea pearl's fault that you did not have a good experience. no offense, but sounds like your party was being difficult. i've worked in the hospitality business years ago, and from what you described, it sounds like you were not easy to accomodate.

however, i'd like to know - why were you charged for 24 people if you only had 21 people in your party? was 24 the original number? if so, then that explains why you were charged for the extra 3. pretty much every restaurant that organizes large parties like that will go by what the number was originally which is perfectly fair. if not, then i can understand your frustration. i would definitely call back again and see if that's the reason why though.

in closing, i have nothing but great things to say about sea pearl. oh, and i love four sisters, too!

nice, but..... okay in their defense, the order changed a signifcant number of times and many things were last minute. but ultimately, i was charged for 3 meals that weren't served. i told the owner when she went over the bill, that i would pay her, but would review the bill in detail when i got home because i wasn't sure about the numbers. in short 21 people ate, we were charged for 24... i called her 30 minutes after leaving the restaurant just like i said i would. she denies everything... the food was good. the service was decent. one particular server was awful. she didn't want to provide the party with a pitcher of water... the hors d'oeuvre hour had two other parties hanging out while my party was gathering... overall a decent experience except for the $150 over charge! hummm... probably won't go there again with a large party... really don't think they handle complex groups. they wanted me to keep track of the orders... would have been better if they had just refunded the money... i would use them again. there are too many restaurants in dmv to take a party.