The Black Pearl

Our 1^st time at black pearl during restaurant week. We were very dissatisfied. Our waiter/​GM Ron was very rude, didn’t explain the menu, never asked how thing are, never asked if we wanted coffee, we felt like since we were getting the restaurant week menu we were not getting quality service as we watch how other tables were getting serviced. We thought restaurant week was a good time to try places but at Black Pearl you feel down graded and very disappointed. We never try again

This is a very classy restauranrt. I gave it a 4 star rating, because it only has beer and wine.
I think most people who go out to a fine restaurant would like to have an alcoholic drink besides wine. Otherwise, the service was excellant and the food was very good and cooked very well. Atmosphere excellant… DBRx

Amazing. Quaint dining room with very limited seating, 2 servers working the room like bosses. Each one checking in and making sure our needs were met. Started with the pork belly… fabulous. Ordered filet with fois gras… beats any steakhouse out there. The steak was cooked to PERFECTION. A perfect crust. Mine was medium and my husband’s was medium rare… both had the most amazing charted crust and perfect temperature. Simply amazing. The apple dessert for two is a MUST. Order the French press coffee as a side kick and you will be is dessert heaven. Can’t wait to eat here again!

My husband and I were celebrating our 35^th anniversary. We had been before and had always enjoyed the experience. Last night was no exception. We had the pork belly appetizer which is always amazing. My husband had the beef tenderloin and crab étouffée and I had the white truffle lobster risotto and both were simply delicious!!! Our waiter was very knowledgeable and attentive but not overly hovering. It is DEFINITELY a place to go if you want to have an intimate dinner with that special someone.

Brought my sweetie here for his birthday and it was the perfect present. Some people have called this place a «box» and yes, it is a box but it is a tasteful, elegant, well-​thought-​out box with sound proofing so you can have a private conversation without shouting and soft lighting that makes everyone look good. Nice music too. In other words, intimate and romantic. Our server, Zack, was outstanding in every way. And the food was simply amazing. Lobster risotto — check. Pork belly («meat candy») — check. Rack of lamb — yes please. Black pearl ice cream and fallen chocolate cake — my oh my. If I had to have my last meal on Earth, I would definitely consider this gem! Don’t hesitate to reserve!

Two words. .. Honey dust.
Everything I have had here has been exceptional. Highly recommend coming here it’s a must try! Also, I never get desert but their falling white chocolate cake, out of this world.

This small but very quaint cozy restaurant is extremely creative with its menu. The service was as good as it gets. We felt very relaxed and comfortable dining in this restaurant. Each dish we ordered was of the highest quality and the presentation of the dinners was exceptional. If you are in the Clearwater area of Florida, this is the next city and is a must try. You will not be disappointed. Make a reservation

Thank you for making my birthday so awesome! Zack was wonderful! The Chefs made me the best dinner ever, both Chris and Bobby, my filet was perfect and the whole experience was so over what I expected, best ever and can’t wait to go back! Just a wonderful time! Thank you to both Chefs, Bobby and Chris! And thank you to Ron and Zach, I can’t wait to come again!!!

Incredible dining experience here. The restaurant is physically small but our experience here was just the opposite. The Black Pearl had some of the best service I’ve ever experienced in a restaurant. It was an amazing dinner and worth the splurge. We went all out and would do it again. Good job to this place; simply amazing.

Lobster. Freaking. Risotto!
#holycrap
This dish ALONE was worth the price of admission! Our server, whose name unfortunately escapes me, was amazing.
Salad and cibatta with dipping sauce were on point.
His recommendation of the Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc was very well received.
Oh, and did I mention THE LOBSTER RISOTTO??? #mygoodness
Do yourself a fave and check this spot out, seriously.

Tom Terrific here with another honest restaurant review.
if I could i’d give The Black pearl 4 and a half stars because i’m going to nitpick. I went there on Tuesday March 8^th for my birthday. I was solo. I heard a lot of good things about this place and was anxious to have a great meal.
the place is small and has seating for a max of 32 people as I counted chairs. not too much elbow room. the people behind me were having wine and the wine bucket and bottle were 2 feet from the back of my head on a shelf.
Pablo was my excellent server and he explained whatever I asked about the food. I settled on:
the white truffle Lobster Risotto appetizer $ 20
Black Pearl salad (included)
entrée New Zealand rack of lamb lollypops $ 37 plus $ 4 extra for pecans encrusted on them
Pablo started me with ciabatta bread with a small dish of olive oil and spices.
first up was the INCREDIBLE Lobster Risotto. if you go get this either as an appetizer or an entrée. you’ll be in heaven. lots of tasty sweet lobster in an angelic sauce. actually the best food of the evening.
next was the black pearl salad (mixed assortment of leafage) with WARM poppy seed dressing. here’s where I took a little off for the overpowering dressing. it was delicious but strong. too strong in my opinion.
Pablo served me a sorbet to cleanse my palette and then came the lamb. very high quality with the bone on them so they looked and ate like lollypops. once again the dressing was just a teensy bit strong and almost deleted the taste of the excellently prepared medium lamb. i scraped some off. with the entrée came garlic mashed potatoes with a bit of peel in them and a small soufflé. yum.
Pablo gave me two black pearl beads of black licorice to finish. Pablo served me in the American style where he came by the table to ask if i needed anything and if the food was to my satisfaction. I told him of my concerns regarding the dressings and he offered to replace it. I declined. in formal dining I prefer the European style of service.
all in all a wonderful birthday present to myself and I will go back.

The Black Pearl has been on my list of restaurants to try for a while, so when I heard this was where we were headed for our anniversary, I was stoked.
We arrived and were promptly seated. The place is small. I mean tiny! You have so slowly pass through the other patrons, careful to not knock anything over. For people who say the place is intimate… yes it is. between you and the other 30 people in there.
The service was prompt, everything came out smoothly, our server kept our drinks filled, explained the menu, and was friendly. The only thing was that he was speaking SO quickly and in a low voice that it took incredible effort to understand what he was saying.
On to the food:
We ordered the foie gras pâté appetizer. It came out served on a nice platter. The flavor wasn’t bad, nor great. Just okay. The struggle was that the foie gras pâté was thick and the crackers that came with it were brittle. Not a great combo to eat easily, your cracker broke before you put the foie gras on it.
My entrée, the duck, was incredibly underwhelming. I received a duck leg, duck breast, rice and asparagus. All for a whopping $ 35. None of the flavor was exciting. I took a bite of the duck and it tastes like a knock off chinese duck with some sweet sauce on top. The flavors just did not work for me.
The dessert, the molten chocolate cake was pretty incredible. It really was the highlight of that whole experience. The ice cream off set the sweetness of the chocolate. The middle of the chocolate cake was super nice and gooey and warm.
All in all, I expected better. It wasn’t a horrible experience, but I won’t be running back

The Black Pearl has been on bookmarked list a little while but I finally made the drive to Dunedin and it was worth it.
My first impression when I walked in was that the restaurant was small but cozy and decorated simple but elegant.
We were greeted by Pablo our server, he was very polite, friendly and did a great job taking care of us. He started off by going over the specials and gave us a few suggestions. They happened to be out of the tart we were going to order but we ended up getting the maple pork belly over grits. It’s not on the menu but Pablo said it’s a favorite so it can be ordered anytime.
Oh my, it was delish, every bit of it. I loved the maple flavor with the pork and the creamy texture of the cheese grits. There wasn’t a piece left on the plate.
Moving on to our salads, I had the The Black Pearl salad with the poppy seed dressing on the side and my friend had the Caesar salad. Both salad were delicious, especially my salad with the combination of roasted pine nuts, currants and blue cheese topped with the slightly sweet poppy seed dressing, great flavors.
For entrees, I had the Mediterranean Chicken which was served with a savory sage onion bread pudding, asparagus that sat on some delicious mashed potatoes. The chicken was tender and layered with many flavors from the Italian cheses, tomato, chorizo and topped with a heavenly sauce. Ever bit of my dish was wonderful and full of flavor. The only negative was that the piece of bread pudding I ate was barely warm on edge of cold.
My dinning companion ordered the rack of lamb. He said it was good but the temp of the meat was a little off. He ordered it rare but a couple pieces on the end were well done. He decided not make a fuss and eat it, he said all the other pieces were really good as well as the rest of the dish.
We ended our dinner with a toasted orange pound cake, topped with chocolate ice cream, Chantilly and and orange sauce. It was the perfect end to our dinner. The chocolate went well with the orange and the dessert wasn’t overly sweet so it was hit for both of us.
One big bummer of the night though was that I didn’t eat much of the dinner because I decided to have wine and I was trying to not going over the top with my caloric intake. Pablo boxed my dinner up and I guess they put all the boxed up left overs on one table by the door and you take the bagged up box on the way out. I picked my bag up, it seemed really light. When I put my left overs in my refrigerator I noticed my box said table 2, I was sitting at table 3. I looked in the box and it was table 2s left over dinner, not mine. When the other table left they took my dinner instead of theirs. Bummed that I didn’t have my deliciousness to have for dinner the next night. That system doesn’t seem to be working, they might want to revise it. :-/​still bummed

Sadly; I need to revise my previous review.
This evening we went for a Birthday dinner and the events of the meal were almost unbelievable.
The appetizers were amazing as they were before. Then came the entrees. The steak I ordered medium rare. While the outside crust was perfect; after 2 bites I realized it was very rare. I asked them to please cook it further.
While they offered a whole new steak; I simply ask them to cook this steak properly.
A few minutes later they bring the steak back and I cut into it and it was just as rare. Even if he manager was shocked. «This never happens» (which we heard 3 times).
After both the Chef and the owner came to apologize they started to recook the steak.
The chef said «the steak wasn’t bled properly which is why it didn’t cook». While I have never heard of this before — I think it wasn’t cooked properly because they didn’t cook it long enough — but what do I know?
We waited another 15 minutes and was told «your steak is resting — it will be out soon». After 10 or more minutes we were both done and left.
Mistakes happen; but this was a complete failure.

We really loved this place! The restaurant is very cozy and has around 12 tables. Our server was very polite and knowledgeable. I ordered the pinot noir by the glass and my husband had the cab by the glass, which was both nice. We started with the lobster risotto: best risotto I’ve had and lots of lobster meat. I had the chilean seabass and my husband tried the weekly special, diver scallops. We also added on a butter poached lobster tail. For dessert, we tried the weekly special which was bread pudding with belgian chocolate ice cream on top. Perfection. Everything was wonderful, from the person who greeted us at the door to my decaf cappuccino. Looking forward to trying something new during our next visit.

We had dinner with friends on Saturday, January 23. I recently moved to the gulf beaches and the black pearl has become our go-​to fine dining destination.
We like the small room and the eclectic dishes. The food is dependable when you need a spot for guests!
This trip we shared appetizers of lobster risotto, foie gras and wild mushroom tart, and fried green tomatoes. All very good. We love the appetizers here!
We had the pork special and rack of lamb for our entrees. Very nice with appropriate accompaniments.
The restaurant permitted us to bring a bottle of special wine for a $ 25 corkage fee which is much appreciated.
We ended dinner with the bananas foster dessert. Nice although a tad too sweet.
In summary, this is one of our favorite spots to eat when we are looking for something a little more special than grouper sandwich and Coleslaw!

My first visit blew me away. So did the second, and the third, and the fourth. Most of the other reviews have got the food covered, but as someone who has worked in the restaurant and catering industry, I have been impressed beyond belief by the Black Pearl’s consistency. I’ve never witnessed a bad night, a bad plate or even a single element on the plate that wasn’t top notch.
The flavor profiles are interesting, but always balanced, and the saucing is superb.
I’m a pushover for lamb. I’ve had their rack on every visit, and it’s consistently been perfection every time.
I recently took a friend there for his birthday. He’s not a huge foodie. In fact, I was slightly worried because his tastes run to bland, but walking back to the car after a three course feast, he said, «You know what? I’ll remember that plate of fish for the rest of my life.» What more could I have asked?!
As someone who has dined on three continents, I can tell you, he’s not wrong. You will remember a meal at the Black Pearl like you remember a first romance: with love and longing.

An absolutely excellent dining experience. The service (our waiters name is Pablo) was very attentive without being overbearing. And now the food. We started with glazed pork bellies (delicious) and the entre’s. Filet Mignon with a delicious lobster tail poached in butter, wow! The other entre was Lobster risotto with chunks of lobster meat with a gain a poached lobster tail. Being from New England I have eaten lobster for many years. Never have I eaten a more tender lobster! All I can say is wow!
Waiting for a spectacular dessert!

I’ve been wanting to try this place for quite awhile, so when our anniversary rolled around, it finally gave me an opportunity to make a reservation, which I did directly through Unilocal.
One thing that I’ve learned over the years, is that if you see whit truffle lobster risotto on a menu, you order it, so that’s precisely what I did, only I ordered the appetizer versus the entrée. When it arrived, it did not disappoint, my wife and I enjoyed every single bite.
For our entrees, the wife ordered the Chilean Sea Bass Lyonnais. It consisted of shoestring wrapped filet, chevre, pine nuts, chopped salad, creamy polenta, and lemon butter. She let me try a bite, and it was delicious and tender.
I ordered the Veal Paillards. It was adorned with vanilla bean sauce, with shiitake and crimini mushrooms with sweet marsala. It was decent, but not the best I’ve ever had, and I was a bit let down.
The bread that they served, along with the Black Pearl salads were quite tasty. For desert, we had the Tarte Tatin. It came with granny smith apples cooked in butter, brown sugar and spices, topped fresh whipped cream with puffed pastry and baked to order. We added the homemade vanilla ice cream for an additional charge. Although good, it didn’t knock either one of our socks off.
The service was outstanding, and I would definitely come back, but I would try a different entrée.

The restaurant is good. Prices are average to good deal. There were two waiters quite laid back but professional which I like. (They had personalities). It is not a stuffy atmosphere. My girlfriends seabass was one of the best meals she ever had. They also give you a great tasting salad with an entrée.
Now the reasons for an average score. I was not asked how I wanted my duck breast cooked which I found odd. It was cooked correctly but was not seasoned properly and was average at best. The leg was good. The men’s washroom had a dirty door. Random ceiling tiles and was not clean. Not sure why they would make a nice dining area and skip on the bathroom. Was quite displeasing starting the dinner. Also was a birthday dinner but they forgot the instructions during the reservation. Had to request a dessert instead of having it just come out as a surprise.