Dining Out: Mom's Birthday Dinner at Pears Restaurant

I decided to take my mom out for her birthday at the newly-opened, super-hyped, Asian fusion restaurant, Pears by Keith Pears, who also owns Glass Kitchen (where I took my mom for her birthday last year and thoroughly enjoyed). Wanting to try a bigger variety of the dishes, we decided to forego the mains and shared six of the small plates and two desserts:

Lobster Wontons — Shiitake mushrooms, shaoxing butter sauce, and ginger scallion relish

KFC Sliders — Korean fried chicken, sweet and spicy glazed, topped with garlic aioli, and citrus slaw

Mussels & Shrimp — Poached seafood, corn "chowder" butter sauce, served with pain de mie bread

Croquettes — Potato, leek, smoked onion, parmesan, and truffle aioli

Shrimp & Scallop Toast — Mousseline, pain de mie bread, mentaiko mayo, and chives

Stuffed Mozza Meatballs — Canadian ground beef, pork, and veal, parmesan, basil, served with grilled bread

Black Sesame & Tofu Baked Alaska — Tofu ice cream, ginger lemon gel, and mixed sesame crisps

Pear Tart — Almond cream, cognac, and brown butter ice cream

There are a lot of mixed reviews about Pears now that they've been open for a few weeks, so I thought I'd add my two cents because I actually went in with no expectations and having read no reviews prior. Firstly, the meatballs were just straight-up disappointing, and there is no "fusion" to be found here. The texture of the meat was fine, but even then, it severely lacked flavour (no salt, no seasoning), and the tomato sauce quite literally tasted like Chef Boyardee's. I understand upscale restaurant pricing, but it should be criminal to charge $18 for two meatballs that I could make better at home. Secondly, the croquettes, while having an excellent crispy texture, were overwhelmingly smoky in flavour. Almost offensively so. It suffocated every other flavour in the croquette, and there's supposed to be parmesan and truffle aioli in it. These definitely have potential, but I think there needs to be a better balance in flavours. 

That having been said, the other dishes were truly delicious, with the KFC Sliders and Mussels & Shrimp "chowder" being highlights for me, as well as the desserts, which were beautifully presented with unique flavour combinations that I'd never had before. Even my mom commented on how well done the desserts were. The portions for the small plates are, of course, small, but they are mighty. They use such rich, heavy ingredients that a bigger portion would almost be too filling. These six small plates and two desserts made us so full, in fact, that it was like we had just gorged at a buffet. (And we eat a lot. Yes, my 71-year-old mother can chow down.) So while some people might think that the dishes are way too expensive here for the portion you get, I actually didn't think the pricing (for the most part) was unreasonable for the small plates.

What actually made this experience less than stellar was our server. He started off by telling us the background of the restaurant and the chef behind it, which is fine. I understand why he would want to show off Chef Pears' achievements and why it's worth it to eat at his restaurants. But we also don't need to hear such a long story about how Keith Pears is "Wasian" (white and Asian) so he became passionate about creating fusion food and that he's currently in France for his Michelin star and has won many, many awards, etc. I can quite literally read this on his website. (Which I have.) 

Then, he went on and on about their mocktails because Pears is still waiting for their liquor license. I asked him if there was a lot of sugar in these drinks, and he kept saying that they're "not too sweet" and listed all these substitutes to make them "less sweet and taste more like alcohol." So I quite literally said, "It's not the sweetness I mind. I'm actually asking about the sugar content because I'm diabetic. Don't worry, we'll skip the mocktails and save room for dessert instead." To which he said, "But we can put less of the juice and substitute with non-alcoholic gin to make them taste more like cocktails!" So when my mom said, "It's okay, we don't drink alcohol, either," he quite literally just WALKED AWAY. 

When he came back five minutes later to take our orders, he proceeded to only recommend the most expensive dishes on the menu in a very transparent, blatant tactic to hike up our bill. During our meal, he was actually perfectly pleasant if not a little too enthusiastic in checking on how we liked the food (read: every 5 minutes). However, when it came time to pay for our bill, he placed the machine in front of me and then HOVERED to see how much I would tip him. Unprofessional, pushy, and way too obviously tip-hungry. Honestly, I expect way better service for an upscale restaurant. Overall, the food was great for the most part and the restaurant is very aesthetic with fun Asian fusion decor, but there are definitely a few kinks to work out. I would come back to try a few of the main dishes and give it a fair chance after they've been open for a bit longer, but I really hope they train their servers better. And take those abysmal meatballs off the menu.

Pears Restaurant

170 Enterprise Blvd., Unit J105

Markham, ON L6A 0A2

(365) 608-0939