Title: Miss Pearl’s Jam House
Author: GCS
Last saved by: ENU

Miss Pearl’s Jam House                        CLOSED
One Broadway, Oakland
http://www.misspearlsjamhouse.com/menus.aspx
Review date:  December 2008

Miss Pearl’s Jam House has migrated from SF to Oakland’s Jack London Square, where it is doing a landmark business and giving serious competition to Yoshi’s. MPJH has taken over the old Jack’s Bistro location, kitty-corner from Barnes & Noble and right across from Scott’s.

I know Michael Bauer has raved about the sweet potato fries, thin battered slivers sprinkled with chile powder and lime. They’re served hot in a bowl, enough for 2-4 people to share easily, depending on how many other plates are ordered. They’re also very good, although I wouldn’t come here just for them (Full Palate Take-out in Montclair Village offers a bag of frozen sweet potato fries you could season yourself for 1/3 the price and twice the quantity).

Wanting to try a variety, we ordered four small plates, the fries, and a large order of jerk pork shoulder.

The Sliders are thinly sliced flank steak with a spicy mayo, three sliders with sweet pickle slices on nice buns. They were tasty, and a nice variant on the usual burger sliders.

The Clam and Corn fritters were a bit overbrowned. Heavy cornmeal batter overwhelmed any taste of clams, and the “spicy mango mustard sauce” tasted more like non-spicy mango and mayonnaise.

The Slow-Roasted Spare Ribs with Jamaican spice rub & guava glaze, bordered on terrible. The ribs had way too much “bark” (the crusty brown surface formed by long hours of barbecuing) and were drowning in sauce. The sauce was good, but the ribs were unevenly reheated and some of them actually were still cold.

This process of cooking beforehand and reheating to serve can work if done carefully. But MPJH showed some sloppiness in the kitchen, and considering we dine early before the big crowds, doesn’t bode well for people arriving at busier hours.

The jerk pork was served with a cilantro-chile sauce. Chopped into cubes, a large portion will serve two nicely and three more modestly. You will need to divvy it up “Jack Sprat and his wife” style, though, because some of the cubes are much fattier than others.

Both pork dishes were way overcooked, disappointingly so. 

The hit of the night was the Thai Sticks, which certainly have no Southern soul but are delicious nonetheless. Pork, rockshrimp & shiitake spring rolls, wrapped in crisp rice paper and greaselessly deepfried, then served with Thai herb-peanut vegetable slaw & sweet lime-chile-mint dipping sauce The rolls are almost solid meat and very tasty, although the sauce is sweeter than it should be. MPJH turns out a better rendition than many Asian restaurants do, ironically enough.

I tried the Coconut Tapioca Parfait, which turned out to be gluey pearl tapioca in a mild coconut pudding; the promised “tropical fruits” consisted of strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, and peaches. Tasty, but hardly tropical!

Service was not only cheerful, but professional and efficient. The space has been freshened up and revitalized attractively. There’s a heavy emphasis on coconut-rum drinks, not surprisingly.

Price for 4 appetizers, one side, one large-sized entrée, one dessert, and two beverages, with tip was $112.