Price Drop on Temples; No More Buck-a-Shuck

The price of temple oranges at Iovine Brothers Produce dropped a bit this week. Today they were four for a buck; last week it was $3. The oranges are a tad smaller, but they weigh out at about a pound and a half for four fruits.

On the other side of the Reading Terminal Market, Pearl's Oyster Bar discontinued the late afternoon Buck-a-Shuck deal. Operator David Braunstein said not many eaters took advantage of the offering, and the few who did rarely ordered anything else. Since Pearl's doesn't offer alcoholic beverages, it was tough to justify continuing.

Meanwhile, Pearl's started work this week on a refurbishing of the restaurant. The walls will get a new treatment, as will the signage, there will be new butcher block tables (though the counter will remain unchanged for now) and the colorful figurehead will be moved to a more prominent position.

Today was the last day for the old information booth at the 12th near Filbert entrance to the market. It will be replaced with a new stall where volunteers will answer questions from tourists, like, "Where is the Convention Center?"

Pearl's Starts Breakfast, Brunch

Ship's bow statue at Pearl's Oyster Bar

Pearl's Oyster Bar introduced a breakfast/brunch menu last week, featuring egg dishes accompanied with seafood, including a crusted shrimp/egg Po' Boy on a Sarcone's roll, and eggs benedict serve with either crab cake, shrimp and grits, or smoked salmon. French toast is also on the menu. I'll vouch for the cheese grits.

With the help of 10,000 librarians attending their association's mid-winter meeting at the convention center Pearl's owner David Braunstein appears to have picked a good week for introducing the breakfast menu. By the time I left the market about 10 a.m. Saturday, nearly half of the restaurant's seats were occupied -- not bad considering Pearl's is only eclipsed by the Down Home Diner and Molly Malloy's in seating capacity.

Since taking over the business from his parents Braunstein (together with executive chef Jason Ledee) have made substantial tweaks to the menu. Most of the classics remain, though not the fried clams. The snapper soup is a good one: when I sampled it two weeks ago it had plenty of snapper meat, lots of traditional flavor, but none of the over-cornstarch gloppiness that detracts from some versions. The plate of a dozen Cape May Salts I tried were properly shucked with a minimum of broken shells and served with the classic mignonette sauce (hot sauce, lemon also available).

Amazingly, Pearl's offers buck-a-shuck oysters from 4 p.m. to closing on weekdays. Since Pearl's doesn't sell booze, it's hard to image Braunstein is making any money on the deal.