After an appointment in San Mateo, I felt like dim sum. We drove past a restaurant near by and my…read morehusband said let's eat there. I didn't bother to yelp it because I was hungry. We looked at the menu and I checked Yelp. Hmmm. We're here already. We ordered the following: Pork siu mai - 3 Chive and pork dumpling - 3 Crispy chow mein noodles - 2 the bok choy was bitter which ruined the taste. Next time, sit in the car and yelp it. Sorry guys.

The 3 dish one soup combo was pretty good. They remind me of banquet style dishes…read more The tender greens and fish was very tasty and refreshing from the chives. The fish was tender and the veggies were cooked just right. The superstar clay pot was alright, a bit heavier on the sauce. The shrimp and tofu were good, the chicken was kinda funky. The walnut shrimp arrived on a pretty small platter, no lettuce. It was good/decent. Maybe not worth the add on price for 3 dish combo set. The minced beef soup was good. Very flavorful with the cilantro topping. Good consistency. The food was good, I'd just say the atmosphere was not the best. A bit quiet, big stage in the middle. Hard to flag someone down. Restroom and carpet needs renovation lol.

Came here with family for dinner and really enjoyed the atmosphere. Palette Tea Garden feels more…read moremodern and upscale than the typical Cantonese restaurant, and the dining room has a lively energy that makes it great for groups. The roasted pork and soy sauce chicken were standout dishes for me -- flavorful, juicy, and nicely presented. The truffle fried rice was also surprisingly good and packed with flavor. Loved how many different dishes we were able to share around the table. Only reason for 4 stars instead of 5 was that service slowed down once the restaurant got busy, and some dishes felt a bit expensive. But overall, the food quality, presentation, and vibe made it a really enjoyable dinner spot in San Mateo.

"Palette Tea Garden and Dim Sum" is an upscale Chinese restaurant located in the North Mall of the…read moreHillsdale Shopping Center. I had the pleasure of having lunch here on a Friday afternoon. We were a party of three, with a reservation for 12 noon. It was my first time here, but my niece had been to Palette several times. So she knew the best tables and how to order. We were seated in a booth towards the back near the kitchen. There was a steady flow of staff walking by. Anytime you needed something, you just ask someone. We decided to order a variety of dim sum, the Signature Peking Duck (half), and the Pan Seared Seafood Noodles. Everything was delicious. The presentation of the Peking Duck was beautiful. They used momo pancakes instead of steamed bao. It's not a duck chopped in half. It's an offering of crispy thin duck skin, with chunks of boneless duck meat underneath. Served with cucumber, radlish, scallions and hoisin sauce. I think my favorite dim sum was the Yuzu Walnut Prawn Puff. Crunchy fried prawns w/ yuzu sauce, and candied walnuts. It's considered an elevated modern dish. Don't forget to check out the koi pond with live fish on the community table top. Free parking in mall lot. I parked on the roof and took the escalator directly down to the restaurant.

Very first time trying this place out! Wasn't very busy when I came in at around 4, so I didn't…read morehave to wait too long for the food to be served. The Green Onion Beef Pancake was very savory and moist. Definitely not a flavor I had ever experienced, but after the initial bite I began to enjoy it. Pairing it with Soy Sauce made it MUCH better! The High Tail Shimp and Pork Dumplings were very savory and tasty as well! And again, paired VERY well with the Soy Sauce. The Thai Milk Tea was very refreshing, though I didn't really care for the Rainbow Jelly. At least I tried it once, but I have a feeling I'd have enjoyed the Tea more without it. The atmosphere was nice and clean, and the service was superb! Will definitely come back to try some different dishes in the future!

Came here on a Saturday afternoon for a snack. The restaurant was fairly empty so we were seated…read moreright away. We ordered at 5:20, just getting an order of pork soup dumplings and one order of spicy beef pancake roll. We thought this would be a quick bite, but it took 30min for the pork soup dumplings and the spicy beef pancake roll to come. There were no explanations of why it took so long but it was obvious the staff were stressed so we tried to be patient. However, there was another table behind us that asked the staff when food would come, as they were also frustrated, and the staff just snapped back with 'can you please just wait'. Seems like there's some operational issues at this joint or perhaps they're just very understaffed. In terms of the food, the dumplings were delicious but the pancake on the spicy beef roll were really greasy and overly done.

Probably one of the few places in the Bay Area where one can get some decent tasting dim sum for a…read morerelatively affordable price, with a grandiose view of the planes landing into SFO. If you love views and aviation and dim sum, this is the place to go. Arrived around 9:20AM on a Saturday morning and there was no line. Keep in mind that if you do plan to celebrate a holiday, such as Mother's Day here, come EARLY. The lines will be long and you also want to ensure you get a parking spot. Parking can get really crazy and the spots are tight. I would not recommend driving a car in which you care if someone dings it. There is limited street parking outside but you will have to walk and jaywalk across a semi-busy street. My tip is to come early and park close to the PARKING LOT EXIT if you can, NOT the restaurant. If it's a crowded day, you'll thank me later. Anyways, parking lot aside, the food is pretty good. I would definitely get the Crispy BBQ pork bun. That one is always yummy. Other dishes are sort of up to your taste buds. The process is really easy with menus in which you mark what you want and then hand it over to one of the waiters/waitresses. Our food came out almost all at once with minimal wait. I think it was only quick because it was relatively not too busy at the time we were there which was 9:30AM-10:20AM.

Over the Mother's Day weekend we had reservations earlier in the week for larger party and…read moreconfirmed again the night before. Upon arrival 15 min earlier than our reservation checked in with hostess and confirmed that we were on reservation list. They give you a ticket with a letter and number. An hour of waiting the hostess says we're next for the large table. However, the hostess starts calling another table and ignoring our reservation when told we would have the next table. We were finally granted our table only after pointing out that they were not going in order of reservations but whichever person came first received priority. Their customer service is lacking and if they were honest in the beginning when we first called to make reservations they should have told us first come first serve to allow us to plan accordingly by arriving earlier or making plans with a venue that honored reservations. Food: BBQ buns and fried rice are good. Parking: it's the worst and really tight spaces. Cars were bumper to bumper. Recommend street parking or taking business elsewhere that honors reservations and is upfront with customers.

Eat here. Thank me later. Excellent Szechuan food in the Peninsula at reasonable prices (in 2023…read moreno less)! Our typical order is the fried chicken with chili peppers, mapo tofu, dry fried string beans, and fish filets in peppercorn soup (it's a green soup with mushrooms). Service is "efficient" which is hopefully exactly what you want if you are looking for a Szechuan restaurant that has good food. IYKYK. If you want good service in an establishment like this, I have a bridge to sell you... Great local business that we have patronized many times over the years, and will continue to do so!

Wow, pleasantly surprised by how good the food is here. Ordered takeout over the phone and food was…read moreready by the time I got there (15min). Spicy bullfrog - generous with bullfrog servings and taste was on point Lamb skewers - minimum 2 skewers per order with a good amount of meat per skewer. Spicy cold jelly - The cold jelly was a good refresher after all the spice. Love the texture. Duck blood curd - a little stingy on the duck blood curd. Probably pass on this.

The red bean buns are highly addictive. Seriously! I've…read moreordered many different dishes from this restaurant and the only thing that consistently sticks each time I order are those red bean buns. So delicious!!! And they reheat really well. Service is quick and efficient. Restaurant is always busy when I go in so I always call in my order and pick up/eat at home. Clean restaurant every time I visit! [this review was made in connection with a Toast promotion, Zen Noodle Bar did not ask me to write this review]

This restaurant confuses me. It seems to be rather popular, and had a regular flow of customers…read morewhile I was there. However, the food just wasn't to my liking. At all. The pork in the spicy wontons seemed mushy, flavorless, and undercooked. The sauce was thin and lacked any heat. The beef in the beef noodle soup was dry and the noodles were too doughy-tasting. The pan-fried pork buns looked great but the bun kind of fell apart in my mouth and lacked structure or flavor. The salty soybean milk was thin and disappointing. The ambiance was dark and dingy. The only highlight was the service. The woman working the front of the house was very kind and responsive. I just wish the food had been better. Much better!

01/07/25 Got to have lunch with a friend today. Wanted a…read moreplace with good food and a quiet corner to talk where we would not need to leave because the needed to turn the table. Cheung Hing fit the bill. Quiet table and choice of food. We stayed for noon-4pm and no one bothered us. We had about $80 worth of food so rounding it up to $100 was great for the table Service was fine, food plentiful. Only complaint was we had to ask several times for hot tea... it was only warm, but eventually they made it right.

Great time dining in. The food was really good. Out favorites were the tripe and Shu Mai. Fried…read moredough, dumplings, and red bean balls we're okay. Was about $90 after TT. Wait can be long and the staff don't follow first come first serve. Advocate for yourself for refills and sauces, they don't offer it upfront.

Reading through the other reviews, I think we got lucky with our visit and I'll take it! We came on…read morea Sunday at 11am (party of 4). I found parking right away and they seated us almost immediately close to the Bay view windows. It was super busy with people waiting outside and inside was loud and lively (just how you want a dim sim place to be)! Inside is pretty nice and the view is honestly worth it. We ordered the dim sum classics: siu mai, ha gow, rice rolls, chicken feet, ma lai go, beef balls, salted egg yolk lava buns. Everything was honestly solid and portions were bigger than I expected. The dim sum menu is also pretty vast, but some classic dishes have different names so always ask the server. We also got some Chinese herb and fermented rice wine soup.....so good and a lot of chicken in it. Total for our party of 4 came out to be $105 (including their 16% service charge). Honestly not bad at all for the food we got (not all pictured), the fast service, and great views. This might be my new dim sum spot on the Peninsula! I'd definitely come again for dim sum at around 11am, because by the time we left at 12:30ish it was SUPER busy!

I went to lunch with colleagues hoping HL Peninsula Pearl would fulfill my desire for tasty dim sum…read moreand my experience was mixed. The venue is gorgeous (5/5; high ceilings, chandeliers, amazing views of SFO), the service was mediocre (3/5; our order was taken quickly after we completed writing it. We had to keep asking for things such as knives and bowls but we were accommodated and ultimately one of the dishes they brought out was incorrect despite me telling them they put it in their system wrong...now for the food. We went a bit wild and ordered the following (let's just say we had tons left over): -steamed surf clam w/ vermiccelli in galic sauce (3.5/5; clams tasted decent but I didn't love the texture. clams paired well with noodles and sauce -duo egg fried rice (4/5; my group enjoyed this dish. Large portion) -signature fried rice noodles (4.25/5; good portion and lots of seafood/meat. flavor was good but nothing amazing and quite a good value.) Note, we didn't order this dish but it was beside the dish we ordered on the list/menu and they didn't/couldn't change the order despite letting them know within minutes... -chicken feet in herbal broth (3.75/5; the chicken feet were cooked well and the broth was nice but I was expecting pan fried chicken feet, which i would have preferred. The broth was herbal and comforting) -fried crispy turnip cake in XO sauce (4.5/5; quite nice. crispy and satisfying) -chicken in honey pepper sauce (3/5; sauce left a lot to be desired. Chicken was juicy and cooked well though) -sautéed chinese bocolli (4/5; standard and simple but good) -bbq pork rice noodle rolls (4/5; pretty good. Nice pairing btw the bbq pork and rice noodle), -crispy wild rice shrimp noodle rolls (5/5; my favorite dish. The shrimp were fried which was a nice textural contrast with the rice noodle. It came in a good sauce) -steamed shrimp dumpling (5/5; exactly as advertised. Big, juice, delicious) -siu mai (3.75/5; the flavor for these was good but I feel they were too big to enjoy comfortably in one bite. Not my favorite shu mai) -steamed bbc pork buns (didn't try but my group enjoyed) -Portuguese backed custard tarts (4/5; not too sweet and satisfying. Interesting texture.) -parboiled tripe (4/5; tripe was cooked very well and tender but the sauce was underwhelming Overall, the cook on most of these dishes was spot on but the flavoring left some to be desired. I might come back but I'm definitely still in search of a go-to dim sum spot.

We come to Yan Peninsula often because the food is consistently delicious. They serve authentic…read moreCantonese cuisine, with excellent dim sum at lunch and high-quality seafood along with a wide variety of dinner dishes. The staff are friendly and attentive, especially when the restaurant isn't overly busy. The restaurant is a good size and conveniently located in the heart of the mid-Peninsula. It's nicely decorated, with comfortable seating that makes dining here a pleasant experience overall.

The food was amazing! So authentic it was hard to read the menu because Chinese is first. So we…read moreknew we were in a good spot. There were only two of us so we couldn't order everything we wanted. Prawns came out first. Piping hot and crispy with that slight sweetness. They were cooked perfectly, super tender on the inside! Green beans next, also piping hot. They were sautéed with pork mince and who knows what sauce, but they were BY FAR the best green beans I've ever had. Couldn't get enough of them!! Beef chow fun was also amazing. The meat was so tender and flavorful, but we had gorged on shrimp and beans, so I didn't really want the chow fun anymore. It's a very large space. Tons of round tables all lined up with a huge tv screen at one end that was looping advertisements while we were there. Entering you pass by some fish tanks which could use a cleaning, but overall a bright and clean space.

Ordered the XLB, braised beef noodle soup, and garlic pea sprouts…read more All of it was flavorful and delicious. The braised beef noodle soup was the star of the show! Already recommended this place to some friends and will definitely be back

The food is good, service is quick, and tables packed in there. Barely any room to walk through…read more They had utensils at the end of the table and water containers. Who knows how long those containers were sitting there, though. There were two chili oils, but no soy sauce. I was a bit confused as they have a QR code to scan to order but then they come to your table to ask for your order. Pick a lane. Plenty of options to choose from and especially like the vast amount of seafood/veggie options. The honey walnut shrimp was not as expected, too deep fried. The fried rice had all the fixin's but no flavor. It desperately needed some soy sauce. The mini pan fried dumplings were the cutest thing ever! The shumai wasn't hittin' like other dim sum places. The salt and pepper fish was hella salty. XLB dumplings, dan dan noodles, and the cucumber salad were all favorites. We had plenty of leftovers. I did find a bug (not a fly, a bug bug) in one of my to-go containers. Had to throw it all out because I was paranoid that the bug had laid eggs or something. Double check your containers and/or food before eating.