New Asian Pearl Peninsula — Restaurant in Millbrae

Was visiting in town and dropped by this place. Was graciously greeted by the owner at the table, asking if we were visiting and was given a table promptly. Appreciated the warm welcome! The service was great as our waitress not only took our order promptly, but also took time to share nearby recommendations for places to eat. Love the friendly service!

We came in a group of 5 so we ordered a variety of plates to share. I ordered the Beef Chow Fun and Deep Fried Tiger Prawn with Salted Egg. Both dishes were yummy. I love that the beef chow fun actually had flavor and was seasoned properly, which a lot of places often don't execute well!

Additionally, my friends ordered the Sweet and Sour pork, Braised Lamb in clay pot, Peking Spare Ribs, Beef Short Ribs with Papaya in Clay Pot, Gai Lan (Chinese Broccoli), BBQ Roast Pork, and Stir-Fry Ribeye Steak with Mushroom. I am so glad we are Asian and enjoy family style sharing! We ordered a few bowls of rice, which if you are Asian, RICE IS LIFE. The rice here is soft and fluffy, which is the only way you should eat rice!

I love the Beef Short Ribs in Papaya in Clay Pot, and was honestly surprised by the creativity the dishes have. Usually some of the ingredients that was present in the dishes were not traditionally placed together, so it was a pleasant surprise that the place came up with the creations. They definitely executed well! All the meat dishes were great, and it was hard to pick one that was best. Even though we only ordered one vegetable dish, it was awesome. It tastes a bit different from how Chinese Broccoli is normally cooked, with is just with garlic and oil. I taste a bit of Chinese wine in it, very interesting and a great addition!

Not sure why the ratings were so low at this place, as the service and food was great. Will be recommending this place to...

Like The Kitchen, Asian Pearl is a better place for dinner than dim sum. We came here for dinner a few days ago, and it was pretty good.

Special Soup of the Day (Dun Tong) - That night, it was a delicious pork and ginseng broth. The gelatin from the little bony pieces gave the soup a full body, and the flavor was a fine balance of sweet, savory, and bitter. Not too many places here can make a broth this good.

Hand Shredded Chicken - Not bad. The chicken was tender, but it could've been more flavorful. Some more sesame oil would give it a highlighting toasty note. Some of the best Hand Shredded Chickens are also seasoned with certain spices that give it a slightly smoky nuance. Too bad that was missing here.

Roasted Pork Leg - This wasn't as good this time. The texture was great with crispy skin and tender shank meat, but I thought it was under seasoned. Usually, it's more aromatic.

Sea Cucumber with Bitter Melon - The bitter melon was more bitter than normal so it kinda overwhelmed everything else. I feel like sea cucumber is too delicate to pair with bitter melon anyway. The bitterness works better with richer meats or eggs.

Salted Egg Yolk Batter Fried Tiger Prawns and Pumpkin - We decided to get prawns instead of a crab, because we didn't have a big party. I don't regret getting something smaller, because this was the best dish of the night. The prawns and pumpkin were covered in glorious piles of delicious salted egg yolk batter. The richness and saltiness really added a lot of flavor to the other ingredients. The prawns and pumpkin were also cooked perfectly. The prawns were firm and smooth, and the pumpkin provided some contrast with its soft texture. I'll have to try a crab next time.

TL;DR: Get everything deep fried in salted egg...

Best traditional dim sum in the bay area. I especially like the siu mai and char siu bao. My wife is crazy for the rice porridge.

Years have passed. Ownership has changed several times. Asian Pearl has been down for several years. A couple of people told us that it has improved with a new chef, so we gave it a try. Overall I'd give the New Asian Pearl a C-. It's not a new, skilled chef. It's the same mediocre, uninspired old one. We started with baked char siu bao. They looked yummy! The bun was actually very good but the char siu in the filling was very poor quality. Not gone bad but old and flavorless. The only flavor in the filling tasted like it came directly from a jar. The siu mai tasted like it had been in a freezer for long, flavorless and clearly not fresh. We had a Singapore style fried noodle. Any decent Cantonese restaurant will kill this dish. The New Asian Pearl killed it but not in a good way. No wok hei. Zero. The pork was the same tired, old, tasteless pork used in the char siu bao. I have to be honest here and say that the shrimp was actually tasty. My wife shares that the curry flavor was off, as if it was from an expired lot of curry powder. The beef balls were actually quite good, fresh and tasty. The shrimp cham fun we didn't have, but it looked very good. The pan cooked turnip cake looked decent. The tea water could have been hotter. The tea itself was weak and probably the cheapest stuff the restaurant could buy. The service was acceptable ok. Cost. The noodle was more expensive than at Koi Palace and the dim sum was almost as expensive.

Will we go back? No, but, I think if you know what to order, you could get a fairly decent dim sum lunch at an acceptable okay price but bring...