Premier Dessert Art — Restaurant in Monterey Park

With the many Hong Kong dessert restaurants popping up around San Gabriel Valley, it can be difficult finding the one that suits your preference. After hearing many people, including my parents' friends who thought this place served pretty legit desserts reminiscent of places in HK, rave about this particular dessert place, I decided to give it a try with a few friends. Have to say that after trying this place out, I'm not the biggest fan, but I do think they have items worth trying if you want to take a dive into the fabulous world of HK desserts.

When I visited, the decorations that were at the back of the store were quite ethereal and shiny, really capturing one's attention. But the interior of the restaurant itself looked quite old and dreary. The menus were these thick cardboard pages that were hard to turn and difficult to use. Not sure if they've updated these things since I've been here. And the workers were not the most efficient. They seemed to be new, not really sure what to do, where to go, or how to do what they were supposed to do. It took us a really long time before we could finally order.

Taro Pandan: This looks quite similar to a rice roll except the outside layer is green and there's a layer of cream between the pandan and the taro. I guess this is a specialty Hong Kong styled pancake, although I've never seen this before in HK. Not sure what I was expecting, as the green did not look too appetizing, but the overall dessert was dry and unflavorful. I think it needed a bit more sugar or something, but the cream and taro just didn't mesh well together. Really disappointing.

Mango roll: Looks like the rice roll you'd get at dim sum except that it's drizzled with a yellow sauce and topped with a mint leaf. This was definitely much better than the pandan in that the mango tasted fresh and sweet and the overall dish tasted like a dessert. With the mango sauce and the sweetness of the mangoes inside, I would say this was not too bad. I'm not a fan of sweet rice rolls, so I probably would not order this again.

Hello Kitty Strawberry Lover: This dish is definitely trying to appeal to all girls (or boys) who have a love for Hello Kitty. Honestly, we ordered it because of the Hello Kitty as well, but I don't think it's worth the money. The dish comes with a Hello Kitty imprint from ... cocoa powder (?), a strawberry lava pudding, and a tapioca mini ball milk with strawberry ice cream. Eh, for about $8, I think this dish is a bit overpriced. The pudding was decent with strawberry flavor, and upon breaking into it, a "lava" of strawberry syrup and chia seeds seep out. I just think the pudding itself had too much of an artificial taste, but the lava was a bit on the tangy side, which did combat nicely with the pudding. The tapioca mini balls were much sweeter, especially with the ice cream. I'm a fan of tapioca, so I did like this dish, but having the strawberry ice cream inside actually took away from the overall dessert. And the Hello Kitty imprint in the middle of the dish - just for looks unless you mixed it with the pudding. Overall, not a big fan.

Personally, I would come to Premier and stick with the more traditional Hong Kong styled desserts or order a taro ball/grass jelly dessert. Those seem like much safer choices, and I've had them at other Premier locations and definitely liked them much better than these three choices.

tl;dr - Stick with the...

It was a hot Sunday afternoon, and I was craving Shaved Ice w/ Taro Balls. With Shau May gone, I tried to get one at the new Meet Fresh, only to walk out in frustration empty-handed from a not-so-pleasant customer service experience.

I did a Google search of other dessert spots nearby, and this place popped up. I'd never heard of it, but I was pretty desperate to get any Shaved Ice at this point, so I took the chance.

And boy, this place did not disappoint. They put cream instead of condensed milk in the ice, and it made for quite a tasty and smooth flavor. The menu was a little intimidating to navigate through as although there was some English, it was mostly in Chinese; but, almost every item had a clear, colorful photo. Made many notes to self on all the other desserts I would try when I come back -- very unique and diverse spectrum of offerings!

The best part of my experience was the service. The lady was very kind in helping me identify the dessert I wanted and offered several customizations to meet my exact preferences. In addition, she warned me that the Coconut Kitty I ordered for my Mom would take a while, and when I asked how long, she said FIVE minutes. That is nothing compared to other places, but I was so impressed with her concern about making me wait. Just really lovely and attentive people working there.

The ambiance could use a bit of work, but nothing that far off from the typical 626 shop, especially in that building/plaza.

Can't wait to come back....

My friend hosted a board game event here. They were able to accomodate 15 people and let us have the top section of the venue to play games and interact with one another. It was a bit crampy, but it was doable.

Location: Next to Mama Lu's Dumpling and KT Cafe. Can't miss it!

Parking: Plenty of street parking and you can also park in the underground parking structure in the back.

Service: Loved the service. Staffers were very friendly, attentive, and accomodating. I paid at the cashier and they actually dropped it off where we were situated upstairs.

Menu: I concurr with Les S., Shirly C., and Brian Q. that the menus look like something from a wedding album! Loved the pictures and felt like I wanted everything on the menu. Unfortunately, I had Mama Lu's beforehand so didn't get any of their desserts besides my drink.

Food/Drinks: You can actually bring food in here, but you must order something. That's pretty cool of them. I ordered the Durian tapioca drink and when it came by the smell of the durian polluted our area! Mmmmmmmmmm.... my friends didn't like me much that night, but i'm sure they'll get use to it if we have game nights here often. The durian scent was ever so present and I was a happy customer!

I will definitely come back to try more of...