Palette Tea Garden & Dim Sum 彩苑 — Restaurant in San Mateo

The service is what ruined it for us. We love the food but we receive better service at their SF location. Maybe it was a mistake to try and come here on Valentine's Day, but my partner and I both work in the food industry and had to work earlier that day so we managed to get a later reservation, which I was already hesitant about because I didn't want to be those people that went in right before closing, but I also wanted to surprise my boyfriend with one of our favorite restaurants, since we work 10+ days at our jobs. We arrived a few minutes before our reservation time and we're surprised to find the lobby filled with guests waiting to be sat. We stood at the host stand for over five minutes with the hostess frantically running around, seating some other guests and grabbing Togo food for others and not acknowledging us. Then when she finally did check is in, we had to wait 15 minutes for us to be sat. They had a nice prix fix menu but they didn't have everything that we would have wanted to eat. We decided to splurge and went for the lobster sticky rice. It was amazing. We also ordered some of our usual dishes as well and they were all delicious. Compliments to the kitchen. The service however was absolutely terrible. I understand it being Valentine's Day and it being busy and maybe the servers have been busting their butts all day during that holiday, but even then I don't think that's an excuse for the service we got. We had to flag down a busser to get my boyfriend's drink from the bar. Our server decided to not look in our direction everytime she walked by as well as stood off to the side talking with other servers while they ignored all the other tables. After our food was dropped off by a food runner, not the server that standing around only available to drop off the check when you were done, our server never came by to check on us or to see if the food was ok. We had to stop another busser to ask for the sauces that they usually drop off to you, they are all different colors and all delicious delivered on a dish that looks like a painters palette. When the bill was dropped off I completely forgot that this restaurant adds an automatic gratuity to the check regardless of party size. I would definitely ignore my tables and give out horrible service if I knew I was going to collect 18% tip from the table no matter what. There was no option to give less, this isnt suggested, it is an automatic gratuity and they are charging you 18%! We would rather drive the extra 30 min to SF and enjoy the same food their, where they give great service no matter how...

The quality of the food here impressed us as 1-2 cuts above all other dim sum establishments we've visited, with the exception of those at five-star international hotels. Vastly superior to places like Hong Kong Flower Lounge (in Millbrae) and Koi Palace (in Daly City and elsewhere).

The CONCEPT underlying the restaurant, the palette metaphor, is excellent. Very few restaurants -- or businesses of any kind, for that matter -- have such a nicely conceptualized and executed idea. Kudos to whomever came up with that.

Various supporting accessories, in addition to the "palettes" on which you can place your sauces, are of extremely high quality. These include the napkins and the boxes provided to take back leftovers in, which offer very nice touches. The pu erh tea that was served and the teapot in which it was served was also top-notch.

The decor, both in the main dining area and the "walk-in" section is quite pleasant. There were no odors emanating from the kitchen as is all too often the case in such restaurants (where after you leave, your clothes smell like you were in that restaurant).

The main issue we had with our visit is some aspects of the service. When we arrived, the hostess asked us whether we had reservations. When we said we did not (had no idea this would be a requirement), we were treated like second-class citizens: "Oh, in that case, I could try to seat you in the area for walk-ins -- and you'd have to take the first thing that is available there." That was mildly insulting but, what the heck, we were there, so we decided to go through with it. The server who came to our table was clearly impatient and unhappy that we were not immediately ready to order. (This was not a peak time or a weekend, so that attitude did not seem appropriate.) The person who actually served us forgot to give us the sauces used to fill the "palette." We had to chase after her for that, which was not pleasant and shouldn't have been necessary. There were some other issues with the employees and the service but I'll leave it at that. So one star off for the service -- or lack thereof -- hoping that management will eventually understand that service is an essential aspect of any restaurant and train their employees...

I've never been in many Chinese restaurants located in malls, my sisters took me here yesterday for dim-sum get together, I was skeptical about the restaurant, but it really surprised me in a good way. We decided to sit outside and the table was ready, we helped to move the chairs from top of the table down, the seating location is quite comfortable, there was even a portable propane heater but it was a nice sunny day so we didn't have to use it. It's right next to the parking garage so we didn't have to walk a long way to the restaurant which is a plus. It was Friday lunch and we didn't have to wait long, many people wanted to sit inside, didn't look but I'm sure from the outside, the interior looked clean and modern. The service people are quite tentative, helpful and fast. Our water glasses were filled frequently and quickly. The food came out still hot. I was amazed at the quality of the food, quite tasty and the portions were adequate. It's very decorative when they brought out all these little sauce containers, although we did need more than the portions they served. The shrimp dumplings were very tasty and big, I didn't need soy sauce . The chicken feet were less flavorful than the restaurant near my home, although my sisters were ok with. The bean curd wraps are quite in par with other excellent Chinese restaurants, everyone liked them. short ribs were excellent, I did like them, cooked just right and flavorful although they're not in my dim-sum favorite dishes. The xiu mai were excellent and tasty as well. The Pan Fried noodles were crispy and we did love the sauce. The best thing I noticed was the bill, quite inexpensive especially in the area and the mall. Everyone gave it thumbs up and this restaurant made me less skeptical about restaurants in...