Pretty solid dim sum spot Gets very busy of course, so be prepared to wait if you have a big crew The steamed dimsum was pretty good if I may say so myself The fried however was not so good as I think their oil should be changed as there was an oil stench on all the fried items we ordered Service was attentive and food came quick (except for the shrimp dumpling - - but this is a good sign that it was made to order) Congee was made very well and nice and fluffy consistency read more

Asian Pearl Kitchen - Some baos - Dim Sum Near Me - Richmond, California

WARNING, Rude Host at the front of the house. This review is on service only. My friend recommended this place to us to try. But I'm disappointed on how rude this per was to us. Never coming back no matter how close you are to my house. To the Host that was so rude to me today. If you hate answering people question's about wait, maybe it's time you consider a retirement and give your job to someone who can talk and answer customers questions politely without judgement. I don't know what issues you have with life...All I asked for was wait time before I put myself on your waitlist and not the number of table ahead of me as you rudely point to your board and rolled your eyes at me. Your rude answer and eyerolling answers is unacceptable and I will take my business else where. There are Plenti of places to eat at. Eat here if you enjoy rudeness from this man. read more

I was invited to dinner by a friend at Asian Pearl Kitchen. I've been here for dim sum before but never for dinner. Apparently they now serve dim sum for all meals. It is pretty typical chinese restaurant decor. But it was nice and clean. The service was good although I think my friends frequent this restaurant often and do get treated well. There was so much food and it was all very good. The dishes kept coming and coming which all arrived very quickly and piping hot. I would highly recommend this restaurant for dinner and/or dim sum. read more

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Oh no. I am sad that after 16 years , the original chefs left . My family could taste the difference that after the remodel, it no longer tastes the same. It used to be delicious , authentic Cantonese cuisine, now every dish lacks flavor or is missing something. We ordered: Yang Chou fried rice ( super dry , it needed a lot more oil) this is one of the most basic dishes in Chinese cuisine and I am actually surprised it was bad. Sizzling egg tofu with diced seafood ( didn't taste the same as before , too salty and the egg tofu was fried) Braised fish chunk (not enough flavor and the fish were just fried and thrown in) Crab meat with fish maw soup ( not the same, lacks intense flavor) After dining in, for the next two hours, I was super thirsty . I think they use a lot of MSG. I am fine with MSG , just not this much! On the upside, the service was excellent. Attentive and kind. But I only come for the food and the food has too much MSG and doesn't taste like before. read more

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I've been to all of their locations, and this was my first time visiting the El Cerrito spot. They have an organized check-in process where they manually write down your name and call your number when your table is ready. The wait was about 30-45 minutes on a weekend during lunch, which felt reasonable for peak dim sum hours. The space is quite small inside, especially for a dim sum restaurant, so it can feel a bit tight. That said, the food came out hot, fresh, and flavorful. The servers were quick and efficient, though the service wasn't particularly standout. Overall, it's a solid spot to bring your family for some hot, fresh dim sum. read more

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Came here for a lunch with my grandma and uncle. It's located in Pacific East Mall, so plenty of parking and you can also shop at Ranch 99 after (just dont leave anything in sight in your car!) The decor and service are pretty standard for a Chinese dimsum place with large banquet style tables and a large dining room space. The food is pretty average, and prices are about average or slightly higher than average. Overall, a pretty average spot but if youre looking for a dimsum fix in the area, especially with a large party, this place should fit the bill. read more

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We were craving dim sum and decided to try this spot. We went on a Saturday morning and when we got there, there was a long line already. Luckily we are a group of two so we were seated right away. We ordered the shrimp dumplings, siu mei, steamed pork rib, steamed chicken feet, beef tripe with satay sauce, egg tart, and shrimp purple rice noodle roll. The most impressive dish for me was their shrimp purple rice noodle roll, the filling had a nice crunch, the rice noodle roll was chewy, and the flavor was delicious. Highly recommended trying it. Their shrimp dumplings and siu mei, steamed pork tasted alright. Their beef tripe and chicken feet flavor was way too overwhelming and salty. The egg tarts tasted mediocre that I would skip them next time. read more

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the reality is, there seem to be fewer and fewer sit down dim sum restaurants. The number of places you can get a table and really get high quality, authentic, dim sum fare just seem to be disappearing, with many disappearing post-pandemic. Asian Pearl may not be the best dim sum restaurant ever, but I'm so happy to have a dim sum spot within a 5-10 minute drive from my home in Berkeley. The highlights were definitely the steamed chicken feet and har gow. Both were excellent in terms of flavor and quite large. The purple rice noodle roll was a gamble, it's a unique color but it had great taste and texture. The one to skip was the portuguese egg roll - it was a little too mushy and not up to standards. Will definitely be coming back for the dim sum! read more

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We went for their lobster dinner special. 2 lobsters for$39! Ginger and scallion style was very good. Very meaty and tasty. Will be going back for sure! Also tried the giant clam, one with vermicelli + garlic, both balanced out the clam nicely, very light but delicious. But as much of a fan of the stir fry style, overly sweet and was gritty! Our server was very considerate and informed the manager, who gracious took it off our bill. The service was very attentive, changed our plates 3x during our meal. Will be back to check out their other dinner specials as well. read more

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A very typical Asian restaurant. The food was fine, nothing special and nothing bad either. I wouldn't go out of my way to come here, but I might stop by if I were in the area and craving something. read more

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I mean it was okay but not mind-blowing given how many great Chinese restaurants we have! read more

Asian Pearl Kitchen - Chinese Broccoli with Oyster Sauce Pork belly - Dim Sum Near Me - Richmond, California

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I don't understand why this place only has three stars! My friends and I just went this morning and ordered about 7-10 different plates and it was all incredibly good. We ordered items such as the wood ear mushroom salad, the cucumber salad, several types of shrimp dumplings, pork buns. We tried so much, it was incredible. The service was very quick. Everyone was super attentive to clearing the table. All of the food came out hot. I will definitely be back here again. I can't wait!! read more

Came here at opening on a Saturday. The menu has all of the typical items you would find at a dim sum restaurant. We ordered our dishes and within 10 minutes. They started coming out one by one. The dishes were all good. Portion sizes are good. I wouldn't say this is the best dim sum I've had, but it does the job for the price point. It's a good option if you're craving dim sum and looking for a more affordable since a lot of the dim sum restaurants are pretty pricey now. Service was really good as well. read more

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Arrived close to 2pm on a Sunday. We asked for a table for 3 people but we also had our baby in a stroller. The man helping us had a terrible attitude that we said 3 people and not 4. Food was ok, our dim sum items came out warm. read more

Standard Cantonese style restaurant. We come here often, since the in-laws like the place because of the daily specials, especially the "Japanese ribeye" or whatever its called but the one time I tried it, it turned out way undercooked. There's a difference between rare/medium rare to just pure raw; no thank you. Everything was overly sweet, with the exception of the soup. Service is stereotypical, the customer is never right & at times a nuisance but its efficient. Dishes are hit/miss so just keep experimenting until you find your go-tos. read more

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Consistently delicious no matter if you go for dim sum or dinner. Thoughtful and friendly service--love the staff here. Ambiance is beautiful and comfortable. My family frequent this restaurant because of all the above. read more

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Overall, it was just okay--not bad, but nothing special. The food was passable, but I wouldn't go out of my way for it. One plus was that the food came out pretty fast once we were seated. However, even though we arrived within an hour of opening, there was already a wait. They don't have a digital waitlist, so you have to hang around and listen for your number to be called, which isn't the most convenient. read more

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Dad wanted to invite us to Dim Sum for Chinese New Years. The six of us who could make it showed up. The boss and I arrived last and they had already began marking the order sheet. When it was passed to us, we added on about five dishes. There were some items that they had ordered two orders of, and I didn't reduce them. Everything was Dim Sum except for one plate of Beef Chow Fun. We ended up with 27 small plates, 1 large and a ton of leftovers. Our table was a medium round without a Lazy Susan. Less than idea, especially for the number of dishes that we had ordered. The one saving grace was that everything didn't come out at once but more of in waves. They had also set up a serving tray stand with serving tray next to our table so we could move empty dishes out of the way, and they could stage incoming dishes. Service was okay but I couldn't remember how to ask for Hot Mustard in Cantonese. The server ended up bringing me some Chili Sauce. Not quite the same heat. They did one plate change for us and made sure that we had plenty of napkins. In general, the food was good and served hot. The Salt & Pepper Tofu was a bit salty but everything else seemed to be okay. The Chow Fun was bland without the Hot Mustard. My favorite dish of the meal was the Steamed Beef Tendon. It was the first time that I've ever ordered it, but I've always enjoyed tendon when it's served with Vietnamese Pho. I would definitely return if invited, but I would certainly order differently. read more

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Coming back to the Asian Pacific Mall, I think Asian Pearl just went through a major revamp and restaurant upgrade. Seems like there's a newer wine program, the evening we stopped in there was a Warrior's Game playing on their new HUGE projector screen, and the dinner dim sum menu was a fun treat (not sure if they've always done that). We ordered a few items from the dinner dim sum including steamed pork buns and pork/shrimp Shiu Mai. Also grabbed from the regular menu garlic string beans, bbq pork fried rice, and potstickers. They had a great crowd on a Saturday evening ~ never having been to Asian Pearl outside of weekend dim sum (a bit more pricy), can't wait to come back. Our little guy was ready for bed, so we ended up having to get our order to-go, and the staff was super attentive and helpful in getting us on our way. We live close, so this made for a yummy and comfy couch feast :) The mall was decorated cute for the holidays, with a few new spots that had opened since our last visit. The mall felt alive and hoppin' for a Saturday night, which was great to see! There's not a lot of spots to watch a game in this side of the East Bay so new fun fact, we will try coming here again for light bites or a full meal during game time! read more

Asian Pearl Kitchen - Steamed BBQ Pork Bun - Dim Sum Near Me - Richmond, California

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Chinese banquet tables are always fun. We had 10 people, so it was the typical lazy susan round table with a ton of yummy food. Hot and sour soup to start. I think it was prepared well, though I'm not a huge fan of this kind of soup. Do you like Hainan chicken? It's the lightly colored blanched kind that you dip in soy sauce with garlic, ginger, and scallions. One of the "cleaner" tasting Chinese dishes you will have. You can't go wrong with stir fried steak and veggies in black bean sauce. And of course Peking duck with the buns is a Chinese dining staple. For something a little more hearty we had the salt and pepper spare ribs which is pork dipped and deep fried in batter. Walnut shrimp was creamy with perfectly honey-glazed walnuts. Long life noodles are usually kind of plain but there's was quite tasty. And of course we needed veggies, so we had baby pea greens sauteed in garlic and oil. Chinese style family banquet dinners rock. And Asia Pearl Kitchen was pretty darned good. read more

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A great dinner spot for large parties! We made a reservation for a group of 17 which not many restaurants can accommodate well. Family-style service was very convenient. The highlight of the meal for me was the duck followed by the fried eggplant. I tried the frog which was interesting. It was fried nicely and the meat was quite soft. It was surprisingly sweet from the egg yolk coating which I wasn't expecting. I probably wouldn't order it again, but it was definitely nice to try once! They brought out a sweet red-bean soup at the end which was a nice surprise. All of the dishes we tried were solid, but all leaned towards the salty side, though perhaps most Chinese food does. My fingers were a bit swollen the next morning probably from all the sodium. Nevertheless, the food was still good and this also could've been due to the fact that the table I was at happened to order many fried dishes. Overall, food was good, and I would return. read more

Asian Pearl Kitchen - duck - Dim Sum Near Me - Richmond, California

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Been here before but this visit was one of the worst experiences I've had at a restaurant in a long time. We arrived and were quoted a 30-45 minute wait, so I stepped outside the entrance and stood nearby to wait. I checked back in after about 15 minutes to see if anything had changed, and the host immediately scolded me, claiming they had "called me a long time ago." I calmly explained that they had specifically told us 30-45 minutes and that I was just following their instructions. Instead of apologizing or acknowledging the mix-up, he argued back, saying "just because we said 30-45 doesn't mean it's that long." If you're going to give customers an estimated wait time and ask them to check back, why argue when they do exactly that? It felt rude and unnecessary, especially when poor time management was clearly the issue. Things didn't improve once seated. Our server forgot to put in one of the dishes we ordered entirely, and we had to remind them. We also requested water refills that didn't come until we asked a couple of more times. Service was basically nonexistent and restaurant was not packed. The staff seemed uninterested in addressing any issues. Furthermore, the food itself was a letdown. Everything tasted bland and lacked flavor compared to other dim sum spots. To top it off, the prices were noticeably higher than similar (and better) places in San Francisco. For the quality, portion sizes, and service we received, it felt like a poor value. Between the hostile host interaction, forgotten orders, absent service, bland food, and inflated prices, this was a thoroughly frustrating experience. I won't be going back, and I can't recommend it based on this visit. There are far better dim sum options in the Bay Area. read more

Really enjoyed our dining experience there. Food was hot and fresh. Staff was attentive. Parking was plenty since the restaurant was inside the mall. Price was reasonable. Tea was good too. read more

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Our go to dim sum place in the Bay Area. Dishes always come out hot and freshly made. Good size steamed dumplings and sui mai. Everything is consistently good. Lots of tables so normally wait is t more than 30 minutes. Very popular place come early or late or prepare to wait. read more

Awesome Dim Sum as well as a great selection of live seafood. Great off the menu specials also. A must stop for Dim Sum enthusiasts and lovers of Cantonese style Chinese cooking. Make sure to come early on the weekends as this place gets PACKED. read more

Really great place for dim sum Lots of old school Asian families eating here which to me is always a good sign Usually a wait, for us it was about 30-45 min but once seated service is quick Really loved the food and will visit again when in the area read more

Went for dim sum and fortunately we went early as the line when we left was long!!! The service is efficient. No one really smiles but also no one is rude. The food seems hit and miss. Some dishes are tasty and one was so bad we actually returned it. They let us return it with explanation no problem. That was much appreciated. The restaurant is older but functional. It is located within the mall. There is plenty of parking to be had. read more

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I've been to Asian Pearl a few times in the last year and I'm happy they're here. It's hard to find good Cantonese food these days but APK has the classics. They serve dim sum during the day but have a select menu of dumplings at night too! My experience here includes a small table of 3 and a larger party of 12. Service received has been on point but was exceptionally good last night with my big group. The food was tasty and came out VERY FAST. We really enjoyed the pork belly, shiu main with truffle, gai lan, ribeye pepper beef. The steamed chicken with woodear was a little overcooked and over seasoned. The pea sprouts were kind of tough and undercooked. Be careful in the restroom -- floors are kinda slippery. Overall, APK was a good experience and we will be back soon for more great food. read more

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Solid spot for dimsum in Richmond. My group of 9 came for an early dimsum around 10:30 on a Saturday morning. It was starting to get packed but still wasn't too bad, as it was early. By the time we left, there were people waiting for tables, so definitely come early if you can. Because we had a large group, we ordered a ton of items from the menu to share. I thought everything was pretty good, but nothing really stood out. The menu selection is large and features smaller, dimsum dishes on one side and larger lunch-style dishes on the other. We definitely over ordered the food and left with a bunch of leftovers. Paid around $35 pp after tax and tip. I'd love to come back and try the lunch dishes sometime! read more

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===TL;DR=== - Singaporean rice noodle - Stir-Fry Beef Steak with Mixed Mushroom - Salt and pepper chicken wings - Iced hong Kong styled milk tea - Located inside the Pacific East Mall ===TMI=== First off, can we talk about the size of this place? You would think a restaurant inside a plaza would be small but I was wrong. They were so big and spacious inside like those wedding banquet/ dim sum restaurant size! Food was delicious. As Chinese would say, you can taste their "wok hei" (as Google put it: smoky flavor and aroma that develops in food when cooked in a hot wok). Can't go wrong with the Singaporean noodles - a little spicy, savory, and curry taste. The ribbed eye steak was cooked to perfection. Super tender and juicy, pairs well with rice! Lastly, classic chicken wings and milk tea. Chicken was juicy and fresh, the milk tea was smooth and strong! If you're looking for a solid Chinese restaurant around the area, they're a good candidate. Don't underestimate plaza food! Anddddd plenty of parking is always a plus outside. read more

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Love the food here but today we were served reheated food while others got theirs freshly cooked. As a dim sum restaurant, don't serve your customers reheated noodles and sesame balls! read more

My family and I have been here a number of times over the years that we come to go shopping at Ranch 99 and we've always had adequately quick service, and my brother-in-law's have always enjoyed watching some sort of sports game on their giant TV that covers the whole Wall!! The food is always well prepared, but you do have to make sure they don't overcharge for the amount of people that have tea or people. I had a young nephew who was only two and he was not eating with us because he had his own food, picky, toddlers, and they accidentally charged him as well as myself for that I did not have. Thank goodness, my in-laws can read Mandarin and they noticed the extra charge on the bill. Yeah, we still come back and we always check the bill. We will be back again. read more

Asian Pearl Kitchen - Family lunch.... Hee - Dim Sum Near Me - Richmond, California

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I have been here a couple times for dim sum in recent months after not having been here for a long time. This restaurant has been in the Pacific East Mall for a long time, but I think it has changed ownership over time. I have been impressed with the quality of the dim sum during my recent visits. We got here at 11 today, and there was no wait list yet at that time. When we were leaving, it looked like there was a short crowd waiting, which is still not bad for a dim sum place. Growing up in the bay area, I am used to waiting 30-60 min to get a table at dim sum restaurants. We ordered the typical dim sum dishes - shrimp dumpling, pork dumplings, BBQ pork buns, shrimp rice rolls, etc. The dim sum all tasted freshly steamed/made vs something that had been sitting for a while. Maybe it was because we came early, but I had the same experience during my last visit when we came closer to noon. I used to think this place was overpriced (probably when it was under different ownership), but was surprisingly impressed with the food during both recent visits. If you are looking for a dim sum place in the area, I would definitely recommend this place. read more

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Asian Pearl is in the Pacific East Mall in Albany, which has a 99 Ranch and a bunch of different restaurants and Asian cafes. The Asian Pearl is a pretty large size with a lot of seating. I recently went there for Dim Sum takeout where I ordered at the counter and they turned around the order in about 20 minutes. The place was pretty full with people waiting to be seated for lunch. I hadn't been to this place in a few years, but I noticed that they have a large projection screen where they were playing football games on tv. a good thing to know if I ever want to eat dim sum while watching sports. The takeout I ordered was pretty good, even though I ate it about an hour after I picked it up and drove home to Oakland. It would probably be even better eatting it on a dine-in. read more

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We came by for a celebratory dinner on a weekday evening. The dining room is spacious with a large TV that was showing a hockey game with the San Jose Sharks. Service was attentive. We started out with the Peking duck, which was fresh and delicious. We also had a fish and seafood clay pot, stir fried oysters, sweet and sour spare ribs, and stir fried mixed vegetables with fish. Decent portions, and overall an enjoyable meal. read more

Asian Pearl Kitchen - Peking duck - Dim Sum Near Me - Richmond, California

So we ent out to this restaurant cause my wife had a craving for Chinese food.upon entering we noticed that it was a little busy nothing too bad a for a place of that size.it was a few moments that we were seated (4 of us)we took a few moments before ordering.my kids wanted some dim sum and we saw other customers eating it and when we inquired about it,the waitress said its not being served.ok,I get it,little busy,maybe too late? So after we order,we noticed that other customers that sat down after us,they were bringing them dim sum.like wtf ,really?we then continued to wait what seems like an eternity and our waitress after bringing our waters,never came back.now my patience is running thin as I'm seeing the other waiters bring people the dim sum menu and after and hr our last dish still hasn't come out. so I walked up to what I'm assuming is a manager and I proceeded to let him know how unhappy and frustrated I was for his staff to treat us like that.i tell him how come the waitress tells us that there's no dim sum but I keep seeing it brought out?he said "who told you that?" I pointed at the lady and he says to me"we still serving it".i just said we're not waiting for the last dish,give us the bill and a few boxes,we're leaving. I never felt so discriminated against,dam near border line racism!we were the only table to not have the ability to speak Chinese.i also (even tho I'm mien)look Phillipino and some say I also look Cambodian.everyone else was being attended to and our server was no where to be found,she was just buzzing around the other few tables that she had and never bothered to come back and check on us. I've had to deal with some pretty bad service but to feel discriminated against,this is a first and at an Asian restaurant.so we won't be back anytime soon,if your planing to come eat here,if you want good service,make sure you bring someone who can speak Chinese.out bill with the last dish cancelled was roughly 117$ for four people and if she didn't lie to us,with the dim sum order and the last dish that we cancelled would've easily pushed us into 150$ before tip.but I guess they done need or want our money so we'll go somewhere else.ill go to Panda Express before I go back here. dont order the dried fried ribs,horrible ,the batter ,yes batter not flour,makes it hard and they fry it till it has the texture of pork rinds read more

Asian Pearl Kitchen - Dim Sum Near Me - Richmond, California

Asian Pearl, Richmond: 2024 Aug 1 (4 of 5) History of Dim Sum (from Wikipedia): Dim Sum has its roots in travelers on the ancient Silk Road needing a place to rest - thus, tea-houses were established along the roadside. The drinking of tea is as important to dim sum as the food. The type of tea to serve on the table is typically one of the first things the server asks customers. Traditional Dim Sum includes various types of steamed buns, rice or wheat dumplings and rice noodle rolls. Dim Sum is sometimes oily and greasy - mostly deep fried, sticks to your throat food - but if you must have it, then this is the place to go to. As far as Dim Sum goes, this eatery serves some of the best little bites. Most of the items we ordered were tasty. I wish they served their original durian pastry. The flaky outer shell with durian cream-filled pastries had me on a high. The pastry was flaky and the filling was just right - with the pungent aroma of the durian fruit. The serving this time was very different. Much as I admire the art they created, the texture and taste did not satisfy me. Tip: Go early. They open at 10:00 AM on weekends - and eager Dim Sum connoisseurs queue up as early as 9:30 AM. Parking here is great - lots of space - plus the location is easy to find. 99 Ranch Market is just next door - so, after breakfast, walk over and get your groceries for lunch and dinner. ;) read more

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Asian Pearl is a very popular restaurant, mainly because it's the only dim sum spot in the area. It's located inside a plaza near the right entrance (if you're facing the plaza from the parking lot) On weekends, there's always a wait. The interior is spacious with many tables set up for larger parties, which draws in a lot of families or gatherings. The restaurant has been here for many years, but went through a remodeling about a year ago. I can't tell what they did but one thing that stood out; they installed a humongous TV screen, although when I went, no one was watching it. Asian Pearl does not have carts they push around. Instead, you're given a menu with pictures to choose from. Write the # you want right below the menu item and turn it in to a server. I've been here many times and the food is consistently good. Not excellent but good. My latest visit, we tried a de new things: Golden egg fried rice is fragrant and has the perfect amount of seasoning. Shrimp purple rice noodle roll. Slightly chewy texture and good flavor Baked durian puff, served in the shape of swans. They're flaky with a mild durian flavor. Great for fans of durian, but for me ... not so much. We also had other typical items like beef balls, shrimp dumplings, turnip cakes ... etc. Service is prompt and pleasant. Food is pretty good. Price is fair I suppose. Be warned, even though there's a huge parking lot, it can be challenging during weekend peak hours. I've been coming here for years with family because they live nearby, and as long as they're still here, I'll return with them. read more

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We ordered too much and we liked everything we ordered. The dimsum menu has pictures you can refer to. Service was excellent, we got our food quickly and they also cleared our empty dishes fast. It was busy with lots of families. There were 9 of us and we were so full ! My favorites included - tendons , steamed tofu skin , baked pork buns, chicken feet , shrimp dumplings and sesame balls. They don't take reservations for dimsum. read more

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We came here for Mother's Day dim sum for lunch and the restaurant was fully packed! I went inside to see where I can put my name down. It was so chaotic and there were no clear instructions. I saw some papers at the front counter that looked like a sign in sheet and as I was flipping through to see where I can put my name down, the lady at the counter snatched the papers away from me very rudely and kept saying "no no no". She could've been nicer about it and told me what I needed to do instead. Another employee came out with a clipboard and he gave me a ticket with a number. Customer service could use some improvement. There is seating outside or you can walk around and do some grocery shopping to kill time. We ended up waiting about an hour to get seated. During the wait, I recommend getting a menu and marking what you want to order and handing it to the employee right when you sit down. We probably only waited maybe 5 mins before the food started coming out. Everything was piping hot and fresh. Flavor was good for everything. Double check the receipt because they included items that we DID NOT order and didn't include items that we DID order. Decent dim sum but definitely on the pricier side. read more

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