We used to come here often for tea and also ordered takeout regularly, but this time was extremely disappointing. They charged an automatic 18% service fee, yet there was basically no service at all. We were seated at a dirty table that hadn't even been cleaned, with leftover tea from the previous guests and no fresh water or tea provided. Every time we needed something like forks, napkins, or a high chair, we had to get it ourselves. Even when we tried to call the staff, they often ignored us, and only responded after asking multiple times. It really feels like since they already add the service fee, they don't care about customer service anymore. Sadly, after this experience, I don't think I will come back again. read more

Yan Peninsula - Seafood Near Me - Millbrae, California

We came here over the weekend for a friend's celebration event, in which they reserved half the restaurant. The restaurant interior was surprisingly spacious and could host quite a few parties. Our first impression upon entering was how pretty the ceiling was, and how aesthetically lovely the chandeliers they have up were. All of the food that came out was delicious, and the kitchen was pretty consistent in pushing out the dishes at a good pace throughout the dining experience. Only minor gripe was that during the first half of our meal, we had trouble getting the servers to refill our table's teapot with hot water. They would bring out new dishes, but somehow just ignore the teapot with an upturned lid every time, unless we asked them. Thankfully this got better on the later part of our meal, and they started consistently swinging by to periodically refill our pots. read more

My family and I came to try Yan Peninsula during their soft opening (which imo was very subtly advertised). There were a lot of improvements that could have been made with the dining experience in general. For starters, we were given paper menus written in Chinese. Not an issue for me, because my parents were able to translate and help me order. However, I can see this being an issue for non-Chinese readers/speakers. A lot of menu items weren't available, granted it was still a soft opening. Additionally, service wasn't the most efficient. We got our dishes very slowly, and my parents had to flag a waiter several times to remind them of a missing order. Otherwise, the food was spectacular. We ordered a shrimp and broccoli dish, char siu Chilean sea bass, braised fish head clay pot, garlic pea shoots, house special soup. A lot of Chinese restaurants my parents and I have visited in the Bay Area do a poor job of "dish segregation." That is, because they reuse a few of the same sauces in all their menu items, every plate ends up tasting the same. At Yan Peninsula, I was able to appreciate the uniqueness of every menu item our family ordered. Each dish was rich in flavor... not too oily or heavy, either! The food made it seem like we were dining at a Michelin-star restaurant. I would honestly wait until Yan Peninsula settles after its soft opening before coming back for a more enjoyable dining experience. But overall, this restaurant has become a new favorite spot for Chinese cuisine in the Bay Area. read more

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Decided to give this place another try but unfortunately, was still left disappointed. The stir fry foods were good and arrived first. The dim sum look a bit longer to come out. We waited about 30-40 minutes for our dim sum dishes to come out. Unfortunately, the siu mai and the shrimp dumplings were over steamed so it came out pretty wet and soggy. The mango pudding in the shape of a corn barely had any mango pudding flavor :( (it was previously the best mango pudding I ever had) The most upsetting part about this visit was the egg yolk lava fried sesame balls with almond slices. This dish took the longest to come out and when it did come out, I noticed that there weren't any almond slices! I only ordered this dish because I love almond crusted dim sum dishes so I was extremely disappointed. I asked the dim sum servers if they gave us the wrong thing and they said they don't know, it's probably like that with the almonds inside. I poked a hole inside and didn't see any almond slices :( I asked the manager who said they gave us the correct order. I politely asked if they have another version with the almond slices and they said no and offered to cancel the order from our bill. When we got boxes to pack our leftovers, we packed the sesame balls as well because they never removed it from our table and since we touched it, I thought we would pack it for someone else who may enjoy that. Unfortunately, the manager who removed the dish from our bill snapped at me asking why I was packing the sesame balls when I said I didn't want the dish. She angrily picked up the dish and threw it away!! I thought it was extremely poor practice and left an incredibly bad taste in my mouth. Knowing that she would rather throw away food than for me to give it away to someone. I definitely get why she would be confused as to why I was still packing the dish when I said I didn't want it, but she should've taken it away when it was canceled from our bill. Not when I was packing my leftovers. Unfortunately, I will not be back due to this situation. read more

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Had both of my daughters party here. The service was excellent even though the restaurant was completely packed. The manager accompanied my guest with excellent service. The waitstaff and the rest of the crew was on point. Party was set up to what we requested and the food was good. Highly recommended but book in advance since they are pretty busy. Thank you Yan Peninsula and staff Jack, Adam read more

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Please review your bill carefully before paying. I was charged for two dishes that never arrived, one dish that was canceled, and an extra tea fee. Guy at the front responded with visible frustration when I told him to adjust my bill. On top of that, an 18% gratuity was automatically added despite the subpar service. read more

There is an automatic 18% gratuity, which we were fine with. I'm not sure if it's for all tables but we were a party of 4. The issue comes when we order to go and everything was added to the same bill. Our dine in bill for a party of 4 was maybe 70$+ 18% gratuity, which we were happy to pay. With the addition of the Togo order our 18% gratuity would've been $42 (we ordered quite a bit to take home). We brought it to the attention to the staff at front and they said there was nothing they could do. That we should've told them we wanted it on a separate bill. So tell them you want it on a separate bill if you want to order to go. read more

Love Love Love Yan's Peninsula. The owner treats you like family! We love to go for dim sum. Super delicious, large portions and super fresh and hot! Brought my friends here and they raved about the food. Best dim sum in Millbrae. Dinner is always consistently great too. Love their honey ribs, king crab, rib eye tofu, and the list goes on. They never disappoint. Yan is classy and welcoming. Go to place in Millbrae. read more

Came for dim sum on a Sunday morning at about 10:30 and there were lots of tables open. There were 4 of us, 3 adults and a 3 year old. The menu is pretty extensive, but we pretty much decided what to order without too much wasted time as we had to be somewhere at noon. It took quite awhile to flag down someone to take the order form so the kitchen could prepare our choices. With the little one, we had to order items we thought she would eat since she's a rather picky eater. We wanted to make sure she got some nourishment from the meal. We ordered both the shrimp dumplings and the seafood dumplings, steamed black bean spareribs, tofu skins, chicken feet with black bean (for me), daikon cake, baked salted egg yolk lava buns, and, for a healthy addition, the chicken herb soup, which was on their specials of the day menu. While all the food was pretty good and the dumplings were plump and juicy, I was very disturbed and unhappy about the chicken herb soup. When I first tasted it, I thought I detected alcohol in the soup, but my dining companion thought that would be impossible. The baby's mom enticed the baby to drink about a cup of the soup, thinking it would be at least some nourishment since she refused to eat most of the dim sum. After I had a few more spoons full and felt for sure there was alcohol, we called the waiter over to inquire. He called one of the managers over and the manager confirmed that the soup did, indeed, contain alcohol. I was livid! Why on earth would it not be disclosed on the menu or by the staff? When they brought the soup, they brought four bowls and spoons, so they intended for the baby to have some. Why would they not say there was alcohol in it? And the alcohol, to me, a non-drinker, seemed strong. The other two adults thought it was the taste of the herbs initially, but then confirmed there was a taste of alcohol. One of the adults is abstaining from alcohol for medical reasons, so this was unacceptable. Very upsetting experience. Not happy with the service or the non-disclosure. read more

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Waited over 1hr and after so long checked and host claimed called our number but we were waiting right there and did not hear our number called out. They do not make any effort to make sure people are seated and host had bad attitude. When we got our food there were a few dim sum items we did not order added. read more

Came here early morning, was a bit drafty in the area, upon entry i smelled the restroom, but at least it was far from the dining area. Service was constant, so pretty decent. Food was great and big portions. There were plenty of food selections on the menu. There were absolutely no problems with flagging down waiter or waitress. I was here on xmas eve morning and at 9am there were no line and not a lot of people. It was nice to wake early and have a brucnh place to go to. The congee pot was really big and fit for a family of at least 3-5 people. Plenty of foods and decent cost. read more

The food is quite delicious. Prices are fairly reasonable because their portions are larger than other restaurants. They have a smaller menu than other Chinese restaurants in the area, but their options are delicious. read more

Came here with my friend for a quick meal and the quality + speed is definitely 5/5! The waiters are multilingual in English, Cantonese, and Mandarin. The location is right next to the SFO airport so it's a perfect place to have a meal before catching a flight from SFO read more

Yan Peninsula - Seafood Near Me - Millbrae, California

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Yan Peninsula is decent. No wait at 12:15pm on a Friday afternoon lunch for three people. We used to come here for dinner before the new ownership took over. We wanted to try the crispy shrimp rice rolls. They were meh. Not crispy enough and didn't look like the photo on the menu. The other stuff were fine. Some stuff like the duck heads were not available. We only found out about it because it never arrived and we had to ask a waiter. Service was fine. Note, they do put in a mandatory service charge. We almost tipped again but one of the ladies told us not to. Hooray for honest employees. read more

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food is mediocre and autograt 18% on a party of 2 with sub par service. that's honestly all that needs to be said about this place. don't fall for the fancy pictures and remodeling read more

Came here for dim sum over the weekend and the food was pretty good! My favorite was the almond milk dessert and pan fried pork buns. The wait was a little long but the food was tasty! read more

We love this restaurant . food and service are reliably good. but we went for a family birthday party tonite and there was an extremely loud church group - about 100 people - singing and reading scripture over the loudspeaker - we could not hear each other talk. Please Mr. Yan , close the rest of your restaurant when you have such a group. Or put speakers where the group is, not over our table. Everyone- ask who else may is there when you try to have a small event. read more

This was my first time returning to the restaurant after Covid! I went there for a board meeting . Oh boy was the food tasty ! Apparently they changed the ownership. The restaurant has been completely renovated. The decor is modern and stylish now. The food was delicious!  The owener Queenie is such a friendly and pleasant lady. I would definitely go back again ! read more

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On a rare occasion, we came down to the Peninsula for a meal. We were invited for an 11am birthday dim sum lunch at Yan Peninsula. We arrived at 10:45am and tried to park in their lot, but it was full. So we looked for parking in the street and found a spot down the block on Center St. The restaurant was very busy, so luckily we had reservations for our party of 8. Some specialty items are wheeled around in carts but the majority of the dim sum items are ordered from a menu sheet where you pick your items and turn in to the waitress. Shredded chicken salad, pickled jellyfish, bean curd rolls, spareribs, rice rolls, steamed sesame buns with salted egg custard filling, shrimp dumplings, egg tarts, green onion pancakes and chive dumplings. Service was efficient. I liked how they had a teapot, a hot water teapot and a large hot water carafe on the table so that you can refresh your teapots without waiting for wait staff to do it. Overall, the food was good. Nice, large dining room with fancy lighting. We were her on a Saturday and it was busy, so expect a wait if you come past 11am. read more

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Visited first time with table of 19 for dinner . I am not sure what to say about the food because I am still angry the gentleman manager kept encouraging me to add more dishes . We sooooo over ordered but he kept saying it was good for so many people . The quality of many of the dishes did not met my standards. We had Peking duck which I thought would come out with them showing me the duck and then slice and serve in front of us . I ordered green onion pancake which I don't think came but there was strange dish which looked like fried dough with cheese? The Chinese broccoli seemed over cooked. The chicken feet was excellent . The deep fried chicken was good. The service was good . Sufficient parking in the back . It's a large foot print and decor is nice . I may have to return to give it a second chance even though I left with an overly high bill and just so so food . read more

Yan Peninsula - Peking duck and deep friend chicken wings - Seafood Near Me - Millbrae, California

Delicious and classic dim sum. Service and atmosphere are meh. You go for the food full stop.

We had dimsum and it was above average. The Service was OK but can be better. We were there around 10am and not so many people.

Rice noodles were soggy, food was mediocre and service was terribly poor. Be careful giving the servers your order, we got two orders we never ordered but they still charged us read more

They had a very bad attitude towards the customers. On Mother's Day morning, we went out to eat. After finishing our meal and getting the bill, we noticed a mandatory 20% tip was added. I asked a staff member who looked like a supervisor. She seemed very unhappy and coldly told me it was because Mother's Day is a holiday, so the 20% tip is mandatory. Whether this fee is reasonable or not is another issue, but I felt that if she had patiently explained it to me, I wouldn't have been upset. What made me angry was her attitude--very indifferent and cold, as if she couldn't wait to get rid of the customer. The taste of food is important, the price being reasonable is important, and the environment being elegant is important, but I think the most important thing is how you treat your customers. P.S. I just read some of other customers' reviews. It turns out that they usually add a 18% mandatory tip to every table's bill! I don't think this makes sense. Customer pay tips based on the services the restaurant provides. You can't force people to pay a 18% tip! This is against the law! I don't think I will come back. read more

Pretty good spot south of SF to grab dim sum - if you're coming during a busy time like Sunday lunch make sure you plan ahead for the wait. Even with a reservation we had to wait almost an hour to get seated. The food is pretty good here, with the highlight being the Siu Mai. We also got all the classics, like ha gow, shrimp rice rolls, sticky lotus rice, etc - all very solid. The only things we ordered that missed the mark were the radish cakes (texture and flavor seemed a bit off), and the taro balls, but everything else was pretty good! If you're looking for a large group dim sum spot, this is a good one to check out. It looks like you can also rent the space out for private events if that's up your alley. read more

Yan Peninsula - Seafood Near Me - Millbrae, California

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These are just the first batch of the spread we ordered. Everything we ordered was super delicious! Needless to say, once the rest of our dimsum dishes came out, there was no more taking of pictures. lol! We were hungry and excited to eat everything! We also ordered pork buns, sticky ribs, scallop and egg fried rice, house special shrimp siu mai, Chinese broccoli with oyster sauce, steamed beef balls, shrimp rolls. We enjoyed our lunch while reminiscing how much my dad would've loved this place. If he were alive today we would probably come here on a weekly basis. Already planning our next visit and the dishes we plan to order and experience. This place is not just a good dimsum restaurant. This is an experience one should try at least once. Then come back again and again. For next time we want to try their congee selections and the chow fun. Shrimp siu mai's are a must as well as the chicken feet. And then maybe baked buns and the pan fried buns. I should mention that the ambiance is very nice, the staff are all attentive and friendly. They answered all of our questions and made suggestions when requested. Superb service, awesome food. Parking wasn't so bad since we came pretty early but can be challenging closer to noon so be prepared for that and the wait times to get seated. read more

Yan Peninsula - Taro cakes, jellyfish & seaweed salad, shrimp siu mai, braised chicken feet - Seafood Near Me - Millbrae, California

I usually don't write reviews, but I have to warn people about this place. We had dinner here last week. Food was good, but be aware of illegal charges. They had a promotion if ordering more than $200 at dinner, will get one order of the steam chicken for free. When we received the bill, we found out they charged service fees already and the service fees were calculated on the before promotion price. We asked why it's not after the discount, they said this is the way they do it (with a bad attitude). It's only a few dollars so we just let it go, but when I got home, I found out that the taxes were calculated using the amount before promotion and also including the service charges! Why would our service charges be taxed?! This is SO WRONG! We aware when you pay. We will not go back anymore. read more

Yan Peninsula - Seafood Near Me - Millbrae, California

Good Cantonese food in a nice venue, made with fresh ingredients, especially seafood. My family members like to eat here for gatherings. Good place for dim sum at lunchtime! Lots to choose from and best to go with a group to try more foods. Dinner has many offerings from fresh fish out of their fish tanks, to specialty chicken & duck dishes, to tender vegetables and clay pots. I appreciate this place. They have a parking lot but there is also street parking. The staff is alright and when it's busy, you may need to ask more than once for items such as water. read more

I came here around Saturday afternoon around 1PM and there was no wait! We were seated immediately and got to order right away. We ordered many items: shrimp dumplings, chicken feet, beef balls, baked bbq pork buns, turnip cake, rice noodles, deep fried meat dumplings, porridge, creamy custard buns, and salted egg yolk lava buns. They are all so yummy and did not disappoint. My favorite was definitely the meat dumpling and the baked bbq pork bun. Overall, the service and food was good. I will definitely be back here when I am back in town again. read more

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Recently had a banquet for my mom's birthday. We ordered from the banquet menu and it had plenty of seafood options that were delicious. I have plenty of reviews of the food. I just wanted to update that Jack Li who is the manager was very helpful and made everything go smoothly. He helped us as I inquired and ordered and oversaw the team helping us. He was great! My mom was happy with her birthday- thanks to the staff! Food was delicious ( and I don't even normally like seafood- mom wanted it- but I liked what we had)! I also added Peking duck with buns and Hong Kong style crispy noodles on top of the birthday noodles on the birthday menu. Also no cake cutting charge and they provided extra plates for our huge cake. I was super happy with one of my favorite regular go to restaurants! read more

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I've been here a couple of times to Yan Peninsula, the first time it was for a big family get together for a typical Chinese banquet style meal. The second time we went there for their dimsum hours. The place itself is not huge for a dimsum place. The place probably has more tables than it has business having, but hey, gotta maximize I guess. It will get crowded during the peak hours, so make sure to get there early, as even getting there late it might still be a wait, but for certain reasons I'll go into later. The parking here though is a disaster for what they are, so you'll probably need to park on the street or elsewhere. Pricing wise, they're probably a bit pricier. Ever since the main dimsum place way down on El Camino closed (we all know where that is!), this place has probably gotten most of that traffic as the other spots on El Camino, while they have dimsum too, aren't really dimsum specific places. This one has definitely billed themselves as one. Let's talk about both experiences separately. First, the banquet experience. The food was great, everything was delicious. The portions were pretty good on each of those dishes. The pricing, well, kinda expensive, but then again most of the Chinese banquet spots on El Camino are roughly the same price, so about on par I guess. The main downside of this place was the service. The food came out at the beginning at a pretty good pace, but towards the end of it, they really slowed down, and it just also got confusing because they started to forget dishes too. Eventually it all got resolved, but just the service that night was meh, albeit, they were slammed for Chinese New Year's weekend, and they hadn't opened that long ago, so I was willing to give them a pass. Fast forward to months later. We decided to drop by here for their dimsum hour, since even though the service was subpar last time, their food was at least good. I had called ahead to put my name down, since they don't take reservations, so when you put your name down it just goes on a waiting list. When we got there, it was packed, and I mean packed. The entrance was filled with people, there really weren't that many places to stand, people were hanging around the outside, and etc. They're kinda disorganized at the front, and they're either slowly calling names, getting tables mixed up, or other things that were going on. Once we got sat down, we marked down our orders on the order sheet (it's only to-order here, so no rolling carts or trays to grab stuff off of), and waited for our food. And waited for our food. And waited for our food. Finally, a few dishes come out, and we were happy. Then we waited for our food. Got the wrong dishes. Got a dish that came out and was still partly frozen on the inside (I had the honor of being the first and only person to eat this first plate they brought out, and it wasn't a great experience...). Got our check 20 minutes after we asked for it. Waited another 20 minutes for our takeout order which we ordered at the start. By the time we were done with our dimsum meal, it had already been almost 2 hours since we begun. The food overall here is great, but logistically speaking, they're still a complete and utter mess from the service side. They seem to really struggle when the place is packed, and things begin to go haywire quickly. I would recommend if you do want to eat here because the food is great, don't do it during peak times. Get there early, so the parking lot may still have spots. Your food will arrive on time, and hopefully correctly. But once all the stars align, it should be a good delicious experience. read more

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Tried this place for the first time recently with family and it was good! The location is small compared to other dim sum places I've been to and parking is very limited, so keep that in mind. I believe you can make reservations beforehand. I don't believe any dim sum places still do cart service, unless you go to a very traditional one. It seems all dim sum places have moved toward just placing orders and they bring it out to you, which is what Yan Peninsula also does. Overall, I thought the dim sum items we ordered were delicious. Will keep this in mind if I'm in the area and am looking for dim sum! read more

When one considers the Chinese cuisine restaurants along El Camino Real in Millbrae, the options can be daunting. The options just increased by one thanks to the recent opening of Yan Peninsula, which replaced the long standing Zen Peninsula on the corner of El Camino Real and Center Street. Yan Peninsula has the same exterior of past tenants, which includes restaurants that were not of Chinese origin, but what has changed is that they have completely gutted the interior of the restaurant and turned it into an oasis of bright aesthetics including multiple hanging light fixtures and a huge stage with a television screen the length of the entire wall on one side of the restaurant. The buzz about Yan Peninsula is good, so good that the night that a party of ten of us were lucky enough to grab reservations at the last minute, they were hosting a mini-concert featuring a relatively famous singer from Hong Kong singing in front of a live band, which was really cool. With this unexpected entertainment bonus, there seemed to be an influx of customers, which led to their parking lot being packed to the brim, which was the case with the former tenant that was once here, but even more so, as all of the surrounding streets were filled with parked cars as well. Once we did find parking, getting through the massive amount of diners and attendees was another thing to deal with, but they had our table for ten waiting for us, which was a welcome respite as we were ready to try their new menu. The menu at Yan Peninsula is broken up into sections including Appetizer, Soup, Premium Seafood, Chinese Barbecue, Pork & Beef, Rice & Noodles, Fresh Fish (seasonal), Cold Dish, Vegetables, Lobster (seasonal), Crab (seasonal), Stir-Fry, Clay Pot, Stew Soup, which according to their menu requires advance reservations, and their multi-course preset meals for big parties. Since we were a big party, we opted for one of their multi-course meals, and the one priced at 568 dollars featuring ten dishes that really piqued our interest. Our first course was their Barbecue Combination, which was a mixture of hot and cold items all placed on one plate, including barbecue pork, jellyfish salad, seaweed salad, and a vegetarian tofu roulette. For our second course, we enjoyed a traditional serving of Peking Duck, of which they renamed it Beijing Duck, the steamed buns were traditional steamed white buns in the shape of a taco and the plate came with your typical plum sauce and sliced green onions. Things were served in a unique order as out next came our plate of Honey Walnut Prawns, followed by the Cashew Chicken served with sautéed squid and mixed vegetables, and then we were finally presented with our Crab Meat Fish Maw Soup, which thanks to them featuring an abundance of red wine vinegar for each of us to pour the amount we wanted in each of our bowls, helped to really hit the spot. We then enjoyed four more dishes, each were better than the next, and really highlighted the seafood forward menu they are trying to provide at Yan Peninsula. We feasted on their Steamed Seasonal Fresh Fish, Braised Abalone served with mustard leaves and mushrooms, Fried Lobster in Soy Sauce and Ginger, and their House Special Fried Rice with Dried Scallops and Egg Whites. Since they recently opened mere months, there were some service issues, as on the evening we went, they probably were underprepared for the amount of diners they were going to have this evening, as they had this special entertainment going on for all who had reservations for a large table. What cannot be denied is the fact that Yan Peninsula not only improved on the interior design of their new home. but the food truly matches the elegance of their décor, as the food although traditional family-style Cantonese dining also provided for a truly satiating meal with huge portions that we not only enjoyed every dish we ate, but taking multiple takeout containers home filled with food. Despite the massive crowd of people they had this evening, every dish was plated with such intention and composed with such thoughtfulness, I swear I was dining in a high-end restaurant with twice the amount of food! Owner Queenie Yan realized that this location is special enough to warrant a full remodel which has provided a new refreshing outlook on what Millbrae has to offer when it comes to Cantonese dining in the area. I now know that I will have many more visits to come to Yan Peninsula and I am personally so happy to see them open and thriving with so much success already! read more

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Order: * Salted Egg Yolk Lava Black Buns * Spareribs with Black Bean Sauce * Sticky Rice in Lotus Leaf * Siu Mai with Shrimp Roe * Steamed Shanghai Dumplings * Flavored Beef Rice Noodle Rolls * Home Made Daikon Cake * Deep Fried Shrimp Balls Pros: * Lots of nearby parking on El Camino, even at peak hours. * Contemporary Asian décor/vibe. I like the big screen in the dining room showing music videos. For a moment I actually felt like I was eating in China or Taiwan. * The staff works incredibly hard, constantly hustling, which I appreciate when there's a huge crowd waiting for a table. I felt the staff here cared more about customer satisfaction than the average Chinese spot. * The food was all very tasty and solid, exactly what you expect from good dim sum. Cons: * The 15% service fee is a bit odd to me as it says it doesn't include tip. I know some places do this, although I haven't noticed it in a while. I'd rather they just bump the prices 15%. * The Salted Egg Yolk Lava Black Buns came out in the middle of the meal, when ideally I'd prefer to have it at the end. Then again, I'm not sure that many dim sum places would be that thoughtful. * All the dishes came out consistently quick except for our last dish, which made us think they forgot about it. Comments: * If you grew up going out for dim sum countless times like I did, then you'll find this place very much par for the course, which is to say, you won't be disappointed. I'm not sure you'll find it all that unique, but you're sure to have a good meal. If I could, I'd bump it to 4.5 for all the hard-working staff trying to give their best service in your usual dim sum mad house environment. * Wait to be seated for 2 ppl at 1230p on a Sunday: 30 mins. * First dish arrived after seating: 10 mins. * Why do I keep trying to order Cantonese style XLB. Smh, calling it quits on that. read more

Came here twice in a week for lunch (dim sum) and dinner. Everything we ordered was great. Just walked in and was able to be seated. The parking is tight and you'll have to park in the streets if it's busy. The remodel is great. The tables are separated well and the seats are comfy. The service is great, some of the staff are from Hong Kong Flower Lounge which recently closed down. I will most likely frequent this place. read more

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I went for dinner and was impressed by the remodel of the old Zen peninsula. Unfortunately service, food and selection did NOT match the nice decor. Seems like they rushed for opening without proper preparation. Wait staff seemed like they were pulled from a noodle house versus A list Chinese restaurant which is what they are targeting to be. A rather limited dinner menu printed a cheap piece of yellow paper gives a bad initial impression. And the two dishes we ordered were disappointing. The fish clay pot is copy of a popular dish of The Kirchen but Yan used a lower quality fish that also tasted very fishy. The other dish a Chiu Chow pickled veg beef clay pot, was mislabeled. Chiu Chow is Not a hot spicy cuisine but the Yan version was clearly hot spicy Sichuan pepper broth. Even their complimentary dessert was barely lukewarm - a good restaurant would have it piping hot. read more

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Food is incredible! Comparable to Koi Palace but dishes are a bit more expensive. Be prepared to spend at least 3 hours here though for dinner. The servers are attentive but the food takes extra time to come out. The stand out dish here was the river prawns! Everything was delicious except the large steamed clams with glass noodles and the smaller clams in the steamed egg weren't the best quality. The Asian soufflé dessert is very unique and delicious. It takes 30 mins to make so be prepared to wait. Every table got the string bean with pork neck meat. The meat is incredible tender. An unexpected dish was the char siu. It was made very differently and a bit fatty but so delicious! The place can seat 400 people and it was filled with Cantonese people at 7pm. That's how you know it's good! There were chandeliers hanging from the ceiling and a large LED screen for karaoke in the front. I noticed a large table that could seat 20-30 people in the back for a family reunion. Some of the dishes require a pre order so call ahead! Will definitely be back if we have time for another 3 hr dinner. The waiter brought out the two live fish we ordered and they were almost jumping out of the net. Very fresh! It does get pretty loud in there with lots of excited Asians so be prepared for that. read more

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I've been to Yan Peninsula on multiple instances including their soft opening and I feel that this is certainly one of the better dim sum restaurants you can go to. Most knew the previous restaurant as Zen Peninsula, but this is definitely an upgrade. Every time I go it is always packed and parking is definitely a huge pain to find. You likely will have to resort to street parking on busy days. The staff are all very friendly. The inside of the restaurant can be a bit cramped with how many seats there are packed together. What also stands out food wise is how they present their dim sum and other items. Their creamy custard buns having Shin-chan plastered on top or their Deep Fried Glutinous Rice Dumplings being shaped like birds definitely gives them the edge aesthetically as well as making their dim sum more kid friendly. Some items can be a little hit or miss and there can be some inconsistency, but they are still new so I will give them a pass. I have enjoyed a lot of what they have to offer. Sometimes there are some mistranslations like their Mango Pancake which isn't a pancake. I was curious and wanted to try it, but it is literally just mango pudding with no pancake whatsoever. I am unsure if they have changed the name since my last visit, but don't be fooled like I was. It was still tasty though. I personally like their dinner items a lot. I love their crispy pork belly which you can order any time. The skin is so crispy and the pork is very juicy. I get it every single time. Yan to me is the best dim sum restaurant at least in Millbrae and I'd highly recommend trying this restaurant out especially for their unique looking dim sum options. read more

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This review reflects dinner vs my previous review, which is about the dim sum. TLDR - I would recommend avoiding Yan Peninsula for dinner. Food was lackluster, gave 2 of us upset stomachs, service was extremely slow, table was able to fall apart and no one opted for us to switch tables in a half full restaurant. We arrived, a party of 5, on a Sunday night. Parking is much easier in the lot when it's not dim sum time; keep this in mind. The restaurant was not even half full when we arrived around 6PM. We were led to a table where the edges can fold out to switch from a square table to circular one. However, the circular extensions were not perfectly flat. It was pretty sketchy to even lean our elbows on the surface in fear we would break the table. We weren't asked to switch to another table at all. Then service was extremely slow, in terms of getting our food, getting our bill, and packing the extras. Maybe we didn't even have to pack the extras because frankly, I think you can get better Chinese banquet dinner food elsewhere. Before I get into breaking down each ordered dish, my parents tried to order 3 different dishes that just weren't available or they claimed they were out. What?! Just started dinner service...how can they be out?! Weird...anyways... Food: Fried Pumpkins and Shrimps with Salty Egg Sauce - Extremely oily and there was way too much breading. There is much more pumpkins than there are shrimp. Not to mention the shrimp isn't your typical tiger prawns you can get with this dish at other establishments, so they were smaller. House Special Steamed Chicken - probably the only decent dish from the meal. Then again, this is a staple dish in most Chinese restaurants House Special Crispy Pork Belly - hard to bite into and a bit dry. Sweet and Sour Pork with Pineapple - nothing much to say about this dish, it was okay Egg Fried Rice - more like Ginger Fried Rice. There were so many pieces of ginger, large enough that if you bite into one, you just get a mouth full of the spice. I would recommend thin slicing it next time if you want to add ginger flavor into the dish... Sea Cucumbers with Lotus Root in XO Sauce - the sea cucumbers were good. Everything else was average and there wasn't even that much. Braised Beef in Clear Soup - I personally enjoyed this dish. A bit salty towards the end though. Lastly, the mochi was pretty good that was given for dessert after the meal. The tong sui was not good and the cookies were EXTREMELY dry. Nothing really stood out foodwise. Not to mention they still include the service charge in the bill regardless of your party size. I am pretty disappointed in the dinner, food and service, especially with how fancy everything looks. Don't judge a book by it's cover though; I'd come back to Yan Peninsula just for the dim sum. I'm not sure about anytime soon though...that "5 color" dish... /facepalm read more

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A little pricey and the food is greasy (I guess that's usually a given for most Chinese restaurant food). A family member also found a producer sticker on her belly pepper from the eggplant dish. The staff seems nice. It was just the food I had to pick on since the menu was pricey. read more

Yan Peninsula - Egg plant dish with a bell pepper that has a produce sticker on it - Seafood Near Me - Millbrae, California

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