Yan Peninsula Dim Sum Review

Reviewer: Foodnut.com Yan Peninsula 1180 El Camino Real Millbrae, CA 94030 650-541-8888 Yan Peninsula Website

January 2023 Yan Peninsula replaces Old school dim sum Zen Peninsula is a Cantonese Chinese restaurant in Millbrae. This name almost sounds like a half baked effort to change the name. Long time stalwart Hong Kong Flower Lounge recently closed, making this a great time to sweep up business. Zen had previously been one of the goto places for banquets, weddings and the like. Millbrae is ground zero for some of the most popular Chinese food in the SF Bay area with spots like:

• Asian Pearl
• The Kitchen
• Tai Wu

Be sure to read:

• Foodnut’s Beginners Introduction to Chinese Dim Sum
• Best Chinese in San Francisco

Be sure to read our article How to order in authentic Chinese dinner

Zen has been around since 2004 and specializes in a wide selection of Dim Sum for lunch and special dishes for dinner. Yan Peninsula continues that tradition but brings it into the modern age. Just like Palette Tea Garden. They have an extensive printed menu that you order on, and a small number of carts, servers serving dim sum on the weekend. We visited in 2023 after someone told us about the new opening.

Be sure to read our Introduction to Chinese Dim Sum.

This place is a very busy and a super noisy Chinese restaurant on the Thursday at lunch we visited, with lots of families and friends eating together. Decor has been updated since the Zen days. You can easily pick out Chinese Cantonese restaurants, as most have tanks of fresh fish, crustaceans.

Ultimately, all the fancy instagrammable food needs to taste good.  This place is decidedly average, not up to the high standards of other places nearby.

Yan Peninsula Menu pics (Click to zoom in on any picture)

Website Yan Peninsula Menu – Their menu is pretty much new school pushing modern dim sum with some of the old favorites. Short dim sum menu but a lot more cooked dishes. Prices are not cheap, equivalent to other rival spots.  Tips is automatically included.

Yan Peninsula Food:

House special 4 types of Bao ($9.15) is an instagram favorite.  2 had egg filling, 1 had red bean, and the last had black bean.  It is a fun dish, but frankly a one and done. 8/10

Roast Duck ($11.95) was hawked by a lady bring it table to table.  It proved to be slightly above average, not to the level of HL Peninsula. 7.5/10

Ginko nuts and Pea shoots in supreme broth ($15.95) is good for vegetarians. A bit more liquid than we would like to see. 8/10

Steamed shrimp dumplings ($7.14) or har gow (4) were decent and had good shrimp flavor, but a bit on the small side. 8/10

Pork Siu Mai ($6.15) had 4 small dumplings.  A bit scrawny but reasonable. 7.5/10

Chiu Chow steam dumplings ($6.15) had 3 large and fragile dumplings possessing a nice balanced flavor of zest and savoriness. They were fresh out of the kitchen. 8/10

Chive and Shrimp Rice Noodle Rolls ($7.15) was a good sized dish with average shrimp and decidedly old school. 7/10

Fried Pork Dumplings (Ham Soi Gok) ($6.15) – Fresh and hot out of the fryer. Large and crisp. Good meat filling, not a lot. 8.5/10

Pan Fried Turnip Cakes ($6.15) were below average. Fairly cold and not good flavor. 5/10

Glutinous Rice Wrapped with chicken in Lotus leaf ($4.95) – Were of average size and filled with decent tasting and using chicken, not pork. Egg, and other goodies. 8/10

Service

Yan Peninsula’s service was a slightly better than average for a place like this. With less carts jamming the aisles, servers were patrolling more often.  HL Peninsula, Grand Harbor, and Koi Palace better Yan Peninsula’s quality.

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