I grew up with this cafe and was skeptical at first. As the OG of the Millbrae food scene, it had golden days as Broadway Bistro when I was a kid. I remember lining up for half an hour and a lady up front calling out table numbers amongst a swarm of families.
As an adult, I revisited during the pandemic with their temporary wooden outdoor seating extension into the main road. The food was nothing like I remembered and was so bad that I didn’t return for years.
Today I felt like chilling with a book in a quieter place so returned, assuming it would be empty. And boy I’m glad I did.
Although not empty, it was a descent crowd where I could be seated immediately and still get the comfortable white noise of other customers. It was a clean restaurant without the lingering smell of oil and fish that many Cantonese 茶餐厅have. Perfect for some casual reading 📖.
I asked for water with my drink, and the waitress with the ponytail offered a choice between hot and cold water, which was a nice resolution to the ambiguous November chill we’re having.
The food came after I finished a few pages of my book. You can tell from my photo that the chef made a nice touch to the 凉瓜蛋白炒米粉 with dried scallops. Whether you call it bitter gourd, bitter melon, 苦瓜, or 凉瓜, they know how to make it taste good. And that’s a statement.
Let me just say that I will be back. New Broadway Bistro has regained my trust.
