EMPRESS BY BOON

We were there to wrap up the lunar new year celebration. But it was hard to get to the restaurant due to the road closures for the parade. By the time we got there, we were told that they couldn’t hold the table much longer. I then suggested to my spouse that we take the seats at the bar. Here’s the thing - to be told that was the last thing I ever wanted to hear, especially after the arduous journey to get to the restaurant (yep, we had to walk around streets and amongst the crowd, no ride share, no Waymo). One of the servers was empathetic and that, with the delicious food, dessert and drinks (champagne and then Gruner Veltliner) made the evening … better. We will return to the restaurant, but definitely not when there’s a parade in the area. It was a total nightmare!!!

Initially I saw Eileen Gu come here with her family on Chinese new year, which made me interested. I left only 60% full, dissatisfied, and with less money in my wallet.

Dish 1: puff pastry, egg roll, lily bulb
Puff pastry is generic, I would easily find something similar in a dim sum restaurant. The caviar on the egg roll doesn’t taste like its high quality. There’s egg white inside and scallop. The egg white really did smell like egg. Not sure whether it’s because it’s undercooked. Scallop was flavourless, might be there for the texture. Lily bulb was a nice surprise. On the inside there’s a honey ginger filling, which was contrasting.

Dish 2: shrimp and squid dumpling
Apart from the cute presentation, I’d say it’s nothing special. Again, easily accessible at dim sum restaurants. The soup thought I believe was chicken soup base, with wayyyy too much vinegar and chilli. It almost hurt my mouth.

Dish 3: fish/squab?
To be honest I don’t remember what it was. I thought it’s fish but on the online menu it says squab. It’s cooked pretty tender. Sauce was ok, it reminds me of a caramel sweet and sour sauce and braised meat combination flavour. Dish is paired with candied walnuts and boiled cauliflower. Both generic, and can be bought at store and easily cooked at home.

Dish 4: lobster
This is where it starts to go downhill. The dish feels like it’s just thrown into the menu as a filler. It’s cooked nicely with a similar sauce as the fish/squab.

Dish 5: vegetables/rice noodle and bean curd/pork belly
The vegetables are again generic, can be found at any Chinese restaurant. Rice noodle was ok with a similar sauce as dish 3 and 4. The bean curd tasted hard, and has no flavour. Don’t know what’s the intention here. Pork belly overall was good. But the sauce is too red man. It almost looks like blood. How revolting! Bet there’s either excessive red food colouring or too much ketchup.

Before this I ordered tea.

Tea menu was almost 70% pu-er, and the variety wasn’t there. I ordered a jasmine tea, which is 18 dollars. There is NO REFILL. Usually at Cantonese restaurants they give you a tea pot with tea leaves in it. And the same tea leaves can be steeped up to 3-5 times. They only gave a tea pot with pre-steeped tea. What a ripoff.

Dessert menu was disappointing, which is why I didn’t order any. The choices were 1) Asian dessert with sago which I can get at Meet Fresh for cheaper, better quality and quantity 2) generic cheesecake 3) generic ice cream. I really don’t understand what the deal is.

Dessert wine menu only have the wine names, origin and years. When I asked the waiter to describe the notes and taste profile, I could tell that they are not an expert. They didn’t offer to ask to bring out the sommelier either. Which leads me to doubt: Do they even have a sommelier? This also brings up the question: why is there so much Italian and French wines? At a Chinese restaurant? I’ve never seen wine being ordered in ANY Chinese restaurant. Besides, there are many good wines produced in China. Maybe add some of those? (I don’t believe in wine pairing with Chinese food also.)

The view was pretty nice. Apart from that, they play pop music. I expected at least some Classical Chinese music, since this is a Chinese restaurant.

Overall very disappointed. For what it claims to be fine dining, I expect at least stunning presentation, interesting flavours, and unusual food pairings. I ended up paying 160 including tips. Would not come here again nor recommend to anyone.

Awesome food and cocktails.Elevated semi-fusion Cantonese food,menu is definitely not stagnant and evolves with the season.Prix fixe menu at the table,limited ala carte items at the bar.Beautiful city view.The bartenders are true artisans! not very pocket friendly though.

good service, but really disappointed that they didn’t do anything for birthdays. we came for my mom’s 60th and after the high price tag ($108 per person) we were hoping for something…but dinner did not come with dessert, nor did they do anything to help her feel special. would’ve expected more, especially since we were asked whether we were celebrating a special occasion when booking the reservation :/ food was just fine.

I think they judge us by our appearance, young couple no money... sat us in a corner, but asked to be sat on a free table (2 empties) by the window which they decline, and 2 couples that came after us where sat there...