Empress by Boon

So you'll feel exclusive as you ride the elevator to the 6th floor. Give your reservation at the entrance and again once you arrive on the 6th floor. Great wine list and interesting diverse drink choices. The Big trouble in Little Chinatown was a hit. There was beer, including Chinese, but no one sampled. Otherwise due to the prix fixe menu, the only choices were do you want to add a course of Peking Duck or a flight of wines. Have no worries you control freaks! Every course was very very very good. No one added the duck. At the time we were all sufficiently stuffed, but now I regret not having tried it. We shared the chocolate and ice cream dessert, which was pretty good but pricy. Honestly portion was too small to share for most people. The view is amazing. If you want to impress your date/ clients / in-laws, this is the place. Best view of Coit Tower other than up close. Easy walk from the Hilton financial district.

Came here for the pop up cocktail event with the world reknown mixologist, Simone Caporale. Bites were provided by Boone and I was pleasantly surprised by how many options there were! Everything tasted amazing but the duck bao and BBQ pork bun were standouts for me. The drinks were good and it was fun to try a variety. The place was definitely slammed and needs to work out some kinks but overall I had a great experience! I definitely want to come back and try their normal tasting menu!

One star - means not good - I don't want to pick on the place because I love Chinatown and want to see it to continue to be a bright spot for SF.The food here is truly a joke - taste like food you would get from a mediocre Chinese buffet - example: first dish tasted like a dollop of cold egg drop soup.The first dish for a restaurant has to be great! - second came an egg roll that tasted no better than the one Chinese restaurant in my midwest town 30 years ago. Noodles were also very disappointing. $18 desert cheese cake the size of a small egg was mediocre and a complete rip off - a mocktail for $12 and a beer for $10 turned a dinner for two for $277 plus the "health mandate", $25 in tax, a 15% tip almost $350 bucks - I understand restaurants have to charge a lot to stay alive but these prices and for what you get is just going to keep in inside.

It ended up being $250 per person although the booking said it would be around $160 because they charged a mandatory hidden fee of 22% tip and a "health mandate", the service was not exceptional so I don't think that was very reasonable. The environment was very nice though I enjoyed the atmosphere and the decorations. I also enjoyed the view here and was pleasantly surprised that there were fireworks that night. The food was good, but I don't think it was up to standard to be $250 per person, I was also really thirsty after eating the food, which is very surprising for a restaurant that is supposed to be using top quality ingredients. I did enjoyed the squid and shrimp dumpling very much, and also the crab and caviar.

Experience from 2023, but I feel the need to vent. Fancy setting. Great view. Uneven service and mediocre Chinese food dressed up.--------------------------Don't bring your Asian parents. They will feel so bad for you. They know you meant well taking them to the scene of the China Town revival. They will resist the urge to criticize the food because they know you spend so much of your hard-earned money on fancy-looking so-so tasting Chinese food trying to impress them. After the dinner, as you walk to your car, they will whisper to each other about how they can have a real feast at many of the restaurants nearby with that kind of money. They say to you, "it was great, We are so proud you." But you know the Empress by Boon disappointed. So you walk in silence and wonder why Chronicle and so many outlets hyped this place up.The place looked great. The food was not.I am so sad that Empress by Boon fell into that familiar cliche. Regular Chinese American (or American Chinese?) food neatly arranged in small individual servings pretending to be something else.The bao tasted store-bought. You can find them in the freezer aisle of your favorite Asian supermarket. The dumpling skin tasted doughy and definitely not hand-made. Everything tasted salty as if to reinforce the stereotype of Chinese food. Fish was not properly scaled and deboned. The noodle was overcooked and was soaked in oil and butter. The worst offense of the night? Because they had "supply chain" problem, they have to substitute out one of the vegetable. Despite the fact that there are so many vegetable markets in China town, the restaurant could not source the fairly common item. I know the suppliers are different for restaurants, but of all the things they could choose, the kitchen decided to go with regular broccoli. Oil soaked broccoli dotted with tiny pieces of Chinese sausage. It was such a bad effort that made me feel like the kitchen either didn't care or just gave up.I really don't know what else to say. I really wish the best for Empress by Boon. At least for now, just go to R&G lounge or Z&Y.

Must visit!!Empress by Boon was an amazing experience by all means from its ambiance, food quality and presentation, and overall service.Highly recommend the optional Crispy duck (melt in your mouth) add-on for $40.My favorite dish from the fixed menu was the California Prawn roll (look for the pic with a fried seaweed wrap on a wooden holder).

This place is just fine dining Asian food. Would I pay to eat this again? Probably not. Just a one experience. Located in Chinatown, you can easily find the same dishes for much cheaper and honestly better quality. We just did this for our anniversary dinner and was still full by the end but wouldn't spend the money again

I have been to Empress by Boon twice now. The first time was right after it first opened, and while everything was tasty, I wasn't blown away by anything. I also remember ordering a cocktail that was blue and not liking it at all.Anyways, 3 years later, we decided to try it again for my dad's birthday. I was able to easily secure a reservation for 3 a few weeks out, and even saw that tables were available a few days before. We got there right at opening and were the first party seated at a table with a great view. Over the course of the 2 hours that we were there, the restaurant got more crowded, but was never completely filled. Service was friendly and attentive, food was all tasty, and drinks were better but still with some mishaps. One of the drinks we ordered didn't taste like the description so we inquired with the server. He reassured it was the right drink, but after further investigation they realized they had used the wrong tincture. They were apologetic and made a new one right away.Overall, this experience was slightly more enjoyable than our first time due to the menu feeling a bit more innovative and exciting. However, there were some dishes that felt under seasoned and we were underwhelmed by the desserts. Highlights for us were the prawn wrapped in seaweed, the scallop/caviar roll, the homemade tofu with uni, and the peking duck off of the ala carte menu.I don't think I'll come again for the prefixe menu, but I would definitely come back to order ala carte from the bar and enjoy the beautiful restaurant interior and view.

This place is gorgeous. 10 stars for ambiance! Set menu and the first courses are small and can fool you. Then the courses get bigger and bigger. The service was top notch. Professional and friendly. Must stop for date night, couple nights or just hanging with friends!!!

I'm so happy that empress restaurant in Chinatown is an active business now! I have so many memories coming here for Chinese wedding banquets as a kid! For ~$100, the experience was great but not something I would come to again. Perhaps I'm just not a fancy eater.