Empress by Boon
San Francisco
En un coup d'œil
Avis
Empress by Boon offers an ambitious contemporary Cantonese tasting menu set inside a striking architectural framework in San Francisco Chinatown. Arriving promptly for a 4:00 PM booking, the early timing provided a completely empty dining room until approximately 5:12 PM, allowing open floor access to document the exceptional design. The spatial geometry is undeniably beautiful, capturing some of the best scenic vantage points in the city from a premium window table looking directly at Coit Tower. While the $78 Sunset Special represents an incredible financial value compared to the standard $118 prix fixe baseline, the overall luxury pacing was disrupted by several distinct front-of-house operational flaws and macro environment oversights. Logistics & Arrival: San Francisco parking was highly efficient via the public garage located right around the corner, requiring a brief 2-minute walk to the entrance. Initial Presentation Drift: Upon opening the menu folder, a dried piece of fried rice was found loose and rattling around inside the pages, indicating an unresolved baseline inspection gap before guest positioning. Beverage & Early Course Highlights: The "Let it Be" cocktail—featuring Pacific House gin, suze, lemon, and honey—was a well-balanced, visually clean build. For the initial bites, the Summer Truffle Puff was a technical highlight over the crispy salmon crisp, though both executed well. Roasted Black Cod Evaluation: This course was a favorite of the evening, showcasing a flawless sweet glaze, perfectly flaky moisture control, and accompanying snap pea vegetables that maintained a sharp, crunchy texture. Service & Broth Intervention: The presentation of the Steamed Sea Shrimp and Squid Dumpling was severely compromised by an unnecessary table-side adjustment. Explaining the dish, the waiter noticed the squid tentacles were not sitting to his satisfaction, picked up the soup bowl, and sloshed the golden broth around to untangle them. This chaotic mechanical motion left broth debris splattered on the dry upper rim, created a ring line inside the bowl, and forced the remaining floating ingredients to cluster together before a single photo could be captured. The structural disruption of this intervention is plainly documented in the attached photography: a dark visible ring is clearly seen around the broth line, while the secondary frame captures exactly how the liquid was sloshed far up onto the dry interior sides of the bowl. These visual adjustments belong strictly in the kitchen prior to expo delivery. Mala Chicken & Napa Cabbage: The Crispy Chicken with Mala Spice delivered great flavor, and the slow-cooked baby napa cabbage in Parma ham broth tasted excellent, though the cabbage structure would benefit from being presented in smaller, cleaner cuts to make it easier to slice at the table. The concluding fried rice was hearty, savory, and robust. Acoustic Disruptions & Staff Gaps: The premium lounge ambience was broken multiple times in the bar area by a loud vacuum cleaner turning on and off, including a noisy cycle right at 5:02 PM. Furthermore, backend kitchen communication was audible to the dining room, with "service" being called out three distinct times before floor staff reacted to clear the pass. A great tasting menu value for modern Cantonese cuisine in SF, held back by fine dining service hiccups
We stumbled upon this restaurant our first night in SF. We were impressed with the unique and delicious dishes. We had 2 little plates and 2 big plates. Our favorite little was the prawn. Our favorite big was the meat. They were all delicious. Beer was bottled only.
Beautiful setting and good service, but the food was underwhelming. I visited Empress by Boon on Friday, 12 June, for its six-course prix fixe menu. The streets outside were busy, with music, karaoke and plenty going on. Once inside, the setting was very different. The entrance is beautifully designed, and the attendant confirmed my reservation and escorted me to the lift. Upstairs, the host welcomed me and led me to the table, where I joined my party of three. The restaurant itself is beautiful, and the service was warm and professional throughout. Unfortunately, the food did not match the setting. The first course, Marinated Jellyfish Blossom with Kaluga Caviar, was quite bland, with the caviar doing most of the work. The second course, Preserved Plum and Cherry Tomato with Chilled Spot Prawn, was an odd combination. The three tomatoes were quite sweet, while the prawn itself was bland. It was fine, but forgettable. For the third course, we had a choice between Crispy Sea Cucumber with Shrimp and Braised Morels with Chicken Mousse and Jinhua Ham. Two of us chose each option, and both dishes were enjoyed. The crispy sea cucumber was easily my favourite course of the evening. After that, the meal went downhill. The following dishes were overwhelmingly sweet and had almost the same flavour profile. This was not the subtle or natural sweetness I associate with good Cantonese food. It was cloying and unpleasant. The dishes also felt oily. The Caramelized Black Char Siu came with cucumber, presumably to cut through the richness and fattiness of the pork, but it made very little difference. The meat was still extremely sweet. At one point, I genuinely wondered whether the same or very similar sauces were being used across several dishes. After hearing that the food was too sweet for my palate, the team brought over some house-made chilli oil. I used it with the Wok-Fried French Beans and Lotus Root in XO Sauce, which also contained mushrooms. I particularly enjoyed the wood ear mushrooms, but needed the chilli oil to cut through the sweetness already sitting on my palate. By that stage, I had little interest in the Jade Lo Han Vegetable Fried Rice or the Mongolian-style Pan-fried Wagyu Beef with Crispy Taro that followed. I had simply had enough of the overall flavour profile. The pacing was also poor. The dishes arrived so quickly that we had barely finished one before the next was brought out. It felt rushed and was not relaxing. One of my guests eventually raised this with the waitress, who apologised. This was especially strange because the restaurant was extremely quiet. We arrived at 8:30 p.m. on a Friday, expecting some atmosphere, but only a few tables were occupied, and there was no one at the bar. By the time we left, it felt almost embarrassingly empty. One positive, particularly for European visitors, is that all the additional charges are calculated and presented on the final bill, so there is no need to work them out separately. We were a mixed group of well-travelled Dutch and English diners, and we were all confused by the rushed pacing and disappointed by the food. I regularly eat at Michelin-starred restaurants, particularly in London, so my expectations were informed but not unreasonable. I would rate Empress by Boon a low 3 out of 5, with much of that score reflecting the beautiful setting and warm service rather than the food. I hope this was simply an off-night in the kitchen, but based on our experience, I would not recommend it. The food was overly sweet, oily and repetitive in flavour, and the meal felt rushed rather than relaxing or enjoyable.
I wanted to say it’s just style over substance, but the style wasn't even that impressive. The lack of substance, however, was undeniable. For $118pp, the food was painfully mediocre and nowhere near worth the price point. The service was professional and the view was decent (if looking down at Chinatown counts), but at the end of the day, it’s a restaurant. If the food isn't good, no amount of ambiance can save it. Crispy Bean Curd Roll / Prawn with Sesame & Watermelon: The best part of this dish was the plate, which really tells you everything you need to know. The sesame sauce tasted strangely off. There was definitely more than just sesame in there, but whatever it was made it slightly too sour. Jasmine Tea Smoked Pork Ribs: Honestly? It’s just a glorified Rou Jia Mo or a high-end Braised Pork. The name is a mouthful, but the tea fragrance was so subtle it was practically non-existent. The cilantro was the only thing keeping it from being overwhelmingly greasy. Steamed Dumplings: These were as average as they get. The only unique feature was a thin layer of hot and sour broth at the bottom. Lemongrass Baked Lobster: I’m struggling to find a highlight for this meal, but I guess this is as close as it gets. It came with a fried mantou that felt completely out of place. Ginger Scallion Noodles: Basically just scallion oil noodles. My mom makes a better version, and these lacked any chewiness. Asparagus Chicken: It's giving Panda Express energy. You could eat it, but there’s really no reason to. Pork Belly: Just greasy fat with zero aroma.… Bay Area Chinese fine dining really confused me. I don't think I'll be stepping into another one anytime soon. Even with a Michelin-starred chef at the helm, I didn't feel a single ounce of Michelin-level quality in this meal.
I came here for my birthday. It's one of the higher level fine dining experiences in Chinatown. The atmosphere is luxurious starting from when you take the elevator up; it's an elegant space with stunning views of Chinatown that can be seen from the windows. The tasting menu is a modern take on Cantonese cuisine, although I wish the presentation would be a bit more more elevated that differentiate itself from the traditional ones. Service is attentive and warm. The bar is awesome too.
