Empress Restaurant

Good dim sum, bright and clean room, plenty of seating, parking vouchers stamped, but fair service only.
Would recommend especially if you have a large group.

Empress has been a go to spot for the family for many of years. I would say that i trust empress over any other restaurant. I rarely venture out, as i just can’t compare to empress. I enjoy the serving style (Carts) and love how there is a lot of space in the restaurant. The food is great. My grandmother loves it!

Very reasonable and good foods. Wishes to have beers with them.

Your basic go to dim sum restaurant. Everything is good here with good portions The service is good and atmosphere is busy.

Whaaaaaaaat? I haven’t wrote a review about this place after coming here like forever! Been coming to this restaurant with my parents off/​on since I was a kid. Been here for lunch & dinners so many times I can’t count anymore.
What can I say about this place…
Empress is one of the larger Chinese restaurants in Hawaii. A lot of times, they can accommodate large parties, or banquets. The restaurant is so large that it can probably sit over 200 tables inside.
There is a stage area for entertainment when there are banquets, and I’ve also seen people hold wedding receptions, graduation parties, as well as family gatherings at this place too.
When I do come here for lunch, I come for the dim sum. The food is good, but nothing I would say that is outstanding. A nice thing about this place is the food is good and cheap (see pics of dim sum).
For dinners, I’ve mostly have come here in the past for some kind of Chinese banquet… the dinner food is also the same type of fare… nothing outstanding, but edible (you know it is, standard banquet food…).
Service in general is pretty good… the people here are very friendly, but I think since my parents have been coming here for so long, they kinda know the owners, so they are always nice to us.
The Empress Chinese Restaurant is in on the 2^nd floor of the Chinese Cultural Plaza, it’s pretty easy to find… can’t miss it. Check ‘em out, if you’re ever in Chinatown.

We usually go to the other place in Chinatown for dim sum, but we decided to try here this time.
We were there on Saturday around 1:00pm. We didn’t have to wait to be seated.
We found our favorite dishes like shrimp and chives, pork hush, sea food roll etc.
I’m not a big fan of char siu but their char siu was very good.
Actually all their dishes are good. My hubby described them as «clean» taste.
I really like their pork hush but they were out after I had my first one. They didn’t offer to make another one is the reason I only gave them 4 stars.
Waitress lady was very friendly and nice. I’ll definitely go back there.

Somedays, the food here is good. Other days, the food is not so good. Luckily, the food was on point that night. Jeana P. invited me to dinner here on Saturday for the Pang’s Society Dinner. It’s held here, every year, for as long as I can remember. The last time I’ve been to a Pang’s Society Dinner was 15 years ago. There are fewer people coming than before. It used to take up the whole restaurant and now it takes up about three fourths of the restaurant. The restaurant is also looking kind of beat up. It’s time for a facelift.
We were served Chinese chicken salad, tofu seafood soup, sweet and sour fish, mushroom and choy sum, duck bun, duck, and salt and pepper pork chop. All of the items that we had were good. My favorite of the night was the sweet and sour fish. The restaurant was smart enough to bring the fried fish in one dish and the sauce in the other. That way, the fish wasn’t drenched in the sauce making it soggy. The fish was crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. I drizzled the sweet and sour sauce on top of the fish and it was the bomb. My least favorite of the night had to be the Chinese chicken salad. The greens were fresh and crisp but I didn’t like the dressing that they had put on it. It just tasted like salty water. Usually, they serve it with a sweet vinegary dressing. It also didn’t have the jelly fish in it like some other places, which to me, makes the dish.
I was expecting the food to come out slow because of all the tables. The food actually came out pretty quickly. We didn’t have to wait long for the next course to arrive.

What keeps me coming back to the Empress Restaurant? My reason to come back to the Empress Restaurant is because the Ling Hou Hing Pang Society has their annual dinner at the Empress Restaurant in the month of July.
20 years ago the society used to reserve the entire restaurant for their annual dinner. Back then there were a lot of the elderly members who were still involved in the society and they were bringing in family members to enjoy a night of 7 – 8 course Chinese dinner and live entertainment.
Fast forward to 2015 the society reserved at least half of the restaurant for the annual dinner. This year not many of the elderly members were able to make it. Some of the society members were in other parts of the United States or at home sick.
Each year the council members of the society will choose which dish to be served for the family style dining. Every year there was a dragon dance to mark the start of the dinner. 2 dragons roamed around the restaurant collecting the $ 1.00 bills from the patrons.
This year we had the Chinese chicken salad (very yummy), soup (had tofu and shrimp in it), sweet sour fish (I personally liked the steamed fish from previous years), mushrooms, deep fried pork chops, duck skin with steam buns and shrimp chips (was craving shrimp chips from the time we arrived at the restaurant), roast duck, and roast chicken. Previous years we had the brown kau yuk with taro as well as shrimp walnuts as part of our meal.
The restaurant is BYOB, soda, and juice. I had no idea that we were supposed to bring in our own plastic cups for our drinks. Yet I seen some of the other patrons managed to receive plastic cups for their drinks from the waiters.
For the year 2015 we had Mento Mele Apana and guest perform for us during the dinner. Some of the society members even got up to dance the hula. With Mento Mele Apana performing the night… our evening was a lot of fun. People laughing when Mele told her jokes. I’m yelling Hana Hou for more music and hula dances. There was even an intermission where the past and present council members were recognized as well as announcing the members who won the scholarships.
It was a fun night with Mento Mele Apana providing the live entertainment. Looking forward to see what’s on 2016 Annual Ling Hou Hing Pang Society dinner.

I have been here several time for grad parties and birthday parties and other parties. Based out of my experiences dining and even holding an event over here, everything seems to be ok. The food is pretty good, the Chinese food here is ok and decent. They have everything from roast duck, beef and brocolli, noodles, fish, cabbage and shrimp, etc. All of which is Chinese style and family style kine dining, I have never actually went here to just come and dine in for whatever reason. Usually it is for a specific event. There are two areas, there is the front and back area for parties and such. They also have a front front area for general dining in. So obviously, this is a pretty good place to hold parties because you can also bring in your own food and drinks in addition to the restaurants food. I feel that the restaurant could use a little bit more cleaning and tidying up. It is located in the Chinese Cultural Plaza on the second floor level area. You can park in the parking garage area which is usually three dollars with validation.

This place was pumping when we came on Saturday for lunch. I had made a ressie the day before but when we came we were just shown to an available table– no checking the reservation book. In fact, there was no place to check in as far as I could see. We had the usual dim sum– the chicken feet were the plumpest I had compared to a lot of restaurants. The dim sum was pretty decent, price good. The owner or manager came around to check on the diners. Pretty special for a Chinese restaurant– haven’t seen that before! The carts came around pretty regularly. The girls seem to push the food– guess that’s what they have to do.
All in all we had a good experience here– we’ve taken out of town guests twice here.

Came here for dim sum with my great uncle who is a regular here for I don’t even know how many years. We came on a Thursday morning and the promptly seated. This is an old school restaurant. I remember coming here as a kid years back with the family.
The dim sum here is served cart style. They have the standard selections of shiu mai, ha gow, churn fun, and other assortments. Nothing special and out of the ordinary.
Overall everything was just okay. Nothing was too memorable or worth raving about. I would say that the beef balls were more flavorful than other places that i’ve had, but their shrimp noodles were lacking in texture and flavor. Also we didn’t really find the lotus rice wrap to be too flavorful. The rice was very bland so skip that.
The chicken feet was okay. very bright orange and the turnip cake meh.
I really dont have much else to say besides that the dim sum was mediocre. I’ve had better selections in LA/​SF. Prices were reasonable though.

The employees are honest. My wallet fell out of my pocket and I didn’t realize it. When I got to the parking elevator and the door was about to close, the cashier came running and handed me my wallet. Now that is excellent customer service. The waitress/​waiter probably found my wallet on the seat or ground and handed it to the cashier. They knew who were at the table and figured to try finding us at the parking elevator. Good thing the cashier ran fast before the elevator door closed.
The food is good and my grandparents enjoy dim sum every weekend there.
The staff is friendly and courteous.
I would recommend this dim sum restaurant for a family brunch.

A last minute Chinese New Years dinner just isnt going to go well. I havent been to Empress in a long time, As a child, it seemed we went here often for big weddings and events. I’m sure its changed hands a few times.
We got there around 5:30 on Chinese New Years Day and the Chinese Cultural Plaza was just dead. Empty.
We just got turned away at a local Chinese place that is known for being mediocre but we didnt want to fight the crowds.
Anywho, back to the review. The restaurant was unusually empty. It’s got mixed reviews (but really, almost all Chinese restaurants have bad service. The ones that have good service, I didnt fell like spending the money on.)
We were seated, put in our order and got our food. We ordered:
Chinese Chicken Salad
Half order of Peking Duck with Bau
Mongolian Beef
Salt and Pepper Pork Chops
Beef Look Fun
Total was $ 68.
The food was okay. Service was extra bad even accounting that it was a holiday considering that the restaurant was fairly empty.

Came here for Dim Sum on a Sunday, made a reservation for about 10 — 12 people, it looked like it was going to be tight on the table but it was actually okay. We ordered a bunch of stuff, Deep Fried taro cake, egg custard bread, Har Gao, Chicken Feet, Seaweed roll, Siu Mai, and probably a bunch of other stuff, i cant remember it all, it was just good. Lots of tiny plates of food in the middle to share between family and friends, what could be better?!
Service was prompt they came around with the carts, we made sure we got what we wanted off of each one. Usually the same cart won’t come around again or if they do it might be a while so be sure you get what you want when it comes around, and if you forget, or don’t see something you want, be sure to ask the next person who comes around, or the manager, they are more than happy to bring something to your table or make it for you. We asked the manager for seaweed roll, it took awhile but it eventually came. I don’t get what all the comments on bad service is about, i guess it depends on the time you come and if you speak up and ask for what you want.
Everyone had a great time, food was delicious, there are many good dim sum places in china town, i can’t tell which is better than another, they are all good to me, Empress did not disappoint. My favorite is the seaweed roll and deep fried taro cake, the Har Gao and Char Siu were good too.
Empress is located in the Chinese Cultural Plaza on the second floor, you can park in the structure which can be a pain at times, but i prefer to go on Sundays and park on the street in the surrounding area.

This place is like a staple for so many Filipino families. Seriously, this was the place growing up. I never came here voluntarily, I always just come here because someone is throwing some first birthday party or family occasion. I’ve never tried their dim sum but after every disappointing meal here, I never want to especially since there’s a much better Chinese restaurant literally down the stairs.
The service took forever, our food took forever, our food was cold, flavorless and over cooked. Nothing tasted good, I seriously ate because I was starving and it was free.
I understand why families choose to celebrate parties here because they do have a huge room and a sound system but STILL… the food is just… sad.

The food is fair. The parking is easy for a charge of $ 3 to access the parking structure. It’s in the cultural center.
We happened to be here when a Samoan wedding party had rented one of the banquet rooms. They packed that room with about double the people it was rented/​catered for. People were everywhere including the floors between the tables, think 400+ people. Needless to say accessing the restrooms was tough.

The entire dining experience was alright. I didn’t feel like everything was clean though. Like everything there was done half assed (sorry for the language) Over all I only come here when my older relatives want to eat dim sum and choose this place. It’s definitely not my first choice though.
Also I was actually really offended by one of the male waiters. I had my little tiny poodle on my lap the entire time and one when we were leaving did that man come up to me and say «You can’t bring him in here. Customers are complaining about your dog.» First off, get a sign that says no dogs allowed then and secondly, that time it wasn’t even busy and my dog made no noise, in fact i doubt anyone knew he was there. Just overall rude.
I’ll still manage if I never step foot in here again.

Thanks to Empress Restaurant for helping my family and friends create happy memories! We have celebrated my mom’s retirement, my nephew’s graduation, and most recently, my mom’s 80^th birthday — every time, we have enjoyed outstanding service and food!
Located on the 2^nd Floor of the Chinese Cultural Center, the restaurant is relatively easy to find. The entrance is on Maunakea Street between Beretania Street and Kukui Street. We paid $ 3 Flat Rate parking fee at the entrance — so no one forgot to get a stamp/​validation.
We were able to come to the restaurant early to set up the centerpieces, favors, bar, and reception table. The staff were very accomodating and helpful. We did bring our own wagon to haul in the supplies from the car, but the restaurant also let us use one of their rolling carts to expedite our mission.
They supplied us with 3 large tubs so we could chill our beer, soda, and juice with ice. We did need to go to get more ice as we had a large party (almost 200 people). The stage and sound system were just right for our three-​man band! The restaurant supplied us with extra tables for the appetizers (we had nine platters/​bowls) and another area for the gifts and 3 birthday cakes.
After general announcements and introductions by the emcee, the food came quickly. The Scallop Soup and the Chinese Chicken salad were served by the efficient staff. The Honey Walnut Shrimp was devoured first. The noodles, fish, chicken, and kau yook were all fresh, beautiful, and delicious!
Everyone had a great time! We were not rushed out (some cousins like to catch up & chat a bit after the crowd and the noise clear out). Everything went well! Thank you to Empress Restaurant for another great party — your banquet facility is the best!

I would only come here for two reasons:
1) Some relative invited me
2) All other restaurants are full
That being said, Empress is probably the last place I would go to for a traditional Chinese family style dinner. My grandma wanted to come here cause it was CONVENIENT. Moon Garden right down the street from our house would have been even more convenient, but sadly they already had a long wait… sigh.
I knew this was gonna be a bad idea when we got there and the whole restaurant was empty, except for one family. The waitress asked us where we wanted to sit, and in my head I was like. is that even a serious question. We could practically sit anywhere. Since it was a bit chilly, I did not want to sit right under the air conditioner… but she insisted we sit there because it was warm. um what? How can that be when I FEEL the cold air blowing. Ugh.
My family chose a table off to the side, but when I sat down, I saw these nasty table marks. There looked like scratches of dried up food or something. It was so gross. I wanted to move to a different table. but my family didn’t want to make a big deal out of it, so we just left it alone. I tried not to stare at the table throughout my meal.
It was all just a bad experience. I couldn’t wait to just get outta there. Even the tea wasn’t made well. What kind of restaurant can’t even provide good tea?! The egg drop soup was alright, but I wasn’t used to the peas and mushrooms in there… I liked their honey walnut shrimp and sweet and sour pork. Those were fine, just that it wasn’t enough. They must really be stingy with the food… when it was brought out, it didn’t even look like half of the plate was full. The vegetable mix or whatever was just of broccoli and cauliflower. Not exactly a «mix».
Only good things I can remember was the Empress special which consisted of noodles and pieces of chicken, choy sum, carrot, shrimp, and scallops. At least for this, they were very generous with the noodles –_​_​-​. At least my water and rice was refilled when I needed them to be. Never tried the dim sum here, nor do I want to.
I think I’ll avoid this place if I can.

It’s been a long time since I’ve been here. My dad received a gift certificate here so we decided to come here for lunch. It’s been so long I’ve forgotten what the interior looked like & my mom mentioned she rememberd it was dirty inside. My mom said the interior is cleaner than before.
It is typical dim sum with the carts going around. The food was tasty and cheap. Typical Chinese dim sum cheap food. Which is probably why there was a lot of older people eating here.
I really like the tea pots here as they are twice the normal size of tea pots at Chinese restaurants. What would normally be 2 cups each for my parents and i, here turned out to be 5 cups each for the three of us. I actually like this better since I don’t have to constantly bother the staff to replenish my tea pot (and I suspect this is their reason too…).
I would definitely be back for the improvements on their interior (and because I still have money on my dad’s gift ceritifcate).