Empress by Boon, San Francisco

 I used to eat a Empress of China with my parents when I was a child.  The restaurant was famous for its Peking Duck.  (I'm so old, I remember when Beijing was called Peking).  I was excited to see that the restaurant has reopened as Empress by Boon.  The prix fixe menu is $108.  It is ample and we ended up taking one full course untouched as a left-over.  The food was excellent.  The staff were extremely friendly and helpful.  The portion sizes were well thought out and there was a great variety of tastes, textures and types of food.  This is modern Cantonese cooking in a fine dining format and is a good addition to the many excellent restaurants in ChinaTown.  I didn't include photos of every item.  There were eight dishes.  Dessert is not included.  We split for passionfruit cheesecake for $25.  Great presentation and flavors.

                                                        Dumplings by to look like a shrimp and squid

                                                         California Prawn in seaweed and a crispy scallop roll with caviar

                                                        Snapper

                                                        Pork rib on an amazing seared watermelon slice

                                                        Sticky rice

                                                        bar area

                                                        The lobby

                                                        The cheesecake is served in the passionfruit shell