We popped into Empire for a change of pace from sea food (fish and chips) or beef so prevalent in Scotland. We picky about Chinese food due to the place near our home in Minneapolis (Legendary Spice), but I digress. It smelled like good Chinese food when we walked in, though not in an over-powering-our-ventilation-is-substandard way.
The decor was much less Chinese-restauranty than many of its siblings in the U.S. and more comfortable chairs than many restaurants in Scotland. The menu has many of the standards you would expect, with the noticeable absence of tofu or mock duck.
Both our dishes, my roast pork Szechuan style, and her crispy shredded beef came in a sort of sweet and our sauce, which I normally don't care for, but was pretty tasty, if not very spicy. If you like it spice, maybe make a point of it. Both dishes relied on onions more that I care for. The fried rice was fine, just rice fried lightly with egg, nothing else, and not very greasy. The best dish was the side of bean sprouts, crisp, flavorful, but if ordered again, I would hold the onions. Chinese tea was piping hot.
Big portions. Could have shared one dish and one side.
And did I mention they were fast? Lightning fast service and food prep.
A good change of pace. Exercise a little assertiveness, and I don't think you'll be disappointed. read more
