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    Empress M

    3.8 (340 reviews)
    Closed 12:00 pm - 9:00 PM

    Empress M Reservations

    Order Empress M Takeout or Delivery

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    EMPRESS M ATMOSPHERE

    What's the vibe?
    Casual
    Intimate
    Romantic
    Classy

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    Recommended Reviews - Empress M

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    Takumi A.

    Empress M -- Where Cantonese mastery meets Tang-style calm and Sichuan fire Stepping through the red gates of Empress M, you feel an unusual balance - the grandeur of Tang-style architecture paired with a quiet, almost meditative calm. My companions even described the space as having Zen energy - soft light, red lacquer, and a subtle elegance that frames the dining experience beautifully. But once the dishes arrive, calm gives way to excitement. The chef here is unmistakably a Cantonese master, yet his craft extends far beyond Guangdong - weaving in Sichuan, Hunan, and even Southeast Asian nuances while keeping every flavor in balance. The Salt & Pepper Fish Fillet was unforgettable - made with authentic Jixin chili, the fiery slender pepper beloved in true Sichuan kitchens. It's spicy, yes, but the fragrance comes first, layered and complex, followed by a clean, elegant heat that lingers like incense. This isn't fusion heat - it's the soul of Chinese fire. The Eggplant & Long Bean Claypot was pure mastery. Fragrant, oily in the right way, with that deep wok aroma that defines great Cantonese stir-fries. I'm convinced the chef infused it with dou-su - the same soy crumble used in steamed cod - to recreate that signature fish fragrance without fish itself. You don't see the dou-su, but you taste it - rich, nutty, umami, woven into the oil. Even the green peas stayed crisp - a small detail, yet a true mark of control. The Beef Brisket Curry is an homage to Hong Kong's cha chaan teng roots - comforting, nostalgic, yet refined. Knife work shines: tendon cut small enough to melt, brisket braised to velvet. The spice blend unfolds in layers - aromatic, warm, quietly persuasive - the kind of curry that makes even those who rarely eat rice reach for seconds. Empress M is that rare restaurant where Cantonese precision meets Sichuan soul, framed in Tang-style serenity. Refined, soulful, balanced, confident - a place where calm and fire coexist in harmony. Five stars - without question. A master at work. -- Dr. C Only writing for what truly earns the stars.

    Wonton Soup
    Christine R.

    We went in to Empress M for a quick bite in the late afternoon on a Sunday. Environment is always welcoming and transports you into the mood for Chinese cuisine. The restaurant seats a lot but there was only one other 2 top in the entire restaurant. Food is served family style and is meant to be shared. Which is good because it can become pricey. Our service was friendly and efficient. We had the Sichuan Calamari to start and enjoyed the freshness along with the nice batter with hints of spice that traveled around each bite. We shared Wonton Soup and the Sauteed String Beans w/Garlic. Everything came out hot and was delicious. The green beans caused our eyes to pop open with delight and the soup warmed our souls. It would be a nice place to celebrate a slice of life like a birthday, anniversary, etc. We are glad we stopped in on impulse. Thank you!

    Chicken Soup
    Calvin L.

    Empress M was a wonderful experience! We reserved a beautiful private dining room and they were very accommodating of all our needs. We had a custom menu and the chef nailed every dish. Coco and team provided amazing service, going above and beyond throughout the lunch. They even have a fun karaoke bar to enjoy!

    Enjoyed this beautiful Bloody Empress at Empress M restaurant in Napa ... Crab , Lobster , Duck , Beef ,Lamb , Shrimp , and more delicious things to explore on this dish.

    It was so good I forgot to take a picture!
    James R.

    Came here on an absolute whim tonight. I didn't even know this place existed (I bowl at the alley literally a minute away from here). It is a very clean spot and the service was great. Food was so good too! We ordered War Wonton Soup, Chicken Chow Mein, Rice and Mongolian Beef. Easily fed three of us. Everything was nice and hot. It's a bit pricey, but honestly you get what you pay for!

    Dave L.

    Had a chance to meet up with some friends and share a fantastic meal here. The service was attentive and the food was as usual, quite amazing. Our favorite tonight were the rack of lamb, walnut shrimp, and the Chilean sea bass. The sea bass was especially outstanding! This is without a doubt some of the best Chinese food on Northern California.

    Karaoke

    We had a surprise engagement party here and it was amazing! The staff was very great at helping with the surprise and getting everything settled the night before and during the day of. The Chinese food was authentic, which is quite hard to find in Napa. And it was great because they also had karaoke for all the uncles!

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    Not worth $60 super small containers the food was just ok for all the hype it had on Facebook

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    21 days ago

    A 20% gratuity was already automatically added to the bill without any notice. It's lunch for 2 people.

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    4 months ago

    Wonderful food and the staff is sweet. The large TV in the bar is a great visual when grabbing a happy hour drink

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    Page 1 of 9

    Ask the Community - Empress M

    Hi, is dim sum available all day?

    Yes. But happy hour you get better prices on selected items and drinks.

    Do you have a happy hour?

    Yes, every day from 2pm to 5pm. We hope to see you here. :)

    It's March 21, 2022 and even vaxxed and boosted people are still getting omicron, yet county restrictions are being relaxed. Are the servers currently vaccinated and, more importantly, masked?

    I don’t know if they are vaccinated but they were wearing masks.

    Is there live music every Friday, if what time does it start? Where can I find who is performing?

    Every Friday there is a live music that starts around 7 pm. Best way to find out who is performing is to call the restaurant in advance to ask them.

    Do they allow pets?

    Yes, they do. I brought my dog and we dined in the outdoor patio.

    Are there any gluten free menu options?

    Hello Emm, I am sorry but I have to answer no.… Read more

    View All 9 Questions

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Shrimp Dumpling with Cilantro_香茜餃

    Aberdeen Cafe

    4.3(217 reviews)
    20.3 mi
    $$
    Vegetarian friendly
    Casual dining

    Service was delightful, as the whole staff was friendly, polite and courteous…read more My daughter said their potstickers were the biggest she has ever seen and they truly were gigantic. We also ordered the turnip cakes, shu mai, chicken feet, honey walnut shrimp, and sticky rice in lotus leaf (which they did not cheap out on and loaded it with Chinese sausage and salted egg, which most places leave out). Believe it or not, the highlight of our meal was their water. Their water has a clean, refreshing, lemony essence to it, so it just goes to show you how much they value attention to details.

    Walk down Martinez's Main Street, and you'll find Aberdeen Café, a cozy restaurant offering…read moreCantonese dim sum classics (shu mai, ha gow, cha siu bao, lo mai gai, and more) and entrees. Whether you're in town for jury duty, work, or play, here is a good lunch spot. I walked into Aberdeen Café during the lunch hour. Booths lined the wall on one side, and the bar was on the other. Korean pop music played softly while other customers ate lunch. I was seated at the booth and was served a glass of water to start. I got the #2015 Salt and Pepper Fish Filet lunch special with hot and sour soup of the day, egg roll, and substituted-in fried rice. I was served the hot and sour soup first. It was a wonderful appetizer. The classic spicy pepper and sour vinegar were balanced. The bits of crunchy mushroom and soft tofu added interest and texture to the thick broth. This was comfort in a bowl. The entree was delicious. The fried fish was hot off the wok when it arrived, steaming on the plate along with fried rice, broccoli, an egg roll, and some sweet and sour sauce. I enjoyed the fish; the heat of the jalapeno slices and the salt elevated the light crispiness and mild sweetness of the fish. The fried rice was light and fluffy with bits of egg. The sauteed broccoli had a solid crunch, and the vegetable egg roll was crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. This was a good, satisfying lunch at Aberdeen Café. When I'm in the mood for comforting Cantonese food again, I'll be back for more.

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    Morimoto Asia Napa - braised pork belly

    Morimoto Asia Napa

    3.3(233 reviews)
    0.7 mi

    Today, I'm in Napa again. It feels good to be back in Wine Country. It's kinda gusty today, but…read moreit's a beautiful day to be out here. I see this spot all the time, everytime I'm in Downtown Napa. I've been meaning to do this a long time. And today is the day, I check-it-out. I'm here at Morimoto's other, and second location right in Napa this Friday evening. This is my 3rd time being at this Chef's establishment. This completes the circle of life. I didn't expect it to look like this in here, it's slightly Upscale, spacious, I really like the High ceilings, Architecture, Design, and it's modern, clean, and fresh. Today, I'm going to Duck it out. I went with the fresh Duck Ramen ラーメン, but I also had to get it with the Duck Tacos this time, that's another double whammy. Everything is made out of Duck. And it changes seasonally, but this Ramen happen to be off the Menu, they made this for me today, Limited time or Run. The Broth was out of this world, deep, savory, packed with flavor, and the Noodles were cooked just right. And Wow, the Tacos were phenomenal, what an awesome take, this was one of the best Tacos I ever had so far, believe it or not. I gotta give them some points, for orginality. And I can't forget about, their own crafted tea in Japan, that's very interesting, how it's crafted in Japan. It was spectacular, cool place to hangout, and I liked the atmosphere, it was very pleasant. I give this 4.6/4.7 out of 5 stars. That's a high score. I'm satisfied.

    Got to come celebrate Valentine's Day here! My boyfriend made a reservation, which was a bit…read moreconfusing. Make sure you keep note of where you reserve because we thought our reservation was at Morimoto Napa (sushi). We had to go to both restaurants. On the sunnier side, this location has the waterfront and nice ambiance. Our visit was somewhat underwhelming. We had to still wait 10-15 minutes to be seated even with a reservation and flag down a waiter just to order...Felt #forgotten sitting outside. Our hostess did offer a glass of champagne on the house because of that wait, so we really appreciated that. Seems like we had a great time sipping more so eating. The menu here is Asian Fusion with duck tacos and your classic xiao long bao (soup dumplings). We opted for the Chicken Karaage, Tonkotsu Ramen, and Handrolls at $8-$9 each (tempura, tuna, and salmon). For drinks, we got the sake, hot special brewed black tea, and Ajia Iced Tea (mango syrup in fresh brewed tea and Calpico). The food was decent, but not amazing for Asian food. The Salmon and Tuna Handrolls were fresh and tasty. The tonkotsu had chicken breast instead of chashu pork and it was really dry, but good broth flavor. I was more impressed by how delicious their drinks were like that Ajia mocktail and fresh black tea was like liquid golddddd. Not sure if I'd come back to this location. But, I appreciate the staff for acknowledging the longer service times and the general manager for communicating with us.

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    Morimoto Asia Napa - Bar area

    Bar area

    Morimoto Asia Napa - Spicy eggplant

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    Morimoto Asia Napa - Outdoor patio at Morimoto Asia in Napa.

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    3 Star Restaurant - Hubz poured the veggies and sauce on. I forgot to post an after pic.

    3 Star Restaurant

    4.1(492 reviews)
    10.6 mi
    $$

    In some ways,finding a great new restaurant is like finding a great new love affair…read more When you 1st hear of a place,your interest in stirred,When you see pics or videos of the food,it's like the butterflies one gets when infatuation begins.When you finally arrive at the restaurant and the food is everything you thought and hoped it would be,you get this smile that never goes away,just like a great romance.Finally when you think back to the time you spent at a restaurant and the joy and happiness it brought,it's similar to reminiscing about a beautiful time spent with a loved one. 3 Star restaurant in Vallejo is my latest love affair. I first heard about this place on social media when a few prominent food bloggers reviewed this spot and said their wings were the best wings outside of the legendary wing spot located in San Francisco. So I watched the videos and saw the pictures and I was truly excited to try them out. Well Mothers Day rolled around this year and I needed to bring an appetizer to my mothers party we were having that day in American Canyon & the idea of finally trying out their legendary dish was my entire focus. Driving down from Sacramento to get this dish wasn't the easiest of drives on a holiday but I was determined. I called my order in and as the saying goes,the worst the service the better the food-well I was pretty sure my food was going to be legendary based on that phone call. I ended up ordering both the Garlic Sauce Wings($15.95) and the Salt & Pepper Wings($15.95) This restaurant shares a decent sized parking lot with multiple tenants-so parking is not an issue.The neighborhood isn't the best part of Vallejo but I haven't had any issues yet with car security during my visits. When I arrived the restaurant was pretty busy but I noticed a worker had a full table that was full just for To-Go orders and I walked up to her and she handed me my receipt so I could go up to the cashier and pay. 5 minutes later I was in my car totally engrossed with the smell of this amazing chicken. I consider myself a true chicken wing expert and when I say these wings were pure flavor bliss-I truly mean it. The garlic sauce wings were a mix of sweet and savory and garlic with a slight spice-a wet wing experience that makes my mouth water just thinking back on. The salt and pepper wings were perfectly seasoned and a bite of that wing paired with the onion and Jalapeno toppings that come with the dish,can only be described as pure excellence. The chef truly has mastered the recipe and cooking technique on both of these dishes. Fun fact-due to various events in my life,I've had to drive to the Bay Area a few times since Mothers Day-I've been to this restaurant three times now in less than a week-I would say the love affair with this restaurant is burning quite hot at the moment.

    Unfortunately for me, the wings were actually really good. Now I got to come back for it. They're…read moresuper busy because they blew up on social media for their garlic sauce chicken wings. To be fair, I've never had San Tung's wings before. Now I have to try to compare them. Family owned so if you come late, they're pretty backordered from dine in, but primarily takeout it seems. The sauce is soy sauce based - salty goodness. Wish there was actually some heat (there are chili peppers, but not spicy at all). Felt like it was more decorative since it didn't add any flavor... Onions are great, wish there were more as well. Rice is charged per person, so they just gave us a bowl - presumably you can refill? We also tried the honey walnut prawns, which were okay. Not a ton of shrimp but reasonably priced. Leaned more on the tangy mayo side than sweet, would probably try something different next time instead to accompany the wings.

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    3 Star Restaurant - So cute

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    Fantasy Restaurant - The lobster dish was on promotion. Only $52 and it was HUGE

    Fantasy Restaurant

    4.2(239 reviews)
    19.1 mi
    $$

    UPDATE mid-May 2026…read more They've reopened a few days a week due to popular demand! They were focused on their catering for a bit. No hot pot until the winter. Only open on weekends. Lunch is takeout only. Yay! Their bbq pork is their specialty along with other roasted meats.

    I totally was that weird kid who ate strange food growing up. I would rather eat lobster or…read moreartichokes than chicken or green beans, and given the choice I'd gladly eat my body weight in dim sum over basically any other food. That hasn't changed at all for me as an adult! In Sonoma county there was really just one place with dim sum, and lots of people wanted more options. I tried other restaurants with their dim sum adjacent menus, but they were pretty mediocre and mostly focused on fried pot stickers or the occasional steamed siu mai. Once I heard fantasy was starting a true dim sum menu, I knew we had to try it. The day we arrived I was solidly in my third trimester of pregnancy and getting around was a chore, but that wasn't going to keep me from dim sum. We were the only guests the whole time on the day we went there, which was weird to me given how good the food ended up being! Service was great, super friendly and just lovely folks. The restaurant was clean and we'll organized, and the menu was a good mix of traditional favorites and some trendy BAO for the insta. We ordered a little of everything , which to me is why dim sum is so fun. Food came out super fast, and we tucked right in. Surprisingly to me, my favorite dish is one hubs picked on a whim, the spicy won tons. The flavors and textures were on point, and even with pregnancy heartburn, the spice on these things was well worth it. Super delicious. I felt the pandan and black sesame bao were overly trendy for my taste, but I'm sure those who are new to dim sum could see these options as easy introduction into the food. Really good experience here with very tasty food, nice people and quality dishes. I'm still getting over the idea of expensive dim sum because of growing up eating it in SF with low costs in a humble setting, but for this overall experience I felt the prices were fine. I will definitely be back, and eager to try the rest of the items on their menu.

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    Fantasy Restaurant - They just renew some decorations here

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    Fantasy Restaurant - Beef comb tripe with shredded Pepper 
椒丝炒牛肚

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    Empress M at Oxbow

    Empress M at Oxbow

    2.4(14 reviews)
    0.9 mi

    The variety of foods available is limited in comparison to their larger restaurant…read more We ordered the following: * Spicy chicken wing - dry but still flavorful. * Shumai dim sum - was filled with meat, especially when dipped in hot sauce. * Wood ear salad - a flavor mix of tangy, spicy, and crunchy textures. * Red sauce wonton- is a must-try for its spicy flavor. * Sesame balls- six pieces bite sized. Taste buds delight. Service, after ordering, the lady in the cashier pointed her finger to the tip screen before selecting the payment method. This happened to us in multiple days when we visited. Inside the Oxbow Market, plenty of tables. We sat at the Merchant and cheese table which requires a bottle of their wine. Overall, the food was of good quality.

    I ordered "noodles with vegetables." It was delivered to me just a few minutes later, precooked and…read morein a compostable takeout container. Not seeing any vegetables, I asked where they were. I was told there were onions and bean sprouts mixed in the with noodles. The whole thing was a yellow-brown color. I saw no sauce of any kind and when I took a bite the noodles were a bit tough and it was flavorless. I added some packaged soy sauce and chili paste and that helped a bit. I did find a couple of slices of celery (?) at the bottom. What a disappointment. I have eaten at the nearby Empress M Restaurant (though not "noodles with vegetables") and enjoyed the food. I ended up taking those noodles home, cooking them a bit more, and making a peanut sauce to put on them. I won't order from them again. There are plenty of better places to eat at the Oxbow Market in Napa!

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    Empress M at Oxbow - Drink

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    Empress M - dimsum - Updated May 2026

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