When Empire Chinese joined the ranks of Portland’s established hierarchy of Asian restaurants—Thai, Japanese and fusion–it had this distinction: it was serving authentic Cantonese fare in contrast to a wasteland of Americanized Chinese cooking typically found in strip mall and take out joints everywhere in Maine. Granted, some were better than others, but lackluster was the key component coming out of these lesser kitchens.
The dining crush last winter
It’s been two years since Empire opened, and in that time they’ve succeeded in setting the standard for some of the best Chinese food north of Boston. It didn’t try to be a fusion powerhouse like Mission Chinese in New York or Meyers and Chang in Boston. But the chefs, under the direction of co-owner Theresa Chan, take on nontraditional dishes as well. Consider their brioche char siu bao (baked pork buns) or spicy cucumber with jelly fish salad as examples–two must-have dishes.
Brioche buns
Portlanders embraced Empire with open arms. The place bursts with diners who want the real deal in Chinese cooking and happy not to settle for ersatz moo shoo pork or crab Rangoon.
Empire a few nights ago
But that doesn’t mean you should pass up their version of the otherwise ubiquitous sweet and sour pork when it appears as a special or the lobster Rangoon, now a regular item. The pork is served on the bone and its sweet-sour sauce is not sticky or greasy; as for the Rangoons, they’re deep fried until very crisp and hold a delicious filling of cream cheese with bits of lobster from local waters.
Lobster Rangoon
Clockwise: lo mein; kung pao chicken; sauce and sweet and sour pork and pan-seared lamb dumplings and stir-fried eggplant (background) in plum sauce
Essential to Empire’s success is this: The food is consistently good—especially so because the kitchen doesn’t take short cuts. The noodles are made in house, the flour for the dumplings is sourced from a special purveyor in New York’s Chinatown and the core ingredients are fresh and local like greens, vegetables, meats and fish used in dumplings and stir fries.
The place is attractive in its hipster cool way, and it’s so well run that even when diners are piling in through the front door, the place keeps pace.
The restaurant attracts serious diners out for a fabulous Asian meal and a good time
More importantly they’ve had the same dim-sum master and stir-fry chef since the beginning. And co-owner Theresa Chan, who comes from a family with a long history of owning Asian restaurants in Maine and New York, keeps a sharp eye on everything that goes on in the kitchen.
In the beginning her co-proprietor Todd Bernard and Chan were a team in the dining room. But he has since focused his energies on the highly successful Empire Music and Events, an entertainment space upstairs from the restaurant. The building used to be known as Empire Dine and Dance, but now those two operations are totally separate.
Clockwise: chive and shitake dumplings, lobster longevity, green beans, Chinese margarita
The initial focus of Empire’s menu was dim sum with a smattering of large plates. But now there are nearly as many large plates as small. And when I go with friends we all tend to over order because we want it all. Certain favorite dishes are essential: the garlic green beans, Chinatown roast pork, char siu bao (steamed pork buns) and any of the other dim-sum dumpling fillings like the chive shitake, pork shu mai, lobster and spinach. But new ones have been added such as the brioche buns, which are now part of the regular menu. These flakey rounds of feather light brioche dough are made by the restaurant’s dim-sum chef, who is also, according to Chan, a master baker. He has his own oven in the kitchen just reserved for his baking.
Of the many versions of pan-seared dumplings with pork or lamb
Another version of the buns not to be missed are those filled with lamb and baked as well as a pan fried. The kitchen uses local lamb using the loin to fill the buns—steamed, pan fried or baked.
The vegetable list has grown too. My favorites among the relatively new dishes are the spicy cucumber salad with jelly fish. Spears of cukes are cloaked in chili sauce and chili oil, garlic, sugar and a vinaigrette that’s added just before serving so the cucumbers remain firm.
I’ve been going steadily to Empire ever since they opened and each time I order my favorite dishes like the Cantonese flounder, fresh from the gulf of Maine, and served in a black bean sauce and presented in an epic crispy bowl—a method of coating a form with the boned carcass, dipping it in flour and deep fried.
Clockwise: orange beef, teriyaki chicken, walnut shrimp, Singapore noodles
The other regular items on the menu that are favorites include the honey walnut shrimp, the stir fry of eggplant in plum sauce, kung pao chicken, teriyaki chicken and orange beef. And an old favorite that’s back on the menu is the lobster longevity noodles, a tour de force of reconstructed lobster stir fried with wide noodles laced in a tequila sauce.
On my most recent visit I had a special offered that evening of a fabulous dish of wide noodles with clams and scallops. We also ordered the Singapore noodles—another new dish: vermicelli style noodles with Chinese sausage, pork and shrimp.
While I generally have beer or a plain cocktail with my food this time I opted for their version of a Chinatown margarita, which is spiced with hot peppers for a touch of Szechuan heat—a good counterpoint to the clean, clear flavors that Empire’s fare is all about.
Empire Chinese, 575 Congress Street, Portland, ME 207-747-5063 www.portlandempire.com
Rating: 5 perfect stars
Ambiance: uber cool
Tables: comfortable with booths and banquettes
Noise: lively
$$$: moderate to moderately expensive; good sharables
