Empire Seafood Restaurant — Restaurant in Richmond

I’m not the type to complain and write reviews but service recovery was disappointing.

Took my family here for my dad’s birthday dinner and ordered Lobster & Peking Duck Set for 6 along with two other dishes. I had asked to substitute the Seafood Fried Rice to just regular/any meat fried rice since my little brother was allergic to shrimp. The general manager, Lawrence had said “ok” and even suggested BBQ Pork Fried rice. When we received the food, it happened to be Seafood fried rice and before the other lady manager served us, I stopped her and clarified our order. The General manager came back and said “kitchen was busy, I’ll give you this one for free and order another bbq rice since it will be awhile. It was my mistake.” After seeing my bill, they had charged us extra dish for the rice and when I went back to get it fixed, the general manager tried to reason with me that I didn’t hear him properly and that his “English was wrong”. What sense does it make ordering two big plates of rice? After trying to explain the multiple times, I finally gave up because although he kept apologizing, I felt as if he was trying to brush off the fact that he messed up our order. He tried to offer a free dish for another time(not the same day) but at that point i was already annoyed and declined. However, I lost my patience when he tried to reason that the almond COOKIES (yes only some cheap cookies) which was supposed to be part of the dessert set menu anyways was on the house…. LOL WHAT A JOKE 👎🏼 regret booking here 🤣 nonetheless, other servers were kind, but food overall salty. Don’t think I’ll be...

caught the king crab wave and had to flex with the crew! Snagged their combo deal with 3-way king crab + 2-way Peking duck– they brought out a LIVE 8-pound crab (added like $50, nbd). Here’s the tea:

Garlic Butter Steamed Crab Claws: The garlic butter sauce adds that bomb flavor

Salt & Pepper Crab Body: Deep-fried but the batter’s light AF – crispy without being greasy.

Chicken & Fish Maw Soup: Started with this. Toss in some red vinegar and pepper – tastes like shredded chicken with a hint of fish collagen. Not fishy but kinda meh on the flavor front.

Peking Duck Tableside Show: Every table’s got that shiny AF duck. No cap, their duck combo’s a major deal. They carve it right at your table, but lowkey… the duck slices and wrappers were THICC. Wrappers tasted steamed a bit too long, ngl.

Glazed Dongpo Pork:OMG this massive cube of glossy, jiggly pork?! Braised till it’s tender – like silken tofu! Sauce slaps too – savory with a sweet kick.

Duck Lettuce Wraps: 💯 Hands down the MVP! Duck, char siu, crunchy water chestnuts, all wrapped in juicy lettuce. Chef’s kiss

Crab Juice Noodles: The crab’s final act is a bit lowkey but safe

Baked Sago Taro Pudding: FREE dessert?! They went OFF. Flaky crust + creamy taro and custard underneath. Ate the whole thing – zero regrets.

Red Bean Soup:Compared to other spots? 👎 Not sweet enough – like, it’s so bland it lowkey...

I got very bad service here. The manager names - Lawrence, should be fired.

We book the private room, deposit $500, and then due to personal reason; we cancel the private room. Lawrence told me that it wasn't nonrefundable, but we could dine-in, 1 table (12-14 people) He told me that we could choose any set menu, and only costed $500. I confirmed with him 3-4 times, he still said yes for $500 - any set menu.

After that, we book 2 tables. He recommends us the set menu $888 for 2 tables. However, we still have to pay $888 for 1 table, not $500 for 1 table (as he promise). What the heck ??????? He is truly unreliable person.

After we paid, and left. Lawrence gave me a call. He told me that he made a mistake. 2 tables, only $2000, including taxes and tips. Told me to come back, and he refunded $100 to us.

My friend came, he said the difference thing. He calculated by himself wrong , we had to pay $100 more, not refund. ??????

Eventhrough, we had to pay back, it was only $70, not $100.

Lawrence, do you think we are stupid ? We never come back to...