Back to Empire
On our last visit to Empire Dine + Dance, we were so squicked out by the odd atmosphere and random menu that we didn't even stay for a meal.
But last Friday in the midst of the sleet/rain/storm Spence and Shea called to invite us to join them, and adorable 2-year-old Sasha, for a meal. We intrepid travelers made the long trek 5 blocks down Congress st, figuring if a family with a toddler can make it out in such icky weather, so could we. (Plus, we were hungry and had just barely settled on ordering a pizza.)
Empire was surprisingly busy for such a stormy Friday. Spence and Shea and Sasha were tucked away on some couches around to the right, away from the main dining area. In general, the space at Empire does still feel a little 'off' to me-- but it's much nicer when it's filled up. There was an old-time/klezmer/bluegrass band playing, which also made the atmosphere feel a bit festive.
They've expanded the menu a bit, but it's still all over the place and a little overly ambitious. The portions are really mixed, too-- Spencer got the lasagna, which was an enormous slab of pasta and cheese, whereas my Jalapeño steak melt was a bit on the undersized side for $11. However, everything was fairly tasty-- the lasagna was basic but chock full of the things you want in lasagna (a.k.a. lots of cheese); Otis's blue cheese burger was pretty tasty if not especially juicy, even at medium rare; and my steak bomb had a nice spicy aioli and well-seasoned steak. I hated the roasted potatoes accompanying my sandwich (I had a choice of three sides, 2 involving potatoes, but not French fries, unfortunately)-- they were overwhelmingly covered with dried rosemary. However, both Otis and Sasha seemed to like them a lot. (I say 'seemed' because although Otis did say he liked them, Sasha just kept eating them without comment.)
All in all the food at Empire is fine. If you're out and about and want to grab a bite, you could find something pretty tasty at a pretty reasonable price. It's certainly nice to have more options on Congress, and I hear that the performance space upstairs is great (I missed a great show a couple of weeks ago-- Honey Clouds. Mea maxima culpa. I was asleep. This school-and-work thing is tiring.)
Next time: Marya and Otis venture into the wilds of Westbrook to drink smoked bloody marys and eat homemade donuts at the Frog and Turtle.
Comments
I went to the Empire on Friday night for the first time. Met some friends that wanted to have dinner. Luckily, I ate before I went because I didn't have cash for more than a couple beers. I say lucky because our order was placed at quarter past eight or so and the food came .... at TEN. We got some story about the order slip getting misplaced. It wasn't busy enough for this slip-up to take almost two hours. Now the food: I did try two appetizers that my friends ordered. One was smoked trout on endive leaves, the other was mango/brie quesidilla. The endive app was a joke. Six leaves of endives, smeared with a little cream cheese dill spread and topped with a raisin sized piece of trout. No joke, it was smaller than your thumb nail. That app cost $7!! The quesidilla was so foul tasting that I actually spit it out. I'm an adventurous eater and I like a lot of tastes, but this was totally off. It tasted like old feet and fish. I know brie can have an old feet smell, but it should never ever taste like them.
When my friend's meals finally did show up they were OK - which isn't saying much because they were just burgers. I'll never eat there again.
Posted by: Emily | March 3, 2008 9:30 AM