Empress Lounge - Washington

Came for a late mothers day/early fathers day afternoon tea at the famous Mandrin Oriental! I was so excited to take my parents here as their first afternoon tea experience. The service was excellent our waitress was very accommodating when it came to wanting to substitute and try something different for tea or our mocktail. I cannot rave enough about the lychee red tea this was most definitely the best tea ive ever had. so fresh and sweet! the food that was my favorite was the foie gras pb and j a such an interesting take on duck in a simple food. in general all the finger foods were delicious we left so full! i loved that most of the desserts were fruity since im not a chocolate lover. another great unique element of dining here is the live harp player who played super cool tracks including the game of thrones intro theme song. 10/10 would recommend and come again.

Today we had High Tea at the Mandarin. It was beyond our expectations. They delivered!! The savory and sweets were delicious. The service from the staff was impeccable. Thank you Mandarin for this lovely experience.

Decided to spoil my 7 year old and take her to empress lounge for her bday party . It was fabulous: I know a lot of people complain about the price , but I think the prices here are fair for an upscale hotel high tea experience. In fact, if you compare the price for other high tea parties for children, it might even total to more. We were able to make reservations a few weeks in advance and they texted to inquire if anyone in our party had allergies ahead of time which was appreciated. My daughter is a huge tea fan and this was such an exciting experience for her . We ordered her fancy tea outfit a few weeks before and she couldn't wait . We had a total of 10 in our party and they really did a great job in making sure we were all seated together. We opted for the valet parking and were greeted as soon as we got inside . They even seated us before everyone in the party arrived . Each person got to choose the tea of their preference and we had an assortment of tea cakes and sandwiches brought out . Our host was fantastic and helped take pictures . After we got up, all the children were given a stuffed panda . Great experience.

Met a friend here for a late night cocktail and a bite to eat on a Sunday night. Love that this is open late. But the love doesn't stop there... They have blue cheese-stuffed olives so I indulged in a perfect vodka dirty martini with those delicious blue cheese-stuffed olives. There were three olives and they were a nice size. She brought out some snacks: wasabi peas and a crunchy mix. I really liked the peas. They complimented my cocktail. I ordered the cheeseburger and fries. Burger was done perfectly and they remembered the extra lettuce. I got the olio on the side. Fries were very good! Hot and crunchy. We finished with a chocolate martini. Perfect! Creamy and decadent like it should be. Atmosphere was classy and quiet. That late there were only a few tables so I felt like we had the whole place to ourselves. We stayed pretty late. Service was great. Our waitress was attentive and not intrusive. My water glass was constantly filled. I highly recommend this place for your late night indulgences!!!

I had a decent dinner at the Empress Lounge but there does appear to be some challenges they 're facing.We arrived at the lounge at 7PM for our reservation, where we were seated very quickly at seats that were plush, comfortable and with a marble table in front of us and given a small complimentary snack. This was nice.Our waitress proceeded to take our drink order and our appetizer fairly quickly, however this is where things became a bit lacking. The cheese platter when it came out was a bit lackluster. There is no description of what constitutes artisan cheese noted in the menu but I assure you the likes of Bleu cheese, Cheddar, and Gouda are the extent to which you should expect. There was a fine selection of accoutrements including mustard, honey, nuts, etc notes clearly on the menu.It was after finishing the cheese platter we noticed that there was a delay in the ordering process. To be clear we ate each of our items within 20 minutes, but the dinner took over two and a half hours. This included the refilling of drinks.It was here where my fianceè attempted to order the duck confit flatbread, what she was looking forward to as the single most desirable item on their menu. However it was when we tried to order this that we were notified they were out of all flatbreads. This should have been communicated to us when we sat down.Upon learning this, changing her order and waiting for them to come out the food was decent. Not spectacular, not terrible, somewhere in the middle.It was after finishing and waiting a great deal of time (two hours had passed at this point) that we were allowed to order dessert. Due to early morning plans and a desire not to exceed three hours at this restaurant we asked for the check while our dessert order was put in. It took about 15 minutes for our dessert to come out and I enjoyed mine, I actually have no complaints from here.This restaurant is adequate, but time consuming, understaffed and unprepared in its current state for the fine dining prices they charge. I give no recommendations either way but wish to share my experience.