Let's feast! We dined at The Bronze Empire this week for dinner and had our first authentic Chinese Hot Pot experience; we absolutely loved it and this was the perfect stop for a chilly night.

We arrived at The Bronze Empire and were seated at a booth in the main dining room. The aesthetic of the restaurant was warm and inviting with tans and reds throughout the space and Chinese inspired artwork livening up the walls. Each table had designated hot pot burners in order to cook whichever hot pot customers selected.

General Manager Kay was awesome and ensured our meal ran smoothly. The place was packed and Kay kept his energy and positivity high while running the host stand and being active throughout the restaurant. Our server Kelly was darling & she was so knowledgeable on the menu. We had no idea on what to order and Kelly created our whole meal for us based on her recommendations and our preferences when it came to spice.

I started off the meal with a Jasmine Honey Tea and Ross had the Hot Jasmine Tea.

The Jasmine Honey Tea was served cold over ice. It was sweet and the jasmine flavor combined smoothly with the honey glaze - I loved it.

For our Hot Pot soup base - I had the Tom Yum Pot and Ross had the Authentic Sichuan Pot. Kelly explained that the Tom Yum Pot was Bronze Empire's most popular with mild spice while the Authentic Sichuan Pot had more of a spicy kick to it (Ross loves spice). Our Hot Pot Soup bases were brought out and set on our tables burners to heat up.

The Tom Yum Hot Pot had distinct hot & sour flavors. It was sour upfront with lime and salty fish sauce & crushed red chili peppers came out in flavor on the back end. The broth was made with fresh herbs and ingredients like kaffir leaves & lemongrass.

Kelly recommended everything that went into our hot pots. For our Traditional Dish we had the Shrimp Paste. For Protein we had half an order of Japanese A5 Wagyu Beef and half an order of Kobe Beef. For Mushrooms we had the Enoki Mushrooms. For Vegetables we had Baby Bok Choy, Sweet Corn, Pumpkin and Potato. For Noodles we had Udon & Rice Noodles.

Once our hot pots came to a boil, we made our additions. Kelly added the shrimp paste into our pots and then we began adding the mushrooms, vegetables & noodles. We let those cook for about 7 minutes and then added the meat which we cooked for about 45 seconds.

Once everything was cooked, we scooped out our hot pot contents into a bowl. Then we added a peanut sauce Kelly had made for us as the sauce station.

It was time to feast. All of the ingredients made for stellar hot pots that were steaming with goodness. My favorites were the A5 Wagyu Beef, Sweet Corn & Udon Noodles. The A5 Wagyu was rich and tender. The sweet corn was crunchy and full of Tom Yum flavor. The Udon noodles had a slightly sweet taste and a chewy texture. Ross’ favorites were the Kobe Beef, Baby Bok Choy and Mushrooms.

For dessert, Kay brought us out Black & Gold Lava Cakes straight from China. The Bronze Empire is the only place where you can get Black & Gold Lava Cakes in Denver.

These chewy dessert balls had an outer consistency comparable to a bao bun and were filled with a hot sugary, gooey coconut custard. So freaking good and my mouth is watering just thinking of them.

Huge thanks to The Bronze Empire, owner Sherry, Kay & Kelly for hosting us!

Check it out babes and let them know that denv.her. sent you. xx

The Bronze Empire

Service options: Dine-in · Curbside pickup · Delivery
Address: 1591 S Colorado Blvd, Denver, CO 80222
Menu: thebronzeempire.com
Phone: (720) 599-8888
Reservations: thebronzeempire.com, resy.com