i remember the very first time we went to ember...not only was the food amazing, the small outfit and cosy atmosphere instantly made ember one of my personal favorite restaurants, one with happy memories and a place for intimate celebrations.
g surprised me this year and booked a table at ember, keeping me in suspense all the way till we turned into keong siak street did i realise where we were going! stepping in, ember was already a buzz and outfitted with a new warm woody decor. the menu still held the classic ember dishes making it a little hard to decide if one should have something new or to have something familiar...so g and i decided to spoil ourselves with a bit of both and ordered the chef's table.
the eight-course degustation began with an amazing chilled angel hair pasta appetiser, cooked in mirin and drizzled with special japanese seaweed. extremely refreshing and this girl couldn't think of a more perfect way to start the meal. appetiser two was nice and familiar...fresh oysters deep fried in a nice crisp batter and served with six different sauces. with wasabi mayo, mint sauce, thai sweet chilli and sweet salsa to choose from, we were a little disappointed we only had two oysters to enjoy!
course three is what i would coin the appetiser to foie gras bridge. i've never had foie gras whizzed up and served in a sauce before and after this, i am sold! served over a slice of deep fried tofu, topped with yummy enoki mushrooms and bonito flakes, the foie gras sauce augmented the earthy japanese flavours with its rich creaminess. some might think that having foie gras this way takes away the melt in your mouth sensation and i guess that is why the chef's table served up a huge slab of foie gras in course four, just to satisfy those who prefer their foie gras whole. slightly cautious of an overdose of richness, i was already prepared to give half of my portion to g...however after one slice of the smooth liver, dipped in a tangy apple sauce and topped with a slices of buttered french toast, i managed to work my way through the whole slab! somehow the apple sauce and the buttered toast cut away the lemakness of the foie gras, yet still letting one fully experience the creamy melt in mouth sensation. this is not on the menu, fyi, but i'm quite sure it will soon see itself as a regular feature at ember, for it is quite perfectly exquisite!
to be honest, i was already quite stuffed half way through the degustation and we haven't even had any mains! the chef definitely knew how to pace one through the entire eight courses as we were given a short breather before serving out a light truffle oil based angel hair pasta. once again, done fantastically al dente and cooked with a million fresh crunchy sakura ebi, this girl is an angel hair pasta convert! after the refreshing pasta, we were treated to one of ember's classics - chilean sea bass, nestled on a bed of truffle butter. pan fried perfectly such that it is crisp on the outside yet smooth and tender on the inside, it still amazes me how ember does their fish, as it is always, always done to perfection. to complete the main course cycle, the final dish was a serving of meat, a cube of pork belly to be exact. and yes, this is one of the few times the picture does reflect how good this was. i mean, while this girl's not big on 'shao rou', the meat was tender with very generous layers of belly and quite well done fried to crispy top layer.
with seven of the eight courses served already, i was a little disappointed yet thankful that we were not going to have two courses of dessert but like i said, the chef really planned this whole table out and brought out the pre-dessert, which we both thought was the actual dessert course, a nice refreshing cirtus fruit parfait, to cleanse the palate. then the sweet works were presented in front of us....an outstanding lemon parfait, sandwiched between two layers of caramelised sugar and fresh strawberries and another ember classic the warm chocolate cake. all i can say, is that we were full but still managed polish up both desserts...clean!
good food, great wine (we had the malborough hula pinot noir and inniskillin riesling) and more importantly, fantastic company (thanks sweetie!)...restaurant ember definitely still rocks!
restaurant ember
hotel 1929
50 keong siak road
(65) 6347 1928
the eight-course degustation began with an amazing chilled angel hair pasta appetiser, cooked in mirin and drizzled with special japanese seaweed. extremely refreshing and this girl couldn't think of a more perfect way to start the meal. appetiser two was nice and familiar...fresh oysters deep fried in a nice crisp batter and served with six different sauces. with wasabi mayo, mint sauce, thai sweet chilli and sweet salsa to choose from, we were a little disappointed we only had two oysters to enjoy!
course three is what i would coin the appetiser to foie gras bridge. i've never had foie gras whizzed up and served in a sauce before and after this, i am sold! served over a slice of deep fried tofu, topped with yummy enoki mushrooms and bonito flakes, the foie gras sauce augmented the earthy japanese flavours with its rich creaminess. some might think that having foie gras this way takes away the melt in your mouth sensation and i guess that is why the chef's table served up a huge slab of foie gras in course four, just to satisfy those who prefer their foie gras whole. slightly cautious of an overdose of richness, i was already prepared to give half of my portion to g...however after one slice of the smooth liver, dipped in a tangy apple sauce and topped with a slices of buttered french toast, i managed to work my way through the whole slab! somehow the apple sauce and the buttered toast cut away the lemakness of the foie gras, yet still letting one fully experience the creamy melt in mouth sensation. this is not on the menu, fyi, but i'm quite sure it will soon see itself as a regular feature at ember, for it is quite perfectly exquisite!
to be honest, i was already quite stuffed half way through the degustation and we haven't even had any mains! the chef definitely knew how to pace one through the entire eight courses as we were given a short breather before serving out a light truffle oil based angel hair pasta. once again, done fantastically al dente and cooked with a million fresh crunchy sakura ebi, this girl is an angel hair pasta convert! after the refreshing pasta, we were treated to one of ember's classics - chilean sea bass, nestled on a bed of truffle butter. pan fried perfectly such that it is crisp on the outside yet smooth and tender on the inside, it still amazes me how ember does their fish, as it is always, always done to perfection. to complete the main course cycle, the final dish was a serving of meat, a cube of pork belly to be exact. and yes, this is one of the few times the picture does reflect how good this was. i mean, while this girl's not big on 'shao rou', the meat was tender with very generous layers of belly and quite well done fried to crispy top layer.
with seven of the eight courses served already, i was a little disappointed yet thankful that we were not going to have two courses of dessert but like i said, the chef really planned this whole table out and brought out the pre-dessert, which we both thought was the actual dessert course, a nice refreshing cirtus fruit parfait, to cleanse the palate. then the sweet works were presented in front of us....an outstanding lemon parfait, sandwiched between two layers of caramelised sugar and fresh strawberries and another ember classic the warm chocolate cake. all i can say, is that we were full but still managed polish up both desserts...clean! good food, great wine (we had the malborough hula pinot noir and inniskillin riesling) and more importantly, fantastic company (thanks sweetie!)...restaurant ember definitely still rocks!
restaurant ember
hotel 1929
50 keong siak road
(65) 6347 1928
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