Any restaurant who does well enough to tell you they only have a specific time slot for you to eat because they have so many bookings must be doing very well. Ember at boutique hotel 1929 was one such restaurant and boy, did they keep track of the 1 1/2 hour slot we had. 
Rumour has it that the owner of 1929, located at Keong Saik Road, was an avid chair collector. Thus, it was no surprise that the cosy lobby of the hotel was decorated with different types of chairs including a dentist's chair. Mirrors take the place of paint and thus make the place look much bigger than it really is. The concept is modern with a touch of boudoir from the chandeliers. Sexy.
Contrary to popular belief that hotel restaurants are boring, there is a growing number of such restaurants that seek to be personal and adventurous. Ember was an example. With barely fifteen tables, Ember was cosy to the point of being small. Again, mirrors were used to best advantage here.
Bookings are greatly recommended. We had to be on the waiting list in order to get a table. Trust my anticipation when I was told my friend's previous meal there was good from start to end.
People at Ember must be proud of their bread. It comes warm as if fresh out of the oven and one can smell the grains used in the bread. Absolutely heavenly!
If there was one word I could use to describe the food, it would be "confused", not in a bad way but a very surprising and amusing way. It's a real East-meets-West dinner.
Starters of the evening included tuna and angel hair pasta. My angel hair pasta tasted like good old mee kia with shrimp and chilli flakes. Example of confused food 1: mee kia who thinks it's ang moh noodle. Highlight would be the mushroom salad my friend had. While the mushrooms looked very ordinary with rocket salad and shaved cheese, the taste was a refreshing start to a meal. According to the waiter, ordinary balsamic vinagrette was used. Yet the result was light with a hint of citrus finish. Delightful surprise!
One of the most interesting items of the night will be the salad. I call this confused food 2: the leaves who's actually kailan in oyster sauce under disguise. The salad reminded one of the fried kailan one would have at a Chinese restaurant yet it looked every part a western salad. Yet, it tasted good enough for us to all dig into it.
Main courses were strangely subdued. Though my friend claimed her previous experience with the main courses was better, I still managed to find confused food 3: the chinese duck who thinks it's an ang moh duck. My friend's duck tasted absolutely like chinese food yet the accompanying sauce was as western as it could be.
It's the desserts that rendered the ladies weak in the knees. The warm chocolate cake was dark and tasted of dark bitter chocolate. With a tour of the cake in vanilla ice cream, it was yuummmmy. The apple tart had generous slices of caramelized apple with crispy thin pastry surrounding it. The moment I placed the juicy apple slice in my mouth, the word that came out was "MMMMMM". I think that's quite enough said.
Service was attentive even for a small place. The lady who saw I had not finished my main course kindly asked if the food was to taste. The only drawback was how they had to whisk us off to the lobby in order to prepare for the diners that were supposed to be there.
Folks looking for a long romantic dinner may wish to look elsewhere. Ember is a tad pricey but it would be perfect for an evening with the girls for a yummy dinner. Don't forget desserts.
1 comment:
Man, I love the ambience to the place. Always pass by, always wanted to go, but no chance. Good Dating place.
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