Ember : A Birthday to Remember.

28th February 2013.
Ember at Hotel 1929 has always been in my radar for a long time, however the lack of company and the costs have put me away for so long until yesterday when I finally took Peter’s and Glenn’s recommendation and chose it for my birthday lunch with a close friend of mine.

The Set Lunch Menu priced at 42.00++ SGD offers a rather decent selection of choices, not the usual pasta and one roast chicken kind of menu. The Foie Gras option requires a top up of 6 SGD and tea & coffee were not included. Before the meal, we had some very pleasant Sundried Tomato Foccacia bread served with butter.

For appetizers I had the Crab Cake with Mustard and Hazelnut Tulie and Crab Bisque which was packed full of crab meat, paired with a fragrant crab bisque and mild spiciness from the mustard.

My friend had the Appetizer of the Day which was a Sea Bream Sashimi with shredded ginger, soy sauce, white sesame and cilantro and the optional lime juice. This was pretty good too, the combination of the various condiments worked wonders.

For main course, the famed miso cod were sold out by 1250 pm, so I chose the Pan-Seared Chilean Sea Bass with mushroom and smoked bacon ragout, truffle yuzu butter sauce. The texture for the sea bass was spot on, beautifully browned on the top and a succulent, juicy flesh, and lightly seasoned with black pepper. The sauce was excellent too, resembling cheese and I like the addition of the smoked bacon bits which adds a crunch to the overall texture.

Visually, the Pan-Roasted USDA Prime Beef Tenderloin was a Spartan contrast to the sea bass but it was just as good. My friend requested for it to be cooked medium rare and changed the French fries to roasted potatoes instead. The meat wasn’t sinewy at and it was very tender however, the texture wasn’t quite the same as those I tried in the pass.

For desserts, I opted for the Warm Valrhona Chocolate Fondant with Vanilla Bean Ice Cream without any hesitation. Rich, decadent lava cake paired with quality vanilla ice cream can't go wrong.

My friend on the other hand went with the dessert of the day which was a Sticky Date Pudding with Vanilla Ice Cream. While I still prefer Marmalade Pantry’s, Ember’s version has its merits too, it was rich but not cloyingly sweet.

All in all, I think Ember has found a new fan in me. Although I was hoping they would go to the extra mile for a person celebrating his birthday, I thought that the service at Ember was excellent, the people were professional, courteous, polite with the right amount of candidness that makes dining here enjoyable and different from the typical upscale restaurants, they don't come asking "sparkling or still?" here. The portions of the food was just right as well, just right for you to savour all the flavours and textures without leaving you bitter about the bill or tortured from overloading on food.

Thank you James for the treat!

Ember
50 Keong Saik Road
Hotel 1929
Tel : 66816421