Ember

Add : 50 Keong Saik Road, Hotel 1929, Singapore
Tel : (65) 6347 1928
Hours : Monday to Friday 11.30am to 2:00pm (Lunch), 6.30pm to 10:00pm (Dinner)
Saturday dinner only
Closed on Sundays & Public Holidays

Rating : *** Price : around S$60/pax without wine

According to my last food review on Sage the Restaurant in Nov last year, Chup and I were supposed to be fine dine once a month. We didn't quite manage to do that.

Well, mainly because Aunt Feti was here in Dec. So our fine dining was literally all the sumptuous home-cooked food she prepared for us. That's our source of nutrition, usually happens twice a year when she is having a break from teaching in Jakarta.

So for January 2006, our fine dining was the much talked about "Ember" at Hotel 1929. Got this S$50 voucher for the place from my company's D&D last year. So we were trying to use it before it expires at the end of the month. Lina wasted hers because she didn't make it in time!

I heard so much about the restaurant from my friends. That it is very popular and it'll be impossible to get a table without reservation. In fact, not only that, reservations also have to be made way way in advance to avoid disappointment.

Very excitedly, we secured a table on the night of 20 Jan 2006. We were actually the first diner to arrive. Then again, we were early. We were there at 6.30pm. I guess most people haven't even knocked off at that time.

Nice cosy setting, with an optical illusion where a large piece of mirror is positioned at one corner of the restaurant, making it look larger than it actually is. In actual fact, the total area is rather tight, possibly accommodating max 40 people at full capacity. They had definitely utilized the space to the fullest, packing as many tables and chairs as they could.

Every reservation is allocated designated seating with exact number of chairs to a table. Perfect.

What we had:
Sparkling bottled water $6
Foie Gras as appetizer $17
Rack of Lamb for Chup $32
Roast Quail for myself $26
Warm Chocolate Cake $11
Fruit Sago $10

With the use of the voucher, we still had to top up $68.90. Quite pricey I thought. We didn't even have wine.

As the place gets more crowded, it became noisier. Due to the close proximity between tables, we can soon hear the conversation from our neighbouring tables. It became quite a marketplace. A very expensive market.

Waitress who served us didn't understand what is "pate". And she mixed up Sherbet with Souffle. Certainly not too acceptable for such a reknown restaurant?

As for the food, the lamb was juicy and tender. When Chup requested for the lamb to be well done, waitress said "Sorry, our Chef only does it to medium well". Hmmm... what happened to customer's freedom of choice? But in the end, I guess the Chef knows better, cos it turned out quite delicious. Very fragrant and buttery.

As for my quail, the taste was too "Indian" for me. So nah, didn't really like it. Quite troublesome to eat too due to the many small bones.

Dessert was great though, especially the fruit sago. Very refreshing and cleansing after the rich meal.

And yes, I almost missed out the foie gras. It was ay okay. Thought the one at Sage Restaurant was better. The search for great foie gras goes on... The best is still the one I ate at Colmar town, in France at Resaturant Bartholdi. Here's some review but it's in French :@

Overall, I think the place serves pretty good food but its rather pricey. For that kind of price, in my opinion, Ember is rather over-rated


...... the one who just had milo peng at Hwa Nam