A For Alex

I love the spontaneity of deciding at lunch that dinner will be at one of the more celebrated restaurants in Singapore, calling the restaurant up and trying my luck, and getting there (with my favourite company in tow) and blowing some serious cash on a scrumptious dinner.

I’ve always wanted to eat at Restaurant Ember, after reading rave reviews about its chef, Sebastian Ng in magazines and food blogs. And while saving a treat for a special occasion is nice, W and me really preferred to just relax and enjoy each other’s company on our 3rd anni, rather than have to dress up and act properly in a restaurant. So with my internship pay, I’ve been intending to bring him there, and finally got to do it last night.

Restaurant Ember is found within Hotel 1929, located at Keong Saik Road, in what used to be the red light district of Singapore, until the Govt swooped in to sanitize the CBD area, shifting all the grime to somewhere that starts with a G and ends with an -eylang. The mental picture of social undesirability remains in older people’s minds however, making Auntie Em rather alarmed that I would want to go there for dinner.

The restaurant itself is a very cosy size, seating approximately 30 people in all, which lends itself to the feeling that the food you’re indulging in isn’t something that everyone else gets to share. And the food, is really really enjoyable.

I had the set dinner which started our evening with an appetizer of pan seared scallops in breadcrumbs in spicy coriander and champagne sauce, while W had a half dozen fried oysters with 6 different dips. It was fun getting to try the different sauces with each bite of the juicy oyster, encased within  golden brown batter.

I had a serving of saffron risotto with roasted tiger prawns, which I really enjoyed because of the fullness of flavour in the risotto, the bite of the risotto rice grains and the firmness of the fresh prawns. I appreciate the risotto all the more because of my one previous experience making it with W. Similar to how pasta should be done al dente to retain a bit of bite in the noodle, risotto, I realise, should also have that bite, and not be on the softer, mushier side.

Mains for us were Chilean seabass belly with lobster roe sauce and beef tenderloin (need to fill in the correct name later). Both were really good. The fat in the seabass belly made it taste more like cod, and the lobster roe sauce was very rich.

Dessert was warm Valrohna chocolate cake and vanilla bean ice cream, along with baked mango tart with grand marnier ice cream. I really liked the chocolate cake because unlike other self-saucing chocolate puddings, this one was made with quality dark chocolate, and the bitterness and intensity of the cocoa flavour really paired well with the light vanilla ice cream. It was quite funny cos W dug his spoon into the middle of the cake, which promptly opened up on both sides of the cut symmetrically, rather much like a mechanised box unfolding. W said, "Transformers."

It was a really happy meal, and I liked Ember very much. The drinks at Breeze at Scarlet Hotel were another story all together but nothing could upset my satisfied tummy.