Ember Restaurant @ Hotel 1929

After working in Shell for almost 6 months, I realised something.. the people working in the External Affairs dept are BIG on food.. haha.. our pantry is always stocked with chips, cup noodles chocolates and drinks.. the 4pm tea time became a ‘must-have’ at the office… They even set aside a budget to stock up the food each month! Even using the company gym once a week has no effect anymore.. haha..

We always find excuses to eat.. we’ll have department lunches once a month (good bonding time).. wellcome lunches (my fave place is still Desire @ Scarlet Hotel.. farewell dinners.. ceremonies.. etc.. so yes.. i’m quite well fed here.. =)

Today, the TP interns at Shell (Ariel, Julia and I) were given a farewell lunch at Ember Restaurant.. Shiok! I’ll just let the pictures speak for themselves.

Its a quaint and chic restaurant at Hotel 1929 at Keong Saik Road.. The place was opened by renowned chef Sebastian Ng and he runs it with his wife, Sabrina and mother-in-law.

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Here’s our table.. Julia, Yu-ran, Tracy (my supervisor), Ariel and Julie! The rest are not there yet. The whole dept (not very big la) got there in 3 cars.. and it was pouring!! Thankfully the restaurant was smart to serve us warm water.. =)

We had some warm herb bread to start with.. It is the best bread rolls i’ve ever tasted!! A little crusty on the outside.. warm and soft on the inside.. and it smells heavenly with the butter melted on in..

Appetizers!

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Here’s the Pan roasted sea scallops, wrapped with bacon and tomato veloute, with a side of greens. Yu-ran had his for starter.. it was not bad.. but i don’t really like juicy scallops.. heez..
Mine was their speciality deep fried soft shell crabs with sweet wasabi aioli.. It smelt so so good! I couldn’t resist but to tuck into it before taking a nice photo of it.. The crab was not over fried.. the meat was thick and not shrunken.. Unlike some softshell crabs i’ve eaten.. this one didn’t have the dry and heavy msg taste. YUM!

The Mains.. 

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Here’s the Pan seared chilean seabass with seared mushrooms and bacon in yuzu and truffle-butter sauce.. This is Julia’s main course.. she gave me some to taste.. The fish is creamy smooth and the mushrooms really complimented the taste!

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I love fish… but I love RED MEAT too! The chargrilled beef tenderloin with white truffle jus over a pile of chopped baby potatoes, sweet potatoes and yam were delish! The beef was oooommph.. so good! The meat was done medium.. but without a trace of blood in the pink areas.. Its soft and easy to chew.. every part of the meat was bursting with flavour.. the twist of lemon gave it an interesting touch! I usually see lemons with fish and chips.. but to be used in beef.. its new to me… but it surprisingly blends well with the taste. =)

Desserts..

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Julia had the warm banana tart with homemade lavender ice-cream..
I had the crepe with caramalised banana, topped with lavender ice-cream and rhum.. mmmmm.. the lavender ice-cream has a unique taste.. didn’t taste fantastic at the 1st bite.. but the more i ate.. the more the fragrance of the ice-cream hooked me on.. the combination was a tad sweet.. but the portion wasn’t too big.. so it was enjoyable..
Shared some of my dessert with Yu-ran.. and he shared some of his warm valrhona chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream with me.. the chocolate cake is so rich and thick.. when cut into half, warm chocolate fudge flows out.. i like it cos its not too sweet.. it has a tinge of the bitterness in dark chocolate.. i think i like this better than my crepe.. heez.. sorry yu-ran.. koped almost 1/3 of it.. heez..

To end the meal… i had a cuppa cammomile tea with honey.. the sweet aroma and its warmth is just nice on a rainy friday afternoon..

I rate this place.. 85/100!
Let me know if you feel like treating me! hehez..

http://www.hotel1929.com/dining/ember.htm