marvin lowe photography

1st Dinner Date… 

Jazzfoodie: It’s always a joy to hang out and spend time with good old friends that I’ve not seen in a while. Here’s photos from our Christmas Dinner (with 2 boys included), and Jacklyn’s 25th Birthday Dinner.

For our Christmas Dinner ‘06 we went to Ember Restaurant in Hotel 1929. We had the Table d’Hote, 8 dishes from the Chef’s Special for the day. As the whole table needed to have the same menu, we requested no cheese and no raw food to accomodate our dear momo.

Top L-R: Soft-shell Crab with Wasabi Sauce, Deep-fried Oysters, 6 different dressings for the oysters, Bacon-wrapped Scallops & salad, Poached Foie Gras & Mushrooms with Mirin
Bottom L-R: Seafood Linguini in Creamy Herb Sauce, Sakura Ebi Angel Hair Pasta, Pan-fried Cod with Mushrooms, Roasted Lamb, Dessert Platter for sharing

VinnytheMarv: I was quite excited to try Ember at first, having heard so much about them. I learnt how the chef actually went to apprentice at Gordan Ramsey’s, so I was really keen to try them out. The meal that night was a real disappointment. I really expected so much more from someone who has learnt from Gordan Ramsey. It was really a meal of hits and misses and that does not make it a great meal.

First faux pas of the evening was the evidently missing amuse bouche. I did not find that amusing. An amuse bouche is usually given with compliments from the chef. It is usually given at fine dining establishments to clients so as to tease the tastebuds and prepare them for the meal proper. When the first appetiser came without any amuse bouche being served, a big red minus mark sign came to my mind.

Second mistake was serving 2 fried seafood appetisers back to back. A deep fried soft shell crab and deep fried oysters doesn’t make the best of starts for a meal. For a while, i felt like I was in a chip shop. I was silently hoping they weren’t gonna serve fried calamari next. Thank God they didn’t. The next course was a slight improvement. Bacon and scallops were a nice combination and that helped restore some credibility.

Foie gras was next, poached and done to perfection. Easily the most outstanding dish of the night. This was followed by 2 poorly executed pastas although I nearly finished the first. The first was deemed to saaalltieee. While the second, the angel hair sakura ebi felt like a pasta showered with crispy hae bee.It was so so and bleah bleah maybe. They were really nice to change the pasta though. This was followed by the cod, which was really a saving grace for them. It was fresh, rich in flavour and a tad bit buttery.It was nicely done. Next came the lamb, which was ok but not very memorable. It was just ok.

The last boo boo of the night was serving the dessert platter to share. What were they thinking?? As much as it increases interactivity, it was just plain shoddy to do so in such an establishment. Can’t they serve it individually? Especially when the deserts on the plate melts. It makes things really messy and sloppy. As much as it tasted good, it was sloppy and shoddily served.

Overall, Ember was a dissapointment. This was concurred by friends who have visited them recently too. If Ramseys was here, he would have thrown a hissy fit. I don’t think I will want to go back there anytime soon until they buck up again.

J: Well, I did not feel as strongly (negatively) about the food as Marv did, probably because I didn’t know what to expect. I thought the starters were not that interesting, and the scallops were cooked well but were overwhelmed by the salty bacon slice. The pastas and dessert were so-so, but the cod was cooked to tender perfection.

Then there was the little problem. There were 9 dishes instead of 8 (if you counted), because of the apparent liberal ’salting’ of the seafood linguini. The dish was sent back to the kitchen by the entire table; only Marv who almost finished his portion thought the Sakura Ebi pasta was saltier. So, we got the latter pasta as a replacement, but I can’t say it was any tastier.

And then, there was the Foie Gras, I guess I was impressed because besides being cooked perfectly, this is the 1st time I had a mirin reduction with the liver, and it was simply gorgeous. Finally, a different and tasty sauce apart from the usual port/balsamic reduction sauces with cameralised apple slices! If I were to go to Ember again, it’ll just be for this dish..

Top Left: Jasmine, Janice, Shuying, Bettina, Jaime and Me
Bottom Right: Marvin and Joseph

J: In case you were wondering, yes, we were probably the most overdressed table at Ember, but it was fun. Check out the dresses! (Pssst.. Check out the sweet couple in photo- and I’m not talking ’bout Marv and me…hehe)

2nd Dinner Date: 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JAC!!

For Jac’s birthday dinner, we went to Hog’s Breath at Chijmes.

 

Left front to back: Berinda, Jaime and Janice
Right front to back: Birthday girl, Bettina, Shuying and me
(Photo courtesy of Bets)

J: This was strictly girlfriends only (too bad Marv- the steaks were good). All girlfriends were present, and we had a great time. Jac even ‘modelled’ the dresses we got for her birthday, which momo, Janice and Bets helped her shop for earlier in the day. Foodwise, I was pleasantly surprised at how tender and juicy my steak was (I had it medium rare), as I had been disappointed previously at the Perth ‘branch’. The Chocolate Banana cake from Cedele (Raffles City) was yummy too.

 
Top: Candle Blowing in session
Middle: Special Birthday Prayer for Jac
Bottom: ‘Happy’ shot with Ber trying to eat Bets, and Jan & I doing the “ta-daa”!
(Photos courtesy of Jac and Bets)

Simply love you girls!! And Jac- hope you had fun! =)