Birthday at Ember

Restaurant Ember. Perhaps it is not so well known, especially among those who never venture into the Chinatown area. It really isn't the kind of place I would happen to walk pass and decide to give it a go. Besides, even if you really do decide to drop in for dinner on a whim, they probably won't be able to squeeze you in since they're usually fully booked for lunches and dinner. The night that I was there was no different. But I was thrilled that The Birthday Girl chose to go to Ember, since I had wanted to try it out since last summer.

Restaurant Ember is actually under Hotel 1929, a boutique hotel. That means, the hotel is squashed up, but compensates itself with its chic but quirky decor.

Take for example this really endearing bear, albeit being a little down and fatalistic looking, placed on an otherwise very inviting armchair.

Or how about this vintage barber's chair? Situated in the 'cosy' lobby of the hotel, they certainly conveyed the message of fun and mischief.

Dinner within Restaurant Ember itself was not too shabby. I had a towering Red Snapper dish with lobster roe, ratatouille, and lobster jus. The Seafood Linguine came in a more generous portion, compared to my Red Snapper at least. Desserts looked beautiful and were reasonably good. I guess you could say that my experience there was satisfying. Other than having to wait for quite a while for our main courses to arrive (because we did not order any starters), the service staff were friendly and welcoming, accomodating and thoughtful, and the food (while not phenomenal) was pretty good. Maybe I just shouldn't have ordered a fish dish, because meats fascinate me alot more.

And this was the reason we did not order appetisers - Durians! Our dear Birthday Girl had a craving for durian, and thankfully no one strongly objected. Off to Sims Street (just next to Geylang) for Sultan Durians, which are the durians in season now for the next two weeks.

This was really such a rare sight for me, these two ladies all decked out in brands, caught in the most unglam act ever. They have bags so precious that they had to leave them in the car boot, while I lugged my own imitation product bought cheap cheap from Bangkok, to the table.