Ember Social & Dining — Restaurant in Melbourne

On a cold and very wet wintry day in Warrandyte, Ember with its wood fired oven was a warm and cosy refuge from the elements. We were a party of 5 during covid19 restrictions, and we were treated like royalty by the happy staff. Very attentive, not intrusive and always smiling. I shared the slow cooked lamb shoulder, and it was presented on the bone. Crispy on the outside, it simply fell off the bone with only a fork required. The flavours were sensational, with a yoghurt tahini to complement the sesame dukkha seasoning. Tom (chef) came out to chat and described how the meals were prepared. Ember's philosopy is for all meals to be "touched" by the wood fire. This requires various tactics to keep the fire hot enough or just smoky enough to infuse flavours and make each day cooking unique and an enjoyment for him. We concluded our meal with the apple tarte tatin, again prepared with care and it had a dollop of home made vanilla ice cream on top - delicious! In addition to the meal being exceptional, Ember's environmental credentials are impressive too; table made from recycled fence palings, paper napkins with high recycled content, glasses made from old wine bottle bases, seasonal menu adapted to what is in season, excess seasonal produce preserved for use in the off season, kitchen scraps composted, the list goes on. There was care and attention to detail paid with everything we saw there. Highly recommend a dining experience there any day....

Couldn’t wait to get home and write this review, absolutely flawless dining experience and hands down one of the best we’ve had in recent times.

To begin, they were extremely accommodating with us as we had no reservation on a Saturday night. Unfortunately all the inside tables were booked but we were seated outside and it was lovely regardless. Reservations are highly recommended. Our server was beyond amazing, couldn’t catch her name but she was so cheerful and bubbly and made the whole experience from start to finish exceptional. Everyone else we encountered were also very pleasant and welcoming.

For starters we had the scallops and the grilled peppers, both were beautifully flavoured and well presented. For mains, the roast chicken and butchers block steak were both incredible. The chicken was perfectly cooked, crispy skin and very juicy and moist inside. The steak was cooked to my partners liking, beautifully seasoned and a great quality cut. Overall, everything was so well balanced, the accompanying sauces were ridiculously delicious and the presentation did not disappoint. Also, this is all from the new menu (August 23)!

And finally the caramel parfait we shared for dessert was absolutely amazing. Such a delicious combination of caramel and chocolate, I even forgot to take a pic!

All in all, we came in with zero expectations and were blown away by how good everything was. We can’t...

I went to Ember Restaurant yesterday with a friend for lunch. We shared a smaller plate of broccolini with xo sauce and black vinegar, and a larger plate of smoked rainbow trout with white beans and pipis. Both were nicely cooked, interesting and delicious. The flavours worked well together and there was enough for both of us although if you were hungry (or not having desert as we were going to) you would need to order an extra one or two dishes.

There are two desserts on offer: one is ricotta fritters with honey, orange and vanilla ice cream, and the other which we ordered, is a custard tart with cream and caramel nutmeg sauce. This dessert was really good and I wished I’d had the whole tart instead of suggesting we share it. I think it was one of the best desserts I’ve had for a long time.

Cath, our waitress was very helpful and friendly without being intrusive and the restaurant is pleasant and comfortable. There was a good choice of wines on offer plus other drinks available. One thing I noted was that there were very few diners in the restaurant when we were there but apparently it’s only been open for a week or two. I really hope that Ember takes off as the food is very good and it’s a nice place to go for either a casual meal or a celebration. A great new and interesting restaurant for Warrandyte. I look forward to...