Ember by Josh Boutwood — Restaurant in Makati

This was our first time trying ember, and we can't wait to go back! The precision and creativity of the dishes is impressively unique. Every dish is focused around a few key ideas/ingredients, as per the names; and is plated to highlight what you are eating, allowing you the freedom to form a perfect bite, each and every time. Many dishes involve some of the smoking techniques that have been perfected by the chef, producing unique flavors you won't find elsewhere.

The menu very much cooked in the vane of a high end tasting menu, but the dish sizes larger allowing both more indulgence and more sharing. Each plate is good for sharing between 3 to 4 people.

A main highlight for our meal was the Ranger Valley Wagyu Striploin, which not only was tender and juicy, it achieved a world class crust imparted with smokey flavors hard to really discribe. It didn't realize there could be so much nuance in the smoke used.

Another favorite was the Octopus arm, again amazingly tender on the inside, featuring a savory smoked exterior hard to resist. It's quite a skill to pull off such an amazing cook on a whole octopus arm, but ember has perfected it.

Of course you must also get a Test Kitchen House Sourdough, which is as good as any I've had from San Francisco, but comes with a smoked butter that is nothing short of inspiring. Even the bread and butter is innovative here.

The only dish we wouldn't recommend was the Raw Tuna Avocado Tapioca dish. While the concept was good, the tuna didn't feel as fresh tasting as I would have liked, and was a bit too salty. But this may have been just an off day for the tuna, and we didn't feel it detracted from the overall experience at all.

Lastly we'd like to highlight the Tres Leches, which was a perfect end to our meal.

As a note: I went with just my fiance and we ordered 4 small plates, 1 steak, 2 sides, and a dessert... Which was quite a lot for us. This would have 4 people 😅, and we took a bunch home. This was fine as we were excited to try a bunch for our first experience. Next time we are thinking of more along the lines of 2 small plates, 2 large plates, a desert, and maybe a side dish. That would be perfect for a date.

Hopefully we can come with friends later, so we can try and share more, this restaurant is perfect for foodie...

the first time we dined at ember was the best thus far. we had:

mushroom. comte. hazelnut gnocchi. crab fat. blue crab turbot the ocean breeze walnut date cake kladdkaka bread butter pudding

on our second as we were relatively not hungry, we just had a handful items: gnocchi. crab fat. blue crab romaine. parsley. pecorino short rib. onion. wasabi

from our first experience, gnocchi collectively stood out in our same group of 3. it had a unique blend of flavors and textures from the tapioca and the slightly acidic sauce. this is our star, hence there was a repeat order. though the second time we had this it had a milder less acidic sauce, larger crackers of tapioca that just loomed over the whole dish. this is to say, we definitely loved our first time. however, it still reigned supreme in our second time.

mushroom was a strong second in our favorites for the unique blend of ingredients and the flavors it brought out with this combination.

turbot was a delight to cut through. we rarely saw flat fish in menus, much less prepared properly the way ember did. it definitely made an impact with the delicate and buttery flavors of the fish.

romaine was a surprise as well with the romaine parsley puree dressing. while it’s a bit underwhelming with just a whole lettuce and it’s dressing, there is a generous shaving of pecorino which is well appreciated. you really have to mix in the dressing on the greens to distribute the flavor as it could get a bit salty with the anchovy paste in the mix. this was a welcome mix up to my roster of salads and gave me an inspiration on my next diy salad from scratch.

i remember the ocean breeze being a delight with its light purplish appearance, with subtle earl grey notes if i remember correctly (??)

some dishes, however, were only par for us like the short rib (which could’ve had a thinner sauce with less char). this is also not to say that the desserts were bad outright, though the 3 we’ve tried really pales in comparison to the stellar appetizers and mains we had.

on other notes, service was more than good and the ambiance of the place also fits the vibe they’re going for. not to forget, the sockets in this resto saved me that one time i was close to an empty battery. so generally, we will...

Visit in March. Philippines - Manila. Makati

My husband and I dined at this restaurant and left with mixed impressions. While this establishment boasts fine dining, various shortcomings in almost every aspect prevented us from giving it a high rating.

Food: Each dish we ordered had a flaw that hindered our complete enjoyment of the meal. The dish comprising tomatoes, olives, and feta fell short—while the dressing matched well with the salad, the tomatoes could have been slightly sweeter. Moreover, the croutons were exceptionally hard, almost alarmingly so; biting into them felt risky and uncomfortable. The octopus was slightly tough and required considerable chewing.

For the main course, we chose the Japanese Wagyu F1 tenderloin steak. Our personal preference leans towards the Japanese Wagyu A5 variety, known for its supremely fatty, juicy, and tender qualities due to its ideal fat melting point. The F1 steak, a cross between Japanese Wagyu and American Angus, yielded a leaner steak that was less juicy and tender. This distinction is important to note. Nonetheless, the steak was cooked well, impressing us with its crust and precisely executed medium-rare preparation. Perhaps the steak was the only dish that was flawlessly executed, if you understand in advance that this is not 100% Wagyu. We opted for carrots as a side dish; it was delicious, but we would have liked it to have been fried more and remained crispier.

Service: The service was average, reminiscent of a more casual eatery, lacking the attentiveness we expected. Dirty dishes remained uncleared for extended periods.

Atmosphere: The restaurant itself had a certain charm, though we dined indoors and noticed an overpowering scent of grilling. By the end of the evening, our clothes carried that scent.

Overall, this establishment is suitable for a one-time visit, especially if you temper your expectations before...