MBER — Restaurant in London

Good food and cocktails but the service was a little slow.

I went to MBER yesterday (September 15th 2021) for lunch and cocktails with some work colleagues. On arrival we were greeted by a polite and friendly lady who took us downstairs where the restaurant was. The interior was dim and trendy with two large central tables cleverly positioned on top of the steel beams of the original building; nice touch and use of space.

The menu had enough options for every diet and the extensive cocktail list boasted a variety of unique and exciting choices. I went for the 'El Fuego' which was perfect for me; the chilli tequila, lime and pineapple was the best combination.

Our waiter seemed like he might be new as he was a little shy but he was nice. We did mention that we wanted to order small dishes to start with and then order our mains after some more drinks, which the waiter confirmed was okay. I went for the pickled lotus root salad and steamed broccoli to start as I was waiting for the Thai Massaman curry. Other dishes ordered were duck bao buns, ribs, prawn tempura, miso aubergine and gyoza which were all met with very satisfied customers. Everyone seemed to like what they ordered, personally I loved the lotus root salad with the avocado and the broccoli was delicious.

The bar staff were fun and everyone was friendly. However at certain points, I found myself feeling like we had been ignored a little as it took a while to order new drinks and food. The restaurant was rather quiet yesterday too, so it felt like there wasn't an excuse other than being ready to close, which we didn't realise they did at that time.

I went on to order the massaman curry and my colleague ordered the banana blossom burger; these were the dishes we were most looking forward to. Unfortunately, the waiter returned around 10 minutes later to inform us he didn't realise the kitchen had shut at 3pm and they couldn't make the order.

If I had known this I would have ordered sooner or would appreciate a warning from the staff as we were too busy enjoying our initial dishes and cocktails.

On the whole, I would go again as the food and drinks were great as well as the stylish interior and atmosphere (when other customers were there). I think if the staff were a little more attentive, it would've made the experience better, but we still had...

Delicious food, inconsistent service, semi- allergy friendly. I’ve been to mber twice and both times the food has been delicious. The first trip was just my partner and I, everything was perfect: my husband is Gluten intolerant and we found their menu clearly labelled with allergens. The lovely server even allowed us to order the tasting menu and swap out the dishes he wasn’t able to eat with other yummy options.

The second time was with a bigger 6 person group. The service was really confusing this time: we try to order the taster menu and switch out the dishes my partner can’t have from his allergy, and are told that we cannot switch dishes. Okay.. that’s not what happened last time but whatever, new rules, not a big deal anyway. I ask for some more time and when the server comes back we try to order again with my husband ordering individual dishes and the rest of the table getting the taster menu. This time we’re told we can’t do that as either the whole table has to get the same taster menu or no one does... which is not explained on the menu. This I don’t get at all: the menu says it’s 2 people minimum but not that whole table has to get the same thing. But okay, fine.

We’re finally able to order: the whole table gets individual dishes. The server was apologetic but there was so much back and forth, it was mega confusing and unnecessarily stressful.

The food was still great though, the meat dishes were better refined than the vegetarian ones apart from the lotus root pickles which are great.

Would be great if the restaurant could make this policy clearer to the servers and possibly put this rule on the menu.

Thanks for listening...

easy to find. come out of monument tube and it is 50 metres away. met by nice guy at front desk and shown to friends in bar. but no bar staff so waited 15 minutes for a drink. and that seemed to be the theme of the evening. waiting for service. when it came service was very good. no problems. polite. quick. but always a wait to get service. I think they may have been down on staff. it didn't ruin the experience and they did try hard to rectify.

FOOD! exquisite. delightful. delicious. wonderful. a smorgasbord of tongue tingling temptations. I kid you not the kitchen staff and head chef are geniuses. layer upon layer of taste sensation. between three of us we went for 9 or 10 dishes. and a couple of sides. portion sizes is OK. think tapas. but you have to divide the food yourself, you you won't get 2 or 3 or 4 portions. but all good. part of the eating experience with friends. each dish was delicious. there was not one average dish. each had layers of flavour, was presented perfectly. just writing this has me salivating again. AND go for sweet after. the ember mess is off the scale for taste. I've no idea how they did that. there are so many tastes complimenting each other. I had the chili sorbet and it was off the scale good. amazing and massive well-done to whomever concocted that. overall will definitely return. and definitely recommend to others. with quicker service would be 5 stars. and if I could give 10 for food I would. not too far behind some of the Michelin...