Ambra — Restaurant in McAllen

i’ve eaten at Ruth’s Chris, the Palm New York and Chicago. A very long time ago, Christ Cella’s, Peter Lugers, Durants, El Gaucho, Bobs Chop House, Sullivans, Flemings, Morton’s. All these restaurants have the finest steaks available & the best cuts and the finest Service. These restaurants have people that are just serving water, Others that are just clearing tables, Others supervising and making sure that the patrons aren’t without anything at any time. This, Restaurant has a lot of those people standing around, but not necessarily doing anything. When we met our waiter, I clearly explained to him my wife’s issues with meat. I spent five minutes before we ordered explaining that My Wife is the only person Who orders A filet mignon Well done Plus. That she cannot see any red meat on the steak when she cuts into it, and if she does like any other customer, you could take it back and cook it a little more, my Wife, when she sees the red meat is done with dinner and She will not eat the steak. I had ordered a lobster tail, knowing that they’re not going to listen to me, and they’re going to under cook her steak. When they were serving my steak, I was telling the waiter. As soon as they hand you My wife’s steak in the kitchen, hand it back to the chef, and have them cook it longer. And of course she cut into it and it was red in the center, they didn’t cook it longer it wasn’t 100% well done Our anniversary dinner now became very disappointing. I told him not to throw the steak away at retail. They’re charging us $64 for this steak. And I told them. Please put it to Go You would think with that that they would discount the steak on the Bill not only did they not Discount the steak. They charged it at full price. And then we ordered a cheesecake which Billed $16 And we ordered one cheesecake to Go. Our bill was $325 for two people you would think we were celebrating A Birthday/anniversary that we hadn’t celebrated previously and they did not include the dessert for FREE. And I say that word in capital letters because when you’re spending $325. You’re not getting it for FREE. We’ve been to very similar restaurants here in the Valley, who claimed to be these high society, restaurants attempting to compete with standards that you get in the big cities, but their Service just doesn’t meet. They don’t know how to provide that kind of Service in this culture. And like I said, I’ve eaten at so many of these restaurants. This was the most expensive of any of the restaurants. I’ve mentioned above, and the quality was by far, not even close My tomahawk steak was good, but not great. It lacked seasoning. The mashed potatoes that My Wife ordered. We’re good. We ordered A side of asparagus and those were good. But again not great. And when you go to a restaurant that charges two people $325 for dinner. You expect great not good. I spoke to the manager upon leaving. He seem to kind of listen to what I was saying, all he basically said, during the time that I was speaking is come back. Another time. We’ll show you a different Service and we’ll make sure that the meat is exactly how you like it. But to be honest, when you go to a restaurant. The service that you get is the Service that you get. It’s not going to be different when you go back. The sad thing. Is you see people eating there, and these people can afford those dinners, They probably have super jobs with major paychecks and people like My Wife and myself barely making ends me, but wanted to do something special and thought we’d try this place out being how I’m such a steak lover. And whenever this happens to My Wife, it ruins my evening as well, because I try to do everything to make My Wife. Happy and feel special. Anyhow, if you can afford to go to a restaurant like this, don’t stop going because of my review, but if you’re just making ends meat like we are. I’d save your Money and try something else. We knew this dinner was going to be expensive before we went and we saved up for it. I had to reduce my review by three paragraphs, because I...

Marvelously designed interior with an ambiance that exudes modern luxury. Most of the food is well designed to match the atmosphere. However, there are improvements needed for this restaurant to compete with the top dogs.

My girlfriend and I went during opening weekend. So some info regarding the restaurant may not be up to date anymore.

Special notes: Reservations are necessary for dinner. Outside seating area is not ready yet. Please request which side of the restaurant you want to be seated at (if you care about aesthetics). Menu contains some options that are not available yet. A brunch menu will be coming soon. Restroom is open concept (stalls for both genders in same area).

The atmosphere is stunning when walking in. While the outside of the restaurant is quite unassuming, the design of the inside is beautifully constructed. I really appreciated the detail that went into the floorplan and how each side of the restaurant has a different vibe. They also have a vip room with wine tastings. It's a really interesting design that I haven't seen in the valley yet.

Our waiter was extremely courteous and informative. He was aware of the menu items and was able to tell us about the inspiration behind the restaurant and what they have in store for the future.

Now for the food! The appetizer presentations were amazing. They also tasted refreshing as well. I really enjoyed the mix of spicy, sour, and fresh flavors of the shrimp aguachile. The leche tigre ceviche was plated wonderfully. I liked everything about it except the sweet foam in the center. I felt like that threw off the other flavors of the dish. The complimentary bread starter looks normal until you get to the charcoal infused butter. It's unlike anything I tasted before. It tasted strange at first sure to the slight burnt taste in the butter, but it grew on me.

For my main dish, I ordered the wagyu flat iron with chimichurri sauce and mashed potatoes. I have an issue here because they charge separately for each add on. I'll talk about this in the next section. Wagyu actually had quite a few tendons that made it a bit hard to chew. Honestly, I could've confused it with regular steak. While the flavors were nice, it wasn't anything extremely special. Mashed potato was rich and creamy. It's got a lot of butter and felt almost a bit too heavy. Salmon tasted great, but I couldn't differentiate it from regular salmon that could be bought from the store. I would recommend ordering something that you normally can't find. You might have a better experience that way.

For dessert, we got the berry cute, which came out on a plate with dry ice on the bottom. I loved the portion size and the tart but sweet compote. It was a very nice way of ending the meal.

Let's talk pricing. Pricing throughout most of the menu felt fair...except for the main dishes. I felt that they lacked the pizzazz and creativity that the appetizers and desserts had. Taste was also on par with restaurants on the cheaper side of the spectrum. The steaks end up costing way too much if you add sides, toppings, and/or sauces. Sauces really shouldn't be an additional $5. There also appeared to be a misprint of the price of the berry cute. It was priced at $18 that night but we were charged $20. That small mistake slightly lowered my experience of the restaurant.

Here is where I talk about everything else. The open concept restroom was strange but welcoming. It's actually a prime place to take a picture due to the artwork right outside. I loved that our waiter gave us a tour of the place and walked us around. It did take a while for us to get our food so I appreciate that he was able to keep us entertained.

Overall, I have high hopes for this place. And I'm looking forward to trying other dishes. While the food has room for improvement, the experience is what allowed me to...

UPDATE. I reached out to the restaurant as suggested by the response by the owner below. The person who answered at Ambra basically laughed at me, and doubt my request for a phone call was passed along. Glad food poisoning is hilarious to them. I will never ever go back.

Also adding-- warning if you have kids. We once sent our very independent 8&10 year olds to the bathroom only to have them come back upset that there were men in the women's bathroom. I am extremely progressive, but the bathroom situation here is not ok. I do not feel comfortable sharing an out in the open bathroom with men. And children absolutely should not.

ORIGINAL REVIEW I've been here 5 times. Each time has been a different experience. Got severe food poisoning the most recent visit.

The good--- We lived in a top culinary city before moving to the valley, so we were happy to have this place arrive. We first went within the first 6 weeks of it opening and had a great experience. Service was attentive, food was cooked perfectly. Every time we have ordered chicken we cannot figure out how they make it so tender and flavorful. Service has always been very good. The cocktails are unique and we love trying the new ones.

The mediocre --- Every time we have ordered 1-2 of the same thing and it has been cooked differently. The Sea Bass dish (which has changed iterations) was cooked perfectly the first time. The 4 times to follow , it was either overcooked or burned. It's a ~$50 dish, and sea bass is a delicate fish. I know it's hard to cook well, but I guess I kept ordering it hoping it would be the same buttery soft perfection I ate the first time but it just has not been. Most recently it was in a char so that no other flavor was noticable except the charcoal crust. It was like eating pure carbon. The lamb lollipops we have always ordered and they have been perfection twice and too hard to eat the others despite being ordered medium. The most recent time? You'll see below. Wagyu beef steaks (different cuts)-- same issue. The most recent my husband was barely able to cut through the meat with a steak knife at medium rare. Too many tendons and with a carbon crust.

The bad--- I really hate to post this but it's really serious enough to mention/warm others. On our most recent visit (8/2024) for my birthday, we ordered lamb lollipops and the crispy rice and spicy salmon appetizers, Mero Sea Bass, Denver Wagyu, a chicken entree and a side of truffle fries. 30 minutes into eating, I started feeling extremely nauseated. By 45 min, I left my husband sitting at the table and ran out of the restaurant to vomit in the parking lot. I did not come back inside. Why did I go outside? Because of the co-ed open to the restaurant bathrooms. My husband had to sit there by himself the remainder of the meal. I spent the next 24 hrs with bacterial food poisoning , which indicates poor food handling/pre-formed toxin, likely Staph.

I was so so disappointed. The likely culprit based on timing was one of the appetizers as I was feeling ill half way through the main course. My husband who did not get sick, did not eat the lamb lollipops so we suspect it was these. I had no other food during the day (OMAD diet) so there's no other explanation for what happened, $260 meal to be severely ill , I do not see how we ever go back again, but perhaps the health...