“Featuring the best of Norwegian seafood”
Restaurant Ember is located a 5-minute walk from Outram Park MRT, just along the back end of Keong Sik Road. From 28th to 30th May, Chef Sufian Zain hosts Norwegian Chef Marcus Dybward from Snorre Food for a 3 day dinner promotion meal.
Ember holds true to their philosophy of simple dishes and quality ingredients – something that was very well reflected in each and every dish of this 6 course meal. This collaboration mostly revolves around a Norwegian seafood theme with Halibut served as the main. However regulars can still opt for the Angus slow cooked pork ribs in this promotion too.
We started off with the Greenland prawns, peas, eggs and prawn emulsion. Greenland prawns take almost 4 times as long to grow into the same size as regular seawater prawns because of the cold temperatures, also because of that the taste of the Greenland prawns are richer and stronger. They sit on a bed of egg white and peas to taste in a sea of prawn emulsion. The emulsion had a consistency almost similar to a paste but too thin to hold as one.
I loved the prawn emulsion; it made a pleasant dipping sauce for the bread. It isn’t easy to transfer a seafood taste so easily into an emulsion without it coming off too fishy something I find Chef Markus does exceptionally well.
Admittedly, the sauce can be a bit too rich for someone like myself with a lighter palate hence I find it so important to have sips of wine in between the meal. I highly recommend everyone to opt for the wine pairing option; it definitely elevates the dining experience and is well worth the $50 price difference.
Next was the Mushroom Consommé with Chicken Tortellini and Summer Truffle. Yep, the people at ember are really generous with their truffle. The chicken tortellini was okay. Nothing too exciting.
The mushroom consommé though, was simmered to perfection, rich intense yet still light at the same time. Pardon the oxymoron, but it was light in the sense that the consommé wasn’t too strong that you would get sick of it after a few sips but it was pleasant enough to keep you craving for more. Clearly, I could see why Chef Sufian’s mushroom consommé was a hot favorite that keep regulars coming back.
Dinner was followed with the Rainbow Trout, Bacon Dashi & Potato Foam. This did not score too well with me. The individual ingredients were fresh and definitely of a hallmark quality; the question though was the concept.
The trout was really fresh and chewy. The potato foam was not too dense just the right consistency. The bacon dashi was sweet with bacon bits strewn in the dish. There was a lot going on here – a huge variety of tastes but overall it lacked coherence in its execution. On a better note though, this was the only thing that didn’t sit too well with me during my meal.
The Monkfish Cheeks with Morels and White Asparagus was in contrast much, much better. The monkfish cheeks were so chewy to a point I almost mistook it as a scallop. The truffle sauce was rich intense and so flavorful with a hint of black pepper.
It packed quite a punch and complemented both the monkfish cheeks for flavor and the white asparagus for contrast. The sauce, the monkfish cheeks, the white asparagus worked beautifully in tandem together, I absolutely loved this dish by Chef Sufian. Almost my favorite for the night
With this halibut, the chefs decided to opt for something simple – baked and served in a uni sauce, topped off with just a speck of Fleur de Sel. Precisely because the dish (ingredient wise) is so simple, you can appreciate the freshness to the halibut where the meat just melts into your mouth – almost like a steak but with a lighter, fluffier texture. Execution wise, this was definitely a very successful collaboration between the 2 chefs.
And to top off desserts we had the Gold of the Marshes. Gold and Marsh it was. This Marsh found himself exceptionally pleased with this creation by Chef Markus. It was my first time tasting a cloudberry. These herb fruits are not commercially grown and can only be sourced high up in the mountains. I find this cloudberry very interesting, which starts off sweet in the mouth then turn sour, spicy and then sweet again.
The cloudberries are in a simple yellow sauce of wine sugar and egg yolk with ponds of nuts and sea salt in between. A very delightful way to end off a meal, I loved the clever use of sea salt for contrast against the sweet taste of the berries and yellow sauce. This, is culinary arts at its finest and a testament to Chef Markus’s skill.
Overall, I loved the careful thought and consideration behind each dish and the placement of them at that matter. How the Greenland prawns in prawn emulsion was put before the mushroom conglomerate, a richer dish before something blander.
Within the dish itself, how the different ingredients interact together for a multitude of tastes. And the impeccable quality of the food that goes into each and every one of them. This 6 course chef collaboration meal goes at $120 per person for dinner only and $170 with the wine pairing.
The Norwegian Seafood promotion runs from 28th to 30th May.
Sign up for this event here: https://www.facebook.com/events/1587949998114021/
Expected Damage: $120++ per pax
