Dinner at Ember Room in NYC, New York

When I want to try some food, I can be pretty persistent! Yes, this is third attempt to dine at Ember Room in Hell's Kitchen. The first time we went, the place was packed and the wait was 1 hour: Too bad, we were hungry and passed. The second time, we had a reservation for lunch but found the restaurant closed: I guess this time, they passed on us! So the third time, we had a reservation for dinner and, as we say, third is the charm!

Surprisingly, the restaurant was not as packed as before. They sat us in the room upstairs, that is more quiet in fact. I liked the decor with the dark wood, the weird ceiling decorations that looked like hearts, that made me think I was somewhere else!

The waiter greeted us and ask us if we ever came there. As we said no, he told us that the restaurant was owned by Chef Kittichai. Chef Kittichai! What you do not remember? He is the partner of Spot Dessert Bar, this fabulous dessert place on St Marks that serves spectacular desserts, mostly traditional with an Asian twist (check here my review of Spot Dessert Bar, but do not drool on your computer!).

One of the dishes I really wanted to try there was the Chocolate Ribs:

I know, it sounds weird and fewer attempts to try dishes where they mixed chocolate with meat were unsuccessful (for instance, the duck with chocolate sauce at China Grill). There, it was delicious: the chocolate was not overpowering and had a subtle, but definitely present taste. The ribs were fantastic: tender, they fell off the bones, so there was no need to eat with my hands (although I would have had a good excuse to lick my fingers...).

Jodi decided to go vegetarian and got the naked veggie burger:

A veggie burger is naked when there is no bun. The veggie patty was made with different kind of vegetables like peas and carrots and was smothered with the "Ember sauce" that tasted like a spicy BBQ sauce. It was served with a mixed salad, onion rings (very crispy) and tofu fries. I liked the veggie patty: very tasty with a bit of texture. However, the sauce was quite spicy and they should probably warn their customers so they can ask to have it on the side. I was not that thrilled about the tofu fries that were a bit bland. Jodi loved them though.

On my side, I ordered the Ember Room original Lobster Roll:

The lobster roll was pretty good: served with a salad and fries, it was made of celery, mango and chunks of lobster. The mango gave a refreshing taste to the dish and some sweetness, but I wished the mango were more ripe. I liked it, but it is far from being as good as the Red Hook Lobster Pound!

For dessert, we got the Lemon mille crepes cake:

This dessert was pretty good: light and not too sweet, it was made of layers of crepes with some lemon cream (more like a mousse in fact) in between each layer. It is definitely a dessert to recommend!

We had a delicious dinner at Ember Room and were glad that we gave it another chance! It is definitely a good address to know in Hell's Kitchen for an original meal!

Enjoy (I did)!

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And Remember: I Just Want To Eat!