Open Kitchen Concept: Food Over Service?

If you had to choose.. would you choose to go to a restaurant where the food is good.. but service is not.. or a restaurant where the food is good... but ambiance is not..?

Well, I'm the kind of person who would usually choose food over service.. and food over ambiance.

But sometimes.. I wish I do not have to make that choice..

I had lunch at Ember today.

I thought the food was great. It's been a while since I've gone to a restaurant.. where everything I tasted exceeded my expectations. (Oh dear, yes.. I am pretty fussy..)

The foie gras with mushrooms was perfect - crispy on the outside and melt-in-your mouth on the inside. The duck confit was very good. It looked passe but the duck was crispy and a little on the dry side but flavourful enough. The apple tart was sweet and chewy and went really well with the vanilla ice-cream.

The food was really pretty good at Ember.

Sadly, I saw plenty of bad reviews about the service even before I went there. We didn't experience any bad service.. but the some of the waitresses had shocking attitudes. I felt as if I was being interrogated when one of them came around asking for our orders. Some of the waitresses were also kind of "shouting" out instructions to each other. So.. sadly, although the maître d' was really nice and friendly, I wouldn't remember Ember as a place big on service. The restaurant was also for some reason very noisy - all the noise seemed to be "trapped" indoors and I could hardly hear my friends at times.

So the conclusion is - if you are looking for a nice, yummy French-fusion lunch or dinner with a bunch of girlfriends, Ember is a good place to go. But if you are looking for a nice romantic dinner with your spouse, you might want to reconsider going to Ember..

There are just times when one wouldn't choose food over service.