Updated April 13, 2024
(Dec. 23, 2018) Ember Steakhouse is a restaurant that serves sushi, sashimi, Korean dishes in addition to Korean BBQ. What is Korean BBQ you may ask? This is a BBQ grill incorporated into your dining table where you can prepare, or have prepared your own meats, poultry and seafood. The restaurant had been open for only two days on this visit.
The dining areas are well thought out and are sectioned into three areas. The first is the main dining area. The emphasis here is on BBQ but you can also order negiri, temaki, sushi rolls and sashimi in addition to other creations from the sushi bar.
There is also a sushi bar that seems more geared to production than seating, at least at this visit.
There is a bar that serves more than just your usual bar food (gastropub) but sushi can also be ordered here as well.
With the exception of the menu for the main dining area which focuses on Korean BBQ, here are the sushi and gastropub menus.
There are also a couple of “all you can eat” (AYCE) options, which are quite a bargain. One option has 6 types of BBQ, brisket, pork belly, spicy pork belly, chicken bulgogi, spicy chicken and calamari. Bulgogi are thin, marinated strips of meat or chicken meant to be barbecued. This option is priced at $30.00/pp.
The banchan served were soy-braised potato, onion salad in a sweet soy sauce, napa and radish kimchi, salted squid, Korean potato salad and pickled daikon radish. There were also dipping sauces of salted sesame oil, ssamjang paste (a sweet and spicy sauce) in addition to a sweetened soy sauce.
All of our barbecue was excellent, from the calamari, brisket, spicy pork belly to spicy chicken.
Not able to resist, we also ordered one of the offerings from the sushi bar, the Japanese nachos. This was a delicious amalgam of salmon, tuna, kani (krab), avocado, jalapeno, tomatoes and wanton strips. It was very good.
The food at Ember was very good and the service exceptional. They really try to give you the best dining experience possible. As Korean BBQ is very hands on for the diner and meant to be shared, it is perfect for either a date or family night. There are a couples caveats, the first being BBQ items that are sweetened with sugar. These should be saved for last, as grilling these meats causes some burning of the grill grates due to the sugar caramelizing and makes a mess of the grill.
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