WE were back at Ember for the second time, after a lunch there two weeks ago.

I enjoyed my cold noodles with duck and ponzu, while my friend had the duck miso ramen. We of course had a taste of each other’s lunch.

This restaurant in Taman Tun Dr Ismail, Kuala Lumpur, is about modern Asian cuisine using mostly local ingredients, and with sustainability in mind.

For some reason cold noodles are rarely found in a Chinese menu but you would encounter them in a Japanese or Korean one. Hence the Japanese nuances in Ember’s cold noodles with duck and ponzu.

The noodles were heaped with shredded duck meat on one side and thinly sliced pickled pear on the other, with a topping of chopped spring onions. Beneath was the ponzu sauce of calamansi, lemon, lime and grapefruit.

The noodles, meat and sauce came together harmoniously. The pickled pear slices added a sweet, tangy touch.

We were asked how we wanted our ramen done, regular or softer, in the duck miso ramen. I’ve always liked my noodles firm and springy, so it was regular for me.

The ramen came in a rich duck broth with miso, ajitama egg, chicken breast and slow-roasted tomato, which tasted like sun-dried tomato. I liked the sweetness in the slightly chewy tomato.

We added to our lunch three side dishes – cold tofu with shoyu tare and shallot oil, braised mushrooms and edamame and kombu butter.

The cold tofu was refreshing and tasted like home, drenched in shoyu tare (ramen sauce) and drizzled with shallot oil. The braised mushrooms, topped with fresh julienned ginger, were quite good too.

We couldn’t get enough of the edamame finished in kombu butter. They tasted so good.

We found out that we could buy kombu butter from Ember, and we did – RM15 for 50g of it. I can’t wait to have it with toast.

For both the noodles it’s RM19.90 each, which is an affordable lunch that’s good and satisfying. The side dishes are RM5.90 each.

We tried to persuade chef/owner Gary Anwar to serve us his yummy toasted coconut ice cream with roasted coconut, kantan, honey and kuih but he had only a limited quantity reserved for dinner.

It’s an a la carte menu for dinner offering smoked beef tartare, grilled fish with green garlic sauce, steamed Sabah clams with Kombu butter and tuak, among other dishes.

I have had before Gary’s amazing “smoked” beef tartare that had small cubes of Australian wagyu MB6 Karubi stirred with yuzu mayo, smoked oil, kerisik, spring onion and fried shallots.

The creamy beef is smoky and fragrant with citrusy notes, rich with kerisik and crispy shallots, and fresh with spring onion.

Ember is at 20, Jalan Wan Kadir 1, Taman Tun Dr Ismail, 60000 Kuala Lumpur, tel: 018 323 2786. Reservations can be made on its website. – September 16, 2023.

* Eu Hooi-Khaw has been writing about food for the longest time, covering all aspects, from restaurant reviews to cooking and recipes, as well as the healthy side of it. She has written for major newspapers and magazines, published the cookbook Fresh Ingredients, and also writes for her website hooikhawandsu.com.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.