Occupy Amber: balls, coins, and acidity

Pin It

Five years ago Fish Ball left us, and since then we have taken to stick to a vegetarian diet on this day each year. And every single year at dinner time, we step through the doors of Amber to experience the magic that Richard Ekkebus weaves with no meat and no dairy. Just vegetables and fruit.

This year, though, things are a little different. After holding 2 Michelin stars for 16 years since the introduction of the guide for Hong Kong and Macau, Amber was finally inducted into the hallowed halls of restaurants with 3 Michelin stars in the guide's 17th edition. Those of us who know and love him were incredibly happy for Richard and the team. Tonight would be my first opportunity to see him since the promotion.

We opted for the smaller, 6-course menu. I expect to be eating a lot of sourdough bread tonight... so gotta leave some space!

The sommelier gave us very big pours of complimentary Champagne to start, and it was a nice one.

Eric Rodez Blanc de Noirs, Edition 45, dégorgée en Decembre 2023 - nice and lovely on the palate, with a good balance between acidity and ripeness, good depth and a long finish. Classic marmalade on the nose.

Watermelon and tomato kombucha - the scent of both watermelon and tomato were obvious, and this was pretty nice with the acidity and some fermented flavors. Definitely whetting my appetite as it was designed to.

The "tomato cracker" - which was achappam (അച്ചപ്പം) - with perilla leaf purée and strawberry gel on the underside. The acidity of the tomato worked well with the sugar from the straberries, and the perilla made it real nice.

This was a combination of peeled tomato, fermented tomato, and tomato gel. The sauce here had a little bit of smoky flavors, almost like smoked bacon, so that was very nice. The disc on top was a piece of slightly dried and pickled/fermented tomato, which was also real interesting.

Soy panna cotta - this version was similar to last year's, with bell pepper compote, (tomato), and perilla flowers. The use of green Sichuan peppercorn oil (藤椒油) was a nice touch, and we love the fragrance and a little bit of tingling numbness on the tongue.

Butter bean ˚ French bean ˚ soymilk 'burrata' ˚ basil ˚ extra virgin olive oil ˚ - FINALLY! After feeling pretty 'MEH' about the soymilk burrata from AN, the Japanese one this year seemed better. Instead of using tomatoes as had been done the last two years, we now have haricots verts, pea shoots, pea flowers, and a 'bean sauce' accented with a touch of vinegar - which, along with the lemon gel inside the burrata, made the fake cheese less boring. Oh and I love the combination of green beans, white beans, and peas. Definitely the best one out of the last three years.

Tonburi ˚ potato ˚ leek ˚ wakame ˚ horseradish ˚ - this would be our second time having the vegetarian version of Amber's signature Hokkaido sea urchin, caviar, and cauliflower dish. The flower-shaped leek ash crisp still sits on top of a ball of vichyssoise foam.

Inside we still find tonburi (とんぶり), wakame (若布), and leek jelly, along with leeks at the bottom. Curiously, the tonburi was introduced as "seaweed caviar" by the staff, because I wasn't aware that summer cypress grew in the ocean... Anyway, I found this tastier than the one we had last year, which is perhaps the result of understanding the dish a little better.

Kyuri cucumber ˚ celtus ˚ Bannou negi ˚ extra virgin grape seed oil ˚ ramson garum ˚ home made sake vinegar ˚ - back to a very "green" dish using celtuce and cucumber, which feature often in the vegetarian menu here. The presentation certainly is very pretty, especially with cucumber flowers, "coins" made of Korean gamtae (감태), and the droplets of oil made from Bannou negi (万能ねぎ) in the celtuce and cucumber sauce in the middle.

The chunks of celtuce came with pickled small cucumbers (もろきゅうり) in cut in thin strips and folded. The accompanying sauce was more acidic than I had expected, but still very nice. The gamtae coins brought a touch of umami to an otherwise acidic and refreshing dish.

Sourdough - this was nice, but the real superstar is, in fact...

Plant-based brown butter - YASS!!! This... this awesome vegan plant-based beurre noisette. Full of nutty flavors because, well, it was made with nuts. Rich in flavors but offset by the acidity so that it didn't taste overwhelmingly fatty. I couldn't stop. Just like the last three years. They know how much I love this, so when I finished the first quenelle in no time, a second one was quickly brought to me. And that one disappeared in a flash, too.

Sunchoke ˚ walnut ˚ sourdough bread miso ˚ black fermented garlic ˚ homemade beer vinegar ˚ extra virgin walnut oil ˚ - the Jerusalem artichokes came three ways: steamed, roasted, and deep-fried. The textural contrast was pretty interesting. I could taste the sunchoke flavors in the acidic foam that was made from the sourdough bread. Garnished with ramson blossoms and black garlic gel delivering some richness. A very nice dish where the sweetness of the root was nicely balanced by acidity.

Purple artichoke ˚ cippolini onion ˚ Western Australian winter truffle ˚ Yunnan morel ˚ Manni 'Per Me' olive oil ˚ - no surprise that the artichokes came with acidity, but the morels were very nice. I like the textural contrasts with the deep-fried artichoke on top, but one of them was so fibrous I had to spit it out. The truffle "coins" - and this menu seemed to have a lot of them - provided a little hearty feeling to the dish.

2019 Guiberteau Saumur Les Moulins - the nose was surprisingly ripe and sweet, with plenty of toast on the nose. The acidity was still there on the palate, making it nice and lean.

Choosing the 6-course menu means there is no fruit-based dessert, so we go straight to the chocolate...

Conspiracy Dak Lak bitter chocolate ˚ Brazil nut ˚ cane sugar ˚ sea salt ˚ cacao nib ˚ - the Brazil nut praline bavarois on the left came glazed with caramel and tasted of soy milk. The 75% dark in the middle was better, and the ice cream with cocoa crumble on the right was very nice.

Since Foursheets can't have caffeine at this hour, the kitchen made her a dessert focused on cherries.

The sommelier very kindly offered us a pour of apricot liqueur to go with our desserts. Much to my surprise, Foursheets actually finished her glass.

L'abricot du Roulot - the nose was definitely very apricot. Sweet on the palate but not too sticky.

Finally, we have the mignardises:

Lemon zest madeleine with poppy seeds - with an egg/lemon custard "dip".

Lavender tart with marigold

The organic seasonal fruits included some figs (presumably local), melon (presumably French), and lychees (presumably from Guangdong).

Ambershu - pineapple this time.

We enjoyed another evening of vegetarian/plant-base/meatless dishes here. Many of us have known for a very long time that Amber can deliver at the very highest level, and that has finally be recognized by the powers that be. Very grateful that Richard and the team took care of this prima donna, and I need to find some time to go get me some sea urchin (and gold foil!)