Amber gets it right on quality, style – and portions

By Mick and Di The Food Lovers

AMBER flung open its doors to Pattaya’s diners late last year and since then has gained an enviable reputation, not only for its extensive assemblage of carefully selected labels from the old and new wine worlds but a menu devised to highlight the very best of classic European cuisine.
 
Sited in the old Blue Olive building in Soi 8, Thepprasit Road, Jomtien, the leading light of this wine centric restaurant is Belgian national, Peter De Kegel whose expertise in the food and grape industry is well known. He
presents a menu of classic comfort fine dining, saying goodbye to old strait jacket rules and “allo, allo” to
interesting gastro-forward cuisine. Also, admirably, there are small and large plate options to make possible a tasting menu of both food and wines.

The ambiance is sophisticated with an air of old Europe and a welcoming bar zone offering not only dozens of appealing wines but a coterie of boutique spirits and a broad collection of proprietary tipples and Belgian beers. 

​Our first pour of the evening was a Chilean Yali 3 Lagoons Chardonnay 2013. It proved the perfect companion with Mick’s appetiser choice of grilled Alaskan snow crab legs (B.299). Served with a lip-smacking crab cocktail it’s a deluxe appetiser for fans of seafood. The Chardonnay also married well with my sensational foie gras starter.
 
Other starters include a French goat cheese Caprese, an example of Amber’s gastro twists. Norwegian salmon tataki is 24 hour marinated salmon in Moroccan herbs, sautéed and rolled in seaweed (B.226) or the US scallops come on a bed of seaweed and micro salad topped with crispy bacon (B.266). 

​We were now supping a Montepulciano d’Abrazzo at a promotional price of B.1,000. For this, we’d chosen two of Amber’s signature dishes, Pork Osso Buco in Orval sauce (B.399) and slow roasted beef cheeks. Both were deeply rich and satisfying. Mick loved the pork Osso Buco steeped in the taste of the famous Belgian Orval Beer.
 
My Australian beef cheeks had been slow cooked in a robust red wine with a selection of vegetables. The beef was fall-apart tender, full-bodied and juicy bathed in a luscious red wine gravy. Definitely a must-have.

​Main courses here are as eclectic as they are creative using only tip top ingredients. Greenland Halibutis prepared en papillotte with green and white asparagus, Oven simmered Australian lamb shanks are served with a white sauce, chicken fillet is filled with a scrumptious French goat cheese, and rolled pork belly comes with a filling of prunes and a whisky BBQ sauce. Steak lovers do not fret Amber prides itself on its Australian 7 marbled Sirloin (B.777), Rib Eye (B.999) and T-Bone (B1,111). Sides, sauces and potatoes are complimentary.
 
After so much gleeful eating we couldn’t leave without tasting one of their desserts and plumped for a chocolate ganache tart. A sweet, toothsome finale to our debut eating at Amber
 
Amber is a discovery. Hitting the right price points, this will become, understandably, a very popular restaurant.

Open for lunch from 11.30 to 3.00 pm. Dinner from 5.00 pm till late. Closed Mondays. Amber is located off Thepprasit Road (left hand side) going towards Sukhumvit Road in Soi 8. Tel: 08 245 95733 or 036 416 285.
​Visit www.amberpattaya.com or info@ amberpattaya.com. Monthly wine tastings and speciality food nights will be held soon, contact Peter for details.​