Kembara

Kembara was incredible! The atmosphere was intimate with fun neon lighting!Everyone we interacted with was polite and helpful. The food and drinks were unique and delicious. I ordered The Apology, which was tequila based and included boba! Such a fun idea. We also ordered the Wild Swans and Tales of the Floating World. For dinner, it was recommended that we order a few dishes to share. The ones we choose were:Chicken Satay: this was delicious and was accompanied by the perfect dipping sauce (highly recommend)Steamed Pork Dumplings: warm and freshPork Belly noodles: the pork belly in the dish was so flavorful and savory (also highly recommend) Crab Fried Rice: the addition of the crab made this a fun and different twist on regular fried rice and it was very tastyWe also tried the Vietnamese Coffee Doughnuts which were amazing, especially with the coffee, caramel sauce. The Ube Delight sorbet was great too, which included a scoop of mango. Such a great combination.

5/5 for their beverage program. Loved the creativity and level of complexity of the cocktails from the tableside teapot pour to the bobasThe cold soup was so flavorful and you have to get it! The broth is so flavorful and the seafood is so fresh and cold. A needed app after spending the day at the poolThe Khao Soi was on the saltier side but not badThe actual filling on the Lamb rolls were delish, but agree with the other Elites that the dust on top was too much (salty)Beef randang is another one I would buy again, so tender and flavorful! Wasn't really spicy but definitely had heatTHE DONUTS 100/5 get it, warm pillowy goodness I still dream about it to this dayViet coffee was a pass. I lacked depth and condensed milk was non existentFood was great, service was lukewarm. Especially for a caliber restaurant like this, I would ask our server what tea was used in the cocktail and she didn't exactly know. I asked what the broth had because it was delicious, and the staff who dropped the bowl from the kitchen, giggled off and just said "oh you know.. broth..." lol I kinda laughed it off. I think the front of house wasn't up to par with the kitchen. The towel service was great! And the welcome note from the host was strong and it was downhill from there in terms of service. They were actually more excited and dropped by our table saying the herbs they use are from the hotel's living garden. The cocktail names were inspired from Chef's travels and legacy book titles from Asia. And that the menu is inspired from the array of street food in Asia. That sort of story telling is one that elevates a place.

The reviews seemed hit or miss, but we decided to check it out during our staycation at the JW Marriott and we are glad we did! The vibe of the restaurant is cool and fun! Loved the lanterns outside and the vibe but it was just way too hot to sit outside even at dinner time.Service was AMAZING! Our waiter, Cole, was very friendly and took the time to explain to us the dishes and cocktails on the menu.For our appetizers we started with the lamb spring rolls and the chicken satay. The lamb spring rolls came with 3 pieces and they were a good size. I liked the filling and the sauce but the powder dusted on top was a little too strong for me. The chicken satay came with two skewers but there were about 4 pieces of chicken on each which had the perfect char to it and it was so tender. I wish the cashew sauce that it came with had more flavor like the traditional peanut sauce.For mains we opted for the beef randang and chicken kao soi. The kao soi was served with crispy egg noodles, which was different. My husband loved it but I didn't care too much for it. The broth was delicious with the perfect amount of spice. The beef randang had two chilis listed next to it but the waiter assured us it was like a 3-5 out of 10 on the spice scale and he was right. I can't do spicy and this was just hitting the upper end of my tolerance. The beef was cooked perfectly and just melted. The flavors were bold.For dessert we got the Vietnamese coffee donuts. The donuts were so airy and pillowy and the coffee condensed milk was the perfect sweetness.Overall a great dining experience. The food is definitely pricey and I can't really justify three pieces of shumai for that price. Or even some of the other dishes like lo mein and spring rolls. But it's a nice twist on traditional asian food and definitely worth a try.

Kembara is an absolute jewel nestled in the Desert Ridge JW Marriott. It's inspired by South East Asian Street food, elevated with modern cooking techniques. Without hesitation, my favorite part of the entire dining experience was The Tuna Thai Jewel in the salad section (a cold soup) is not only Instagram worthy photos and presentation but the flavors literally blend and are a serious "omg". Coconut milk, ginger, lemongrass... fresh tuna...kiwi... Thai basil... The Chicken Satay was so moist and beautifully marinaded with a cashew cream.Everything was phenomenal but that soup was the star! My kids loved this restaurant and we still have the paper cranes for momentos.

3.5 stars for me so I'll round up to 4 for service and portion sizes. Nice Southeast Asian themed restaurant at the JW Marriott Desert Ridge! We liked about half of our dishes. Food came in a timely manner and good portions for the price. Expected dishes to be much smaller at a resort like this! Service was also kind. Slow at times but attentive.The good: beef rendang & crab fried rice. Beef was tender and tasted authentic with the spices. Delicious. Crab fried rice was not too salty and had lots of toppings. There was enough crab to tell that it was there.So-so: papaya salad & banana leaf fish - both were a bit too salty for me but flavors were on point and the fish was very soft and well cooked.The bad: pork belly noodles & thai tea shaved ice - pork belly was wayyy too salty and noodle flavors just OK. The dessert was disappointing - not much thai tea flavor and sweet marshmallow on top. It had pickled blueberries inside which was a weird combo for us. Dessert is on the house if its a bday. You also get a free one if you're staying at the resort too.Not sure if we'll return but if you're staying at this resort it's worth a try. We kept getting our hot water refilled and they were really nice about that!

Beautiful restaurant, delicious food, and wonderful service. Everything we ate had unique flavors and tasted amazing. My favorite dishes were the coconut sticky rice and silken chili tofu. Our server, Cole, was very informative about the menu and attentive throughout. He made sure we had a lovely evening. Thank you, Cole! Would highly recommend Kembara (and also would highly recommend Angelo Sosa's other restaurant across the hall, Tia Carmen)!

Loved the decor. Food delicious. Expect it be pricey considering where it is. Service was not the standard I'd expect for a high end restaurant. Had to ask 3 times for a tea refill and my husband didn't even get his iced tea. They served a nicely presented cocktail but took ages to arrive. Servers didn't seem to know who had ordered which dish, they just seemed confused.

This place was a super fun experience. I felt like I was walking into a vegas restaurant. The ambience was everything but ohmyword the food was AMAZING. The lamb spring rolls were so delectable. I savored every bite. And the sauce (have no idea what it was but I would order it just by itself). Khao soi has become one of my favorite thai dishes and theirs did not disappoint. They also have an amazing house hot sauce that just elevated everything if that was even possible. Super cool place to check out for date night or hanging out with the girls

We made reservations for Kembara last night for Valentine's Day, the restaurant is located inside the JW Marriott resort in the same location as Tia Carmen. We arrived and Valet parked (it was $25, but you can validate for $15 off, so we paid $10 plus tip) the lobby and resort is gorgeous, you take the elevator down and the restaurant is right on the lower level. The hostess was gracious and confirmed our dietary restrictions, my gf is vegetarian so they offered her a completely separate menu. We were seated right past the bar, the decor is lovely, dark, moody and hip. Everyone was very polite and welcomed us in. We were offered sparkling or still water. The menu is very involved and the cocktails are intricate. So if you don't like speciality cocktails this might not be the place for you. My gf ordered the tale of the genji and she described it as a salty margarita. The menu was explained to us, it's more family style with larger plates and small appetizers. I ordered the shrimp shu Mai. It was PERFECT. Delicate and soft, steaming hot and the filling was incredibly fresh and flavorful. For my entree I ordered the crab fried rice. It was delicious, fresh crisp veggies, large chunks of quality crab meat and overall very good. My gf ordered the vegetable curry, keep in mind it is basically a stew, so you will need to order a side of rice to go with it. The flavors were great, but she wished there had been more veggies in the dish. It was basically just broth over rice. Overall the service was fantastic, we were offered gourmet chocolates at the end of our meal. I would definitely return. The patio looked amazing as well. I'll definitely sit outside next time!

Beautiful atmosphere at night! Great food with shareable bowls but let me warn you, everything I ate except for pot stickers was spicy! We had the noodles with pork belly, steak, and beef that was sooo tender. Everything was great and I will definitely come back.