Bistro Ember

I had dinner here on a Sunday night. The restaurant was half full. The vibe was romantic. The service was warm and attentive.Food was good. 4.2/5I didn't try many items but liked all dishes that we got. - Artichoke beignet: it looked like mini arrancini. I loved the crunchiness and the sauce that came with it. It was my husband's fav of the night.- Manti: well done dish but I couldn't understand the combo of tomato sauce + tangy yogurt sauce. - Muhammara with flat bread: could be better but still good.- Chicken kebab: the chicken was excellently grilled, charred but tender and moist. - Coconut pudding: the pudding itself wasn't sweet but you had charred date to balance it out. Pretty good.It was nice to see them serving Far Niente as the dessert wine. Good choice right there.Overall I liked the dining experience here and would come back to try other items on their menu.

Bistro Ember is such a delight to eat at! Their meat was very tasty and high quality. I ordered the Pappardelle pasta but my friends ordered the chicken kebab, which was the highlight meal in my opinion. The chicken tasted especially seasoned and tender. The space inside felt a little cramped and many seats were next to each other. Nevertheless, the service was so good and our waiter was extremely attentive. It was definitely a "worth it" experience and the food was high quality!

Nice restaurant with good vibes and staff. Food is pretty delicious and there is a good variety of food on the menu. We ordered mostly off the appetizers list and just got 1-2 entrees. The meal ended up being ~$40 per person for a group of 12 girls.One negative aspect was that the restaurant did not have AC and we were there on a very hot day, with the sun beaming through the windows. The waitress kept bringing out ice water for us to help but it was still pretty hot..

This may be my new favorite restaurant. We came here for a birthday dinner and got a number of items. For appetizers, the bread is delicious and fresh, the seared tuna was perfectly seasoned, and the roasted cauliflower was great! I had the filet mignon and my favorite part of that dish was the blue cheese potatoes. We also got the fish and the homemade pesto pasta and every plate was nearly licked clean!The service was also phenomenal, very quick to fill your water, answer your questions, and make recommendations. Beautiful design inside and very comfortable. I can't wait to go back!

A close friend had previously been to Bistro Ember and, when suggesting dinner spots for us, included it as a place she'd happily return to but in the time between visits she'd noticed a change. Namely, the menu no longer skewed Turkish, and several of the things she'd previously enjoyed were no longer featured. This explains why we focused our meal entirely on the appetizers. The entree portion of the menu seemed disjointed and all over the place (spaghetti, risotto, kebab, Australian Lamb Chop) and nothing stood out as anything we must try. The appetizer portion of the menu created more interest and though it, too, lacked cohesion (spicy ahi tune poke anyone?) we cobbled together a Mediterranean-inspired meal which we enjoyed with a bottle of Turkish wine ($75).A shared Meze Platter ($18), Grilled Haloumi ($14), Manti ($16), and a Burrata/Tomato/Watermelon Salad ($16) were all nicely presented and tasted good, though mostly mild in flavor. Bistro Ember has created an elegantly attractive dining room. I'd come early on a weeknight when mine was the only party in the place but by the time I left I was happy to see many tables filled. Also happy to report that the dining room remained a place of quiet decibels; you could easily hear the person you were dining with. Nothing here blew my socks off. Everything tasted good, service was warm, and both the setting and food presentation is attractive. Sometimes that's all one requires and in this instance, it was.

Plenty of street parking within a few blocks of the restaurant.No cocktails and wine/beer list is unimpressive.I think the main issue I have with the restaurant is that it seems confused on its identity, Mediterranean? Italian? Californian? The appetizers overall are more appealing than the pastas.Duck rolls: Fine flavors, but pricey for the sizeRoasted cauliflower: tastyGrilled halloumi: Dish didn't feel cohesive and the halloumi wasn't great. Would skip.Manti entree size comes with 8 dumplings instead of 4. Most flavorful dish of the night. Lamb was not overpowering.Beets salad: Prepared well.Fettuccine/spaghetti/risotto: All were extremely disappointing with lack of flavor or salt. Would not recommend. As a neighborhood restaurant, it's okay, but would not be rushing back if you don't live in the area.

Warm, welcoming restaurant in Noe Valley. Was able to get a table for 4 as a walk in on an early and relatively quiet Wednesday night.Server explains dishes descriptively and carefully. I felt the lamb was a little under seasoned, but everything else was beautifully presented and for all of the other dishes, the taste matched the looks!

Came here with a small group for dinner and they did not disappoint! The food layout was beautiful, the service was great (they gave us an extra dessert on the house!) and the dishes were delicious. Would definitely come again.

Our second visit to Bistro Ember it was about 1/4 full with patrons and one server. We sat near the front left of the restaurant it was extremely cold had to keep our jackets on the whole dinner possible draft coming in so be prepared.The ambiance is beautiful, cozy, low lighting, jazz like setting. It was nice because we didn't sit near anyone the tables are very tight and when the restaurant is full it can be uncomfortable. Took awhile for our server to start our order because he was the only one working however very nice.Sangria was 10/10 wine was smooth full bodied and perfect amount of fruit. Grilled Halloumi 10/10 was delicious you can taste the fire grill on the cheese and was a perfect blend with the greens citrus and almonds.Manti 7/10 was just ok the first visit that was my favorite dish on the menu however this trio it wasn't bursting with flavors. New York strip 5/10 I ordered medium rare it was more medium to fully cooked however it was still tender. The asparagus was cooked perfectly but the whole dish lacked flavor. First time in my life I actually used the salt on the table for the whole dish which I only consumed half. Australian lamb chops 7/10 cooked perfect rest of the dish lacked flavors as well. Milky Cold baklava 9/10 great ending to the meal not too sweet or too sticky. If you want something but not a huge sweet lover this is the best option. I truly like this restaurant maybe we came too close to closing or on an off night. Wasn't as flavorful as our first visit and was hoping to order knafeh but we missed it.

The $18 meatballs were not homemade. They had the texture and subtlety of a frozen meatball from Trader Joe's. And they were served lukewarm (at best). The meze platter was fine but underwhelming and the lamb chops were tasty but everything on the plate was lukewarm. Best thing we ate were the creamy mushrooms side. Service was friendly and vibe was nice.