Going to an expensive restaurant for a nice meal can create a memory for life. But one woman says she’s going to remember a heralded Austin restaurant, and not because she had a positive experience.
Rambamm (@rambamm), who is originally from Phoenix, took her fiancé to Ember Kitchen for an early birthday celebration. By the end of their visit, she said she wouldn’t be returning. Her post about the restaurant has nearly 1,000 views on TikTok.
What Happened at this Austin Restaurant?
Rambamm explained in her video that she originally wanted to go to Ember Kitchen, a popular Austin destination, for her fiancé’s 40th birthday. They made a reservation and went to the restaurant on a Saturday night.
The TikToker noticed the restaurant had two levels: a main level where performers were playing live music, and a downstairs basement. The main level had “five or six” tables that were available. But she noticed that their hostess was bringing them downstairs to the basement.
“This girl starts walking down the stairs. Miss ma’am, why are we walking away from the music? I turn to my fiancé and I’m like, ‘Where are we going?’ And he’s like, ‘Hmm, I don’t know.’ So we follow her. We let her do her thing, and we get downstairs. And it’s a dungeon. It’s dark. There’s no music down there. You can… hear people’s conversation,” she said.
Rambamm didn’t want to be rude, but she also didn’t want to eat at the table the restaurant offered them. She asked if it was possible to move upstairs. The hostess who led them downstairs said they’d see what they could do. Then another hostess got involved.
“There’s another girl at the hostess stand … being a little condescending, like, ‘What was wrong with it?’ And I’m like, ‘You know, there’s not really anything wrong with it, but the vibe we’re going for isn’t really like serious. We’re here to have fun. It’s our first time. We’re celebrating his 40th, and you know, we just wanna listen to music.’ So then she tells me, ‘Well, I don’t have anywhere to put you right next to the music,’” Rambamm said.
Rambamm clarified that she didn’t want to be right next to the music; she just wanted to be nearby.
The hostess offered her bar seating, which Rambamm didn’t want to take. She asked for a regular table, and they eventually sat down “at the smallest two-top table in a corner by some metal post right in front of the elevator.”
How were the appetizers and drinks at Ember Kitchen?
Despite recognizing that they wouldn’t be able to fit all of the food they wanted to order on the table, Rambamm took the two-top. She and her partner began their drink order.
Rambamm asked for a dirty martini, and she was pleasantly surprised when the employee asked her how many olives she wanted. She asked for four. She received the full olive count, but she was surprised to find that her drink didn’t appear to be full.
“ Why does it look like somebody already drank out of it?” she asked. By then, she was questioning if she was going to have a good time, but she continued with appetizers.
The content creator ordered a hamachi crudo and said it barely had any hamachi in it. She also said the hamachi was “so fishy” and otherwise flavorless.
The content creator ordered the tuna tartare next and said the plate had a small portion of tuna, especially when compared to the larger portion of guacamole and plantain chips on her plate. Rambamm said the guacamole did not have salt and that the plantain chips were, at times, oily.
She and her fiancé ordered an octopus dish next, which had “no flavor.” She said that she received a “single octopus tentacle” and that everything else on the dish was rubbery. “ It was over-boiled, and it wasn’t grilled,” she added.
After that round of ordering, Rambamm decided on one of the restaurant’s appetizers that had shrimp in it, which she said was okay.
How were the couple’s entrees?
Outside of the appetizers, Rambamm and her partner ordered sides and entrees. But the content creator had issues with those, too.
She ordered broccolini, which she said came out “ice cold.” She also ordered beef tallow fries, which, according to her, “collapsed” when she bit into them.
Then came the straw that broke the camel’s back—the steak. Rambamm said her steak was salty and that everything else on her plate tasted flavorless.
“Like, where did the salt come from earlier in the night, guys? Did you just use it all on the steak?” she asked. She did, however, praise the restaurant for getting the cook on her steak exactly right.
She took two bites of her meal and returned it to her server, whom she praised for taking the menu item off the bill. Regardless, Rambamm didn’t have a good time at Ember Kitchen.
“If you ever go to Ember Kitchen, don’t,” Rambamm said. “That’s all I gotta say to you, because y’all will never see my face, and I’m pretty sure you don’t want to.”
@rambamm The saxophone was saxophoning throughout this whole dinner. 3/10 and that’s me being nice. #austinfoodie #restaurantreview #austinrestaurant #emberkitchen #foodreview ♬ Swan Lake “dance of four swans” – Kohrogi
Did Others Agree With The Ember Kitchen Review?
Multiple viewers criticized the restaurant after seeing the creator’s video. Some even shared experiences they said they had at the establishment.
One said, “I went there for Valentine’s Day. Ordered surf and turf, ate a little lobster and saw the steak was completely cooked through. While I waited for them to recook the steak, I had to run to the bathroom and throw up lobster. Sick for hours that night. Never again!!!”’
Another person added, “Why the tuna look like road kill … I would be so mad.” Rambamm replied, “RIIIGHT!!!! … I was trying to cut the crust off the steak like a psycho. It was just a complete joke.”
Then, a third person suggested the restaurant’s seafood wasn’t fresh. Rambamm replied, “100%.”
As of this writing, Ember Kitchen has 4.6 stars on Yelp across more than 300 reviews. While there aren’t many reviews that have similar findings, some reviewers called the restaurant’s offerings “Overpriced” with “disappointing quality.”
Others, however, have praised menu items like the tuna tartare and the Wagyu steak.
The Mary Sue reached out to Rambamm via TikTok direct message and Ember Kitchen via Instagram direct message for comment.
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Rachel Thomas
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