Like the 2 stars suggest, meh, I've experienced better.
I understand this is a fine dining establishment by Breck's standards, but I'm sorry to say that this place would bomb in a major city like Chicago or New York City. I don't mean to come off as a snob, but I know what fine dining is, and this place isn't it. You can tell that they're trying too hard with their "innovative" dishes and posh-posh decor, but something's missing. I don't know what it is, but there's something off about this place.
I'm all about trying new fusions of ingredients -- heck, I live for that stuff -- but the dish I ordered was not good at all. I got the vegetable Wellington and it was just so... bland and weird. Did you know that they put the mashed potatoes INSIDE the Wellington? That kind of threw me off, but I was still open to trying it. I'll have to say that the only good thing about that dish was the roasted tomato sauce on top. Everything else was seriously lacking in flavor and the combination of the ingredients was just too strange for me to handle. It also didn't help that my dish was TINY! The plate only consisted of the Wellington, which was the size of a tube of deodorant (couldn't think of a better comparison, sorry!) and a few sliced veggies on the side. I left the place HUNGRY (and a little mad that I forked over $16 for a glorified hot pocket).
Oh, I almost forgot: I visited this restaurant because it was my friend's birthday. The waiter surprised her with ice cream on top of a brownie... which was ROCK HARD. Seriously, no one could even break it until someone stabbed it with a knife! We tried everything... forks, spoons, knives, and even our hands. It eventually budged, but it kind of crumbled instead of breaking into pieces like we wanted. I didn't even want to eat it -- stale brownies scare me. I know that it was a nice gesture from the restaurant but come on! Don't dangle a beautiful, luscious, DROOLWORTHY brownie/ice cream dish in front of us hungry gals (after having served us a paltry meal) and then watch our dreams get shattered beyond repair upon finding out how inedible it is. That's just cruel, guys.
I suppose I'll end this review on a good note -- our waiter was great. He was really nice and knowledgeable.
** UPDATE **
Okay, I just received a message from the owner of this establishment (or one of the employees). It came from a no-face user with ONE review... a 5 star review for Ember! So yeah, obviously a fake account administered by the owner or one of the employees. This person ever so graciously said to me:
"you obviously don't know what fine dining is. Hahhahahah. Fine dining is white table cloths and a check average a lot higher than $40. There is not a single fine dining restaurant in Breckenridge. Meh????? More like Duh."
Congratulations, guys, the review is now one star (it used to be 2 stars because I was feeling generous). Come on, really, Ember? Grow up. Upon completing my review, I decided to simply not mention this place to any of my family or friends and MAYBE come back and give them another chance. After receiving the above message, I will be telling people NOT to come to Ember because not only will they serve you mediocre food, they will also treat you rudely after giving them your honest opinion. read more