We were sad to see Boxcar Social on Boulton go. And we were curious to see what would replace it. Eventually Amber Kitchen opened in the space. We tried it for dinner and sat on the patio, although there is a nice seating area inside also. The feel is very casual, more cafe than restaurant. The food is very good, aiming a bit higher than cafe and muddling together Middle Eastern and European flavours (the chef worked at Parallel and is of Ukrainian background).
We had a couple of nice wines by the glass:
- Petita Julieta Rosado, Conca de Barbera, Spain - delightful, gentle, red fruity, and nutty
- Pearl Morissette Blu 2022 - 4-grape orange blend, lemony and toasty
We started off with eggplant caponata, featuring smokey roasted eggplant, sweet bell peppers, onion, fermented chili paste, roasted walnuts, vinegar, and olive oil. This came with wonderful freshly baked bread.
Simpler and yet even better was the red pepper spread: sweet roasted peppers, garlic, parmesan, sea salt, olive oil, and more great bread - sweet, smokey, and nutty.
Beef carpaccio had a Middle Eastern/Persian spin, with pomegranate seeds and molasses, roasted walnuts, (red) watercress, shallots, scallions, caperberries, parsley, schug, and olive oil - as attractive to the eye as to the palate.
Seared sea bream came with a nice butter and saffron sauce, rounded out with white wine, garlic, lemon juice, and yu choy - beautifully cooked fish with a great tangy sauce.
Slow-cooked short rib fell off the bone easily and was supposedly flavoured with berbere spice, plus local beer and honey. It came with soft corn polenta, corn kernels, parmesan, scallions, beet pickled onion, red watercress - all well done and tasty, despite being too subtle with the berbere.
The lone dessert was a not-too-sweet dark chocolate mousse, with tangy raspberry compote and some chantilly cream, cocoa, and pistachio.
They also do brunch, which we plan to try.
