Embe Restaurant

Great restaurant, fabulous food and friendly staff, what more could you ask for :-)

I visited Embe for the first time with my wife. When we first arrived we were a bit put off by the lack of diners in the restaurant, but our fears were soon allayed. A friendly waitress greeted us warmly and after taking our coats directed us to our table. The interior was tastefully decorated and welcoming, this was enhanced by the open log fire giving a homely feel to the restaurant. There’s a couple of good guest ales available at the bar (constantly changing) reasonably priced. Nick (the owner and chef) came out and talked us through the menu and specials and offered to adjust the heat of any of the dishes for us. The food was excellently cooked and very reasonably priced, the Jerk chicken and curried mutton are instant favourites. We can’t wait to visit again! Menu example: Starters: Strips of Jerk Chicken with fried plantain £3.95
(£ 4.95 for the large to share) Gambas & Mushrooms MEDIUM HOT
Jumbo prawns in garlic with paprika, onions and mushrooms
finished with cashew nuts & melted cheese £3.95 Oven Ramiro Pepper MEDIUM HOT
stuffed with minced beef, scotch bonnet chillies
& diced christophene. £3.95 Mains: Jambalaya
A spicy combination with rice, chicken breast,
chorizo, tomato, jumbo prawns, christophene, sweet pepper
& carrots £9.95 Curried Mutton (The best of all curries)
Diced mutton marinated and cooked in tropical
curry spices with ginger, garlic scotch bonnet & fresh coriander. £9.95 Baked Red Snapper with/​out head
Oven baked then finished with embe’s fish sauce. £8.95 Coconut Rundown
A combination of carrots, christophene, onions,
sweet peppers, fresh tomato, courgette, cooked
together with garlic, thyme, bay leaves, in creamy
coconut sauce. Salad and fried plantain on side £7.95

I was disappointed that couldn’t mark this restaurant higher than a mere 5. Service very friendly and courteous. The food, although one dish I had was hotter than I normally I have, it was superbly presented and tasted very nice indeed. We met two couples who were there for the first time and had a great evening with them. I can see all of us returning here, even without the big discount vouchers we had. This restaurant is out on a limb from town, but I fully recommend it, if you want try something different.

I remember when Embe was on the Thorpe Road — I also remember that there was more food on the floor than on the plates. I hope they have a better cleaner now!

embe is an Afro Caribbean restaurant on Burghley Road in what used to be known as the Glass Onion. The location of embe is right on the outskirts of the city centre, only 10 minutes walk from the bus station or 4 minutes from the Broadway Theatre.
Renamed as The Rose, the pub now serves up soul food favourites such as curried mutton, jambalaya and my favourite — jerk chicken.
The interior is bright and modern, with plenty of contemporary wood surfaces. It’s quite a small pub/​restaurant but I believe there is a dining room upstairs too. It’s more of a casual dining restaurant than a formal affair — the food is the selling point here so enjoy.
When I visited, both the lamb and chicken starters were unavailable so I skipped the starter and went straight for the main.
I chose the jerk chicken and asked for it to be made extra hot. I don’t think twice about ordering a vindaloo/​phall in Indian restaurants so scotch bonnet peppers suit me just fine. If you don’t like spicy food, let the waiter/​waitress know and they’ll adjust the dish — a good sign that the food is cooked to order.
Now I’ve tried it, I’ll certainly be going back!