Two drinks: Embers

The Kobe Burger with house made French fries and Angus beef sliders from Embers (Credit: Will Velarde | Metromix)

I hate Christmas shopping. Everything about it. I hate second-guessing my purchases, fighting crowds of people, handing over my credit card, all of that.

I mention this because if you are like me, and if you find yourself trying not to commit murder while searching for a parking spot at Kenwood Towne Centre, perhaps you should consider popping over to Embers.

It will make you feel much better.

The upscale steak and seafood place on Montgomery Road has been advertising its new bar menu, so a friend and I headed there one night after work. We got to the bar just in time for happy hour, which meant $5 wine for me, $5 cocktails for him and high fives for both of us. Just kidding. I would never high five in a place as fancy as Embers.

And it is fancy - I'm pretty sure that was real fur in the coat check - but not stuffy. We were allowed to squeak in a second happy hour drink, even at 6:01. (My companion switched to wine after his kick-in-the-face-then-warm-your-soul Ginger in the Rye, a concoction of whiskey, absinthe, blood orange bitters, pressed lime and ginger beer.)

The bar menu was brief but had everything you might want to accompany a drink: sliders, a hot dog and, my favorite, duck fat fries. We wanted to stray from the usual, and so we started with the guacamole ($7), which came with fried plantains and sweet potato and tortilla chips for dipping.

No joke, it was out of the kitchen in five minutes, and it was a light, fresh start to our meal. Next up? Spicy-sweet-smoky Vietnamese ribs ($10) for him - the dry rub made for a much less messy rib-eating experience - and grilled cheese and tomato soup ($7) for me.

This is some good, high-end bar food. The ribs fell nicely from the bone and were so easy to eat that I plowed through three of them without asking my friend's permission. (I also ate his leftovers before they even had time to cool in the fridge. Oops.)

My grilled cheese sandwich was three crunchy, buttery bites stacked beside a thick tomato bisque perfect for dunking. I imagined ordering this after a rough day fighting the beasts at the mall - kicking back with a big old glass of wine and consoling myself with some delicious comfort food.

I think you should try it. And once the holidays are over, you should check out Embers' bar menu simply because it's full of great food. Hit the place up during happy hour (4-6 p.m.) or go on a Thursday, when the bar menu is half-price, and you'll be even more satisfied with your decision.