Chez Gado Gado, Seminyak, Bali
Posted by | Categories: Bali, French, Restaurants, Travel
Bearing in mind that our mini-break to Bali was a spontaneous and relatively unplanned trip the holiday’s budget was a little tighter than I am normally accustomed to. It was our fourth night and we had already eaten at some very impressive restaurants such as Ku De Ta and La Lucciola. These were wonderful meals but they came at prices that are comparable to those back in Perth. To add to the situation it is only a year before our wedding date (WOOT!) and the boy was getting justifiably concerned about our spending habits knowing full well that we still had our Sydney trip the following week!
Once again by recommendation, this time from one of our travelling companions who came with us last year in Phuket, we made the journey in the torrential monsoon rain to the more built up southern part of Seminyak to Chez Gado Gado. On entry into this opulent venue I started to worry that I had inadvertently chosen another pricy restaurant. Thankfully after scanning the menu I was relieved to see that things were all very reasonably priced despite the external appearance of the restaurant being quite fancy.
We were greeted promptly by the maître D who had been kindly informed in advance by our hotel reception of my dietary requirements. She explained she would get the chef to come to our table so I could discuss the menu directly with him. The executive chef is Quirijn Rademaker, a Dutchman who has been working at Gado Gado for the past 4 years having previously come from Shy restaurant in Jakarta. He was keen and energetic and offered to adapt a number of options off his menu for me. I was eyeing off the terrine of smoked and cured salmon with crab, pomelo and sour cream vinaigrette. He said although the terrine is not suitable, he could make me a salmon carpaccio and accompany it with a dill mustard cream, fresh fennel and the pomelo. I haven’t tried salmon with citrus before – it sounds like a pretty weird thing to combine, but surprisingly it really worked and I was suitably impressed.
Butter poached slipper lobster with crab ravioli, spinach and kaffir beurre blanc
The boy ordered the lobster ravioli which I obviously couldn’t taste but looked really flavoursome. Having eaten out for a number of nights in a row, he was starting to get a little weary of my repeated and incessant questions regarding the taste of his meals so I didn’t get much of a description from him other than “delicious”.
Roasted duck breast with terrine of the leg, sweet and sour beetroot, potato gratin and Sichuan jus
After such fresh and saporous entrees, unfortunately our main meals were lacklustre by comparison. The potato gratin was served lukewarm and tasted like it had been re-heated. The jus contained onion so the chef made an alternate sauce for me that was too peppery and didn’t balance well with the sweetness of the beetroot and duck. None of the dish was unpleasant by any stretch of the imagination, just mismatched and poorly combined.
We had also ordered some sides of sautéed mushrooms and zucchini with mint and garlic. These sides were seemingly forgotten and I had to remind the waiter that we ordered them. They didn’t come out until we had finished our mains completely. The sautéed mushrooms were juicy and tasty but the zucchini was soggy with excessive oil and was intensely overloaded with garlic. After overdosing on our garlic we had no room left for dessert and tried to make the most of the break in the rain and head back to the villa. As soon as we had paid the bill and were heading out the front door to hail ourselves a cab – the heavens opened up again and the tropical downpour continued! We got thoroughly soaked!
Travelling to Bali? Be sure to check out the Lonely Planet Bali and Lombok Travel Guide before you go!
Like Me on Facebook! Chez Gado Gado Jalan Camplung Tanduk, (Dhyanapura) 99, Seminyak, Bali, 80361 INDONESIA | (+62) 361 736966 | www.gadogadorestaurant.com Price: $$ (Entrees 88-164K Rp/$9-17 AUD, Mains 146-295K Rp/$15-30 AU) (incl. tax & service charges) Food: 3/5 (has potential – overall not bad) Service: 3/5 (slow on drinks service and forgot side dishes) Ambience: 3/5 (would be awesome to watch the sunset on the deck weather permitting) Drinks: 2.5/5 (cocktails were fairly average) Total: 11.5/20La Lucciola, Seminyak, Bali
Posted by | Categories: Bali, Featured, Italian, Restaurants, Travel
After our decadent meal at Ku De Ta there was some discussion amongst our friends on Facebook which lead to a number of alternate dining recommendations being given. We decided to follow their advice and booked a table at La Lucciola which was conveniently in Seminyak where we were staying. To the Boy’s satisfaction we also managed to book the hotel car in advance and dodge being over charged by local taxis. He is not the biggest fan of the whole rorting system of taxis in Bali and this was cause of many complaints from him.
The restaurant is located right up on the beach but unfortunately we arrived just after sunset so we missed the view as the golden sun had already plunged into the sea. Despite this, I was still amazed at what a stunning setting; the restaurant is surrounded by lush gardens and Koi ponds facing out directly onto the beach. It faces towards an area of beach on the northern end of Seminyak beach which is much quieter and more peaceful than the main area.
We were greeted with beaming smiles from all the staff and found a distinct lack of pretention that we saw when at Ku De Ta. Upon arrival I handed the waiter my allergy eating card and off it went to make its obligatory journey around the kitchen to be returned back some time later with the waiter who offered some recommendations off the menu. I was also informed that although normal bread is complementary, they do have gluten-free bread available for a small extra charge. Being the only place in Bali that offered me gluten-free bread, I was already feeling quite positive about our evening.
The bread had great texture and was not crumbly or stodgy and I was quite impressed as I haven’t had a lot of good gluten-free bread experiences when travelling in Asian countries. It was served with freshly whipped butter and olive oil.
Vitello tonnato: poached veal, tuna aioli, Sicilian capers, wild rocket, black olives, Parmigiano Reggiano
I had recently been reading a review on My Kitchen Stories on Café Sopra in Sydney where she tried their vitello tonnato. So when I saw it on the menu I was keen to try this classic and elegant Italian summer dish for the first time. It truly was a taste sensation. The veal was tender and subtly sweet and was topped with big dollops of creamy almost pungent tuna flavoured sauce which contained an astringent hint of capers. The sauce was definitely the key to this dish’s success.
Roast duck breast, beetroot, watercress, pear crostata
The boy ordered the duck for his entrée which consisted of a moist, juicy duck breast on top of a crisp pear pastry. It was accompanied with some crunchy peppery watercress, fresh pear and some sweet beetroot. He was suitably very impressed with his choice.
Pan roasted barramundi with Prosciutto, celeriac puree, snow peas, red wine reduction
My main was not nearly as tasty as the veal. The barramundi was slightly over cooked and lacked that flaky softness I passionately love about this fish. I also felt that wrapping such a delicate fish in prosciutto overpowered the flavours somewhat. The celeriac purée helped to lift some of this heaviness making the dish still overall quite enjoyable.
Seafood stew: scampi, prawns, snapper, calamari, chilli, sourdough bruschetta
According to the Boy this was a very filling dish. It was heartily seasoned and all the seafood was cooked to his liking. We also ordered some sides: the wild rocket salad with Pecorino Toscano and some roasted golden pumpkin with sliced almonds and balsamic. The rocket was crisp and fresh with generous shavings of the salty almost nutty flavoured cheese. The pumpkin had the skin removed prior to roasting which is a shame as I think that caramelised chewy part is the best bit!
Berry pannacotta
The berry pannacotta held good shape despite the heat and didn’t collapse on my plate. It was delightfully light and silky and it filled the last little spot left in my stomach perfectly. The Boy ordered the gelato which he felt was fairly standard and nothing to get too excited about.
Gelato: coconut, vanilla bean, strawberry
La Lucciola was our second favourite meal during this Bali trip (compared to Ku De Ta) but if you take into consideration the venue, the price and the service I would say this meal was actually the best.
Travelling to Bali? Be sure to check out the Lonely Planet Bali and Lombok Travel Guide before you go!
Have you liked my Facebook page?
La Lucciola Jl. Kayu Aya, Seminyak, Bali 80361, Indonesia | (+62) 361 730 838 Price: $$$ (Entrée 107-145K Rp, $11-15 AUD, Mains 215-325K Rp, $22-33 incl tax) Food: 4.5/5 (they have gluten-free bread!) Service: 5/5 (faultless, attentive, not obtrusive) Ambience: 4.5/5 (beautiful beachside setting) Drinks: 3/5 (cocktails could be improved) Total: 17/20
Ku De Ta, Seminyak, Bali
Posted by | Categories: Bali, European, Featured, Restaurants, Travel
It was our first night in Bali and our refreshing welcome drink served at our villa was a much needed treat. It had taken us no less than an hour and a half to travel a mere twelve kilometres through bumper to bumper traffic from the airport to Seminyak. Once we had checked into our villa and discovered the free minibar wasn’t very well stocked, we decided to head out into the town in search of something to eat and drink. I had been given a long list of eating venues from friends back home so I started at the top of the list and chose Ku De Ta.
I tried to not to compare my first impressions of Bali with our recent times in Thailand but this was a difficult task to do. Having been to a few locations on a couple of trips to Thailand, there is definitely something about the people and their country that makes me smile. I guess that is why they call it the “Land of Smiles”! Bali just didn’t give me that same overwhelming feeling of happiness but at this early stage of the trip I hadn’t recognised this fully nor even now do I completely understand why.
Ku De Ta is an impressive venue day or night and I regret not going back there during the day to get a better look at their beach club in the sunlight. The venue is spacious with several different areas to either relax for drinks or sit down for something a bit more formal. The bar opens directly out onto the beach with sun beds and parasols all set up for those who want to enjoy a sun downer. The crowd was predominately Australian and had an air of pretention about it, which I think was the first distinct difference to equivalent venues in Thailand. I started to feel like I may as well have come to a beach club in my own country. In contrast to the patrons, the service was very welcoming and they were more than happy to take my eating card back to the kitchen to determine what I could have off their menu. The waiter returned with two entrée options and four main dish options that would be possible.
Eagle Rock and Otter Cove oysters
As you may know, I love my oysters. More specifically, I like trying new types of oysters that we haven’t tried before. Sydney Rock Oysters are a particular favourite of mine – they are smaller and have a more intense and distinct flavour than Pacific Oysters and they take apparently take 2-3 times longer to reach maturity. Ku De Ta offered two types of oyster but unfortunately they were not Sydney Rock. One type was from Eagle Rock and the other was from Otter Cove and both are Pacific oysters grown in Washington’s Puget Sound in the US. We ordered half a dozen of each type. The Eagle Rock were delicately flavoured, sweet and very creamy. The Otter Cove oysters were also quite sweet but were a little brinier than the Eagle Rock. Both were very fresh and left me with that lingering salty aftertaste of the sea.
Tuna and lobster tartare, wasabi, flying fish roe, crème fraiche, sesame seeds
My entrée of tuna and lobster tartare was visually very appealing and almost looked too pretty to eat. It was served on paper thin slices of cucumber placed crisscrossed against each other to make a decorative pattern on my plate. There was just enough wasabi to give the dish a kick making every mouthful a burst of freshness and the dressing had just a hint of sweetness ending the orchestra of flavours perfectly.
The Boy had crispy soft-shelled crab salad which was served with pork belly. He let me have a little taste of the pork belly and it was cooked perfectly with a succulent layer of meat covered with a very crunchy and crispy layer of crackling. The soft-shelled crab was battered so I didn’t get to try any but according to him it was again cooked to perfection although it wasn’t very meaty. He said the salad was an explosion of flavour with the sweet Borneo honey, tangy citrusy pomelo, cucumber and salty cashews.
Sweet Alaskan black “miso” cod, picked daikon, asparagus, shiitake mushrooms, shiso dressing, flying fish roe
My main dish was similarly mind blowing. The cod was the texture of butter and fell apart under my fork purely melting in mouth. It was marinated in a shiso dressing which has a similar taste to basil but much more subtle. The salad contained mushrooms which you may know are pretty much my favourite vegetable of all time and this was also dressed with the syrupy shiso.
Grilled seafood a la plancha, barramundi, scallop, scampi, soffrito, fregola, aioli, almond picada
The Boy ordered the grilled seafood a la plancha. It was served on a bed of fregola (small ball shaped pasta resembling Israeli couscous) and a soffrito sauce (basically tomato, onion and garlic). His fish was not as delicate and buttery as mine as they used barramundi which is a slightly more firm fish. The remainder of his seafood was juicy and tender particularly the scallops.
Pleasantly impressed with the quality of the food and the service, we both were too full for dessert and decided to get the bill before returning to our villa. To our complete surprise the bill came to nearly $300 Australian dollars! In Bali! The Boy was in shock! When you consider the local’s average income this meal was extremely overpriced from what it was. It was however the best one we had in our whole time in Bali and I will return next time I’m in Seminyak.
Travelling to Bali? Be sure to check out the Lonely Planet Bali and Lombok Travel Guide before you go!
Ku De Ta Jalan Laksmana, 9, Seminyak, Bali 80361, Indonesia | +62 361 736969 | www.kudeta.net Price: $$$$ (142K-220K Rp/ $15-23 AUD entrée, 300K-370K Rp / $32-40 AUD mains) Food: 4.5/5 (wonderful layers of flavours) Service: 4.5/5 (accommodating and friendly) Ambience: 3.5/5 (gorgeous setting but lots of pretentious Australian tourists) Drinks: 4.5/5 (cocktails were delicio!) Total: 17/20
