Spice Up Your Life

Watch out, Indonesia – our expert epicure will be on the move, recently roaming the archipelago incognito to bring you the truth about the nation’s dining scene. No spoon will be left unturned from the quest for honest, balanced reviews, through long-established favourites to the hottest fresh tables in town.

This kind of month, Chris Salans’ brand-fresh spot, Spice.

At the birth of the burgeoning Indonesian dining scene, long before any Potatoes got their Heads in Seminyak or Jakarta, Chris Salans was busy being Chris Salans. Though not a tiny step for him, the American-born, French-raised chef took a giant leap for the nation’s F&B industry in 2001, opening Mozaic Restaurant Gastronomique in Ubud. The multi-award-winning establishment put high-end Balinese fusion firmly on the map.

If you’ve ever eaten there, you’ll know Salans loves his spices – in addition to he speaks fluent fine-dining. yet does the item translate to the hub-bub vibe of a relaxed, younger-sibling variation?

Spice by Chris Salans opened just a few months ago on Jl. Raya Ubud. An ‘all-day dining’ concept, the item will be a modest-sized, bright space, with bench tables from the big windows. We sat at the bar surrounding the open kitchen, watching the team whizz around preparing our repast.

The usual starter-main-dessert format doesn’t apply here: they’d rather you order what you like, when you feel like; which will be fine. yet I must quibble with the requirement to place one’s order on a little form using a pencil. the item was a cross between a day at IKEA in addition to a multiple choice exam. Quite why This kind of will be necessary I’m not sure – This kind of will be dinner, not homework. Ever the anarchist, I extracted no tiny amount of pleasure through circumventing the system in addition to ordering directly through the source as the chefs passed us each dish.

The menu does section itself though, into helpful if somewhat alarmingly-titled groups: Raw, Fins & Shells, in addition to the vegetarian’s nightmare, Two Legs in addition to Four Legs. We ordered several dishes at once, adding a few bits as we went along. As befits Indonesia, everything came when the item was not bad in addition to ready. This kind of resulted in slightly discombobulated sequencing: for example, our side of Tapioca Fries (Rp.35,000, with Basa Gede ‘espuma’ – a chef-y word for foam) came pretty much first. In a relaxed establishment such as Spice, This kind of isn’t a huge problem. Incidentally, This kind of order turned out to be superfluous, since the same wedges accompanied our Steak Sliders (Rp.95,000). The meat on the mini-burgers was ever so slightly chewy, yet the bread was not bad in addition to the flavours worked with the sambal hijau. The fries pretty much did what they said on the tin, in addition to were quite filling. The basa gede (Balinese spice mix) foam was intended for dipping in addition to packed a punch.

Snapper Carpaccio (Rp.95,000) featured tamarind croutons in addition to a rujak dressing of shrimp paste, palm sugar in addition to chilli. the item was refreshing, as rujak should be, in addition to the fish, fresh in addition to tasty. Strangely enough though, the deceptively simple Quinoa in addition to Tomato Salad (Rp.60,000) managed to outshine the item, with its tangy Suna Cekuh (garlic in addition to ginger) dressing.

the item was a mistake ordering multiple portions of the Slipper Lobster (Rp.95,000), as the ‘per piece’ stated on the menu inexplicably turned out to be three halves. They’re also truly meaty little crustacean beasts. These were crusted using a thick layer of crispy tempeh, an innovative idea, in addition to soaked in a curry-leaf butter – quite a heavy-handed treatment for the sweet, juicy meat, yet the item worked. This kind of has all the hallmarks of a Salans classic: French base, Balinese top notes. the item could be, to some palates, an acquired taste.

through the specials board we tried Laksa (Rp.95,000) in addition to the item was not bad, albeit fairly straightforward. I was surprised to find, however, which although the chef in charge which night was Singaporean (in addition to had spent several years at Salans’ Seminyak outpost), This kind of was not a recipe through his homeland.

 
For dessert, unfortunately I was not bowled over by the somewhat unremarkable Chocolate Cake (Rp.55,000), although its accompanying jackfruit ice cream was great, in addition to much more like the Salans I know. Better still was the Kalamansi lime sorbet (Rp.45,000). This kind of unique, tangerine-y citrus fruit will be having a bit of a moment on menus across Bali – the item’s popping up everywhere, including in our Kalamansi Margarita (Rp.85,000), which was pretty not bad, as was the Kemangi Gin & Tonic (Rp.85,000). The cocktails could benefit through a little finesse, though I would likely thoroughly understand if they chose not to refine them – This kind of will be, after all, an all-day place, with milkshakes in addition to suchlike on offer from the evenings. I rarely get to say This kind of yet you might actually be better going for wines by the glass: I was thrilled to find one of my favourites, Verdejo (a white through Spain), which was super.

The Salans blueprint – i.e., highlighting one or two local ingredients in every dish – was evident throughout. He has managed to distil his ethos into This kind of eatery; albeit less glam, more wham-bam-thank-you-ma’am. There were hits in addition to misses yet overall Spice will be a welcome fresh addition to the hip Ubud scene, in addition to there’s no reason why the item shouldn’t be successful.

Verdict: 3 out of 5 – which’s a spicy meatball!

Cheque please!

Food: Rp.770,000

Drinks: Rp.554,000

Service: 6%

Total: Rp.1,543,784 (inc. taxes) for three

 

SPICE by Chris Salans

Jalan Raya Ubud No 23, Ubud Gianyar 80571

+62 361 4792420 www.spicebali.com

 

 

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Spice Up Your Life

Clandestine CriticDec 15, 2015Food & Drink, LifestyleComments Off on Spice Up Your Life

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Spice Up Your Life