When you mention Ubud, you would inevitably link it to Mozaic restaurant, the best in Bali and amongst the top restaurants in Southeast Asia.

Mozaic is the brainchild of Chef Salons and it has received recognition by Traditions & Qualité as one of Les Grandes Tables du Monde (Great Tables of the World), the only Southeast Asian restaurant to be bestowed with such honour.

True to its reputation, Mozaic delivers an inspiring dining experience with deft execution and infusing Balinese ingredients with modern French techniques.

A step into Mozaic will surely bring you an awe-inspiring evening with personable Balinese touch, in a romantic garden dining pavillion.

Mozaic holds lovely memories for me and my special someone.
I am only too happy to have Mozaic encase more of such memories in our second trip there.

The evening began with lovely warm bread- black rice roll. The bread rolls here are top class and I can finish plenty if not for the fact that I needed to save room for the 6-course dinner.

Black rice roll

My choice of menu was the Chef's tasting menu while J had the Discovery menu which was more Balinese inspired.

My starter of the langoustine carpaccio was instantaneously refreshing. The infusion of vanilla and macadmia in the langostine was an unexpected but pleasant surprise. The dish worked its magic, contrasting with the crispy, spiced pepper crackers and refreshing herbs.


Fresh langoustine carpaccio

The pan-seared ocean scallops that J had were just as lovely. Sweet and fresh ocean scallops with a crispy and slightly charred exterior go hand-in-hand with the spiced pumpkin sauce.

My next course was another piece of art, culinary art that is. The pan-seared Tasmanian salmon fillet was served on a apple-ginger puree, apple gelee, tamarind reduction and crunchy apple salad. The salmon was done to perfection- the right doneness beneath the crispy seared surface. The apple-ginger puree made the dish very light and refreshing. The tamarind reduction hit the right notes complementing the apple puree and salad with its slight sourness and tartness.


Pan seared Tasmanian salmon fillet

The foie gras course was the course that I was awaiting from the moment I set my eyes on the menu. It was one of the deciding factors that swayed me away from the Discovery menu. Foie Gras in 3-ways- the terrine with stone-fruits reduction, the char-grilled foie gras with a thick and rich cocoa sauce with cumquat sauce, smoked foie gras with jelly of liquorice and beetroot raspberry.

With the advice from the service staff to savour the dish in the above order, I was relishing every single morsel. The saltiness of the terrine contrasted with the pure sweetness of the fruit reduction and chutney. The char-grilled foie gras was perfectly executed- a contrast of textures and flavours. The deep and rich cocoa sauce contrasted with the citrusy flavours from the cumquat sauce made this particular foie gras sing for me.

Lastly, the smoked flavours of the foie gras was the strongest of all which explains why it had to be eaten last. Though not a fan of liquorice in any form, I thought that the jelly of liquorice and the beetroot raspberry was just the right touch for the rich smoky flavours.


Foie Gras in 3 ways

With the first three courses ending off on such a high note, it's natural that my expectations would be as high, if not higher. The mains was one of my all-time favourite: the rack of lamb. The rack of lamb from Australia was seared and served with vanilla-coriander braised endives, jasmine balsamic reduction and guiness beer emulsion.

The dish was a huge disappointment. The rack of lamb had a very gamey flavour which I dislike. It wasn't seared well-enough; the guiness beer emulsion just didn't work for me as I felt that it was too strong a flavour to go with the lamb.

This is the second time the mains at Mozaic had disappointed me. I just can't figure out if I'm unlucky or if the chef at the meat station is failing.


Victoria rack of lamb

On to desserts, I really enjoyed J's pre-dessert. It was a ginger-flower sorbet served with strawberries compote, lime leaf and black rice tuille. I'm in love of the ginger-flower as of now. Such refreshing flavours, well-balanced textures- a perfect dish that reflects Chef Salon's cooking philosophy.


Balinese Kecicang sorbet

My pre-dessert was lovely as well. Fresh Coloummier cheese. a type of French brie served with truffle honey, mixed dried fruits and walnut pastilla. I enjoy the extra rich, creamy and nutty flavours that the Coloummier cheese offer unlike the rest of the brie family. Very nice and perfect with wine but a little too heavy for a pre-dessert, in my opinion.


Fresh Coloummier cheese

My dessert was the unexpectedly boring chocolate lava cake. To be truthful, this is not what I expect from Mozaic. The chocolate used was good dark chocolate- Valrhona Guanaja, however, the lava cake was slightly overdone which cannot be forgiven. It was served bitter espresso granita which was a disastrous match in both texture and flavours. The espresso flavour was overpowering the taste of the chocolate. The texturers of the granita and choclate fondant just doesn't go.

J's dessert was way better. A perfectly made phyllo pastry with a lovely passionfruit cream filling served with coconut sorbet, and milk agar agar. Now, this is a decent dessert that showcase Mozaic's use of local ingredients in creative ways.



Fresh passionfruit cream baked in phyllo pastry

Despite a few slip ups, Mozaic reamins an unforgettable experience for J and I.

It's almost as if the feast of sights, colours, sounds, and flavours are crafted just for us.

To us, Mozaic is a feast in celebration of our love.

Mozaic
Jl. Raya Sanggingan, Ubud, Gianyar - Bali 80571
Indonesia

Phone:+62 361 975768
reservations@mozaic-bali.com
Reservations are an absolute must.

After dinner drinks at City Spaces

Not to be overly dramatic but our dinner at Jaan was our last meal together for the year of 2008. G was to fly off to India the next day and so we decided to have our post-Christmas, pre-new year celebration before she leaves.

We eventually decided to go to Jaan. After my amazing dining experience at Jaan on my mother's birthday, I knew that under the helm of Chef Andre Chiang, Jaan would be able to offer us a more than satisfactory meal.

Satisfactory is understated.

The dinner we had was way amazing. I must say that the chef has outdone himself.

We each ordered the découverte meal which consisted of five courses excluding the desserts and petit fours.

For me, the meal was almost like a culinary journey, a discovery of food and my senses.

It started off on a high note. The first dish was Brittany lobster in two-ways. The first was minced under a bed of apple-basil tapioca tartine and the second was the claw of the lobster.

This dish was served with a peach ravioli that burst in your mouth complementing with the freshness of the lobster and the sweet and tartness of the apple-basil tartine.


Duo of Brittany lobster, apple-basil tapioca tartine, peach ravioli

The second dish is my personal favourite.
It's a roasted live scallop served on a puree of blue-violet potato and a cigar of wild mushroom.

The freshness and tender scallop that was nicely roasted to give it a slightly smoky flavour. The potato puree was a surprise, a really pleasant surprise because it did justice to the scallop. And the puff pastry cigar of wild mushrooms was simply amazing. The smoky, rich flavours of the mushrooms encased in the buttery rolled up puff pastry completed the dish, just like that.


Roasted giant live scallop with wild mushroom cigar

Our third dish was a consommé . It does seem that in recent months that the consommé has become a perrenial favourite at restaurants tables.

This consommé of kaffir lime and lemongrass has strong hints of Thai-Asian influence. Its lightness in terms of flavour helped cleansed our palate of the rich flavours of the previous two plates. The stone crab salad served on the side of the consommé was also freshening with its focus mainly on the freshness of the seafood.


Kaffir lime and lemongrass consommé with stone-crab tartine

Moving on to the mains, we had black truffle butter spaghetti. This is a fine example of the use of a few, top quality ingredients to create a mouth-watering dish.


Black truffle spaghetti

Next up was the slow roasted lamb fillet with wild rice souffle with cumin-scented pumpkin sauce. While it was a dish done well, I can't help but to feel just a little let down by the sheer fact that the dish was not as exciting as the previous dishes. It marred a little on the conventional side. That aside, this lamb fillet was roasted to the right doneness-medium rare. And I am still a huge fan of his popped wild rice.


Slow-roasted lamb with crispy wild rice souffle 'carbonara' served on cumin-scented pumpkin puree

By the end of the appetisers and mains, both G and I were already on a food high. The remaining desserts, however, continued to surprise our palates and tastebuds. The pre-dessert was a plum granita served with sabayon and julienned green apple slices. The granita really hit the spot with its sourness and tartness.


Pre-dessert

The dessert platter, most of which were vegetable-inspired, sent us on a journey of exploration. We cautiously poked at them. I must say that these may be one of the most interesting platter of dessert that I have tried. The artichoke crème brûlée with tarragon ice cream were amongst the better desserts. I never thought that I would actually like crème brûlée.

Coincidentally, the both of us left the safest for the last- Named 'Snicker 2009', it was the chef's take on the snickers. It was interesting but after the vegetable desserts, it was really no big deal.

Vegetable inspired desserts

I was already brimming with food when we were served our petit fours- Financiers (or friands), chocolate marshmallow, chocolate macaron, raspberry white chocolate and dark chocolate with mint. That really ended our meal on a really sweet note.

After two dinners at Andre Chiang's Jaan, I must say that I'm suitably impressed. This is the next restaurant in Singapore to look out for. Unlike the previous Jaan which tended to err on the traditional side, Jaan under Chef Andre Chiang is really innovative French fine dining at its best.

This isn't surprising given that Chef Andre Chiang has worked under a few top French chefs such as Alain Duccase and Joel Robuchon.

One thing for sure: I'm definitely going back to Jaan soon.

So this Christmas, like all other years, has been a blast!

Approximately two days spent in the kitchen but it's all worth it.

In fact, I think the most enjoyable part is the preparations in the kitchen.

To have many cooks and not spoil the food.

Special thanks to dad, mum, my sis and B and most of all, J.

***

The Menu

Turkey (ordered)

Seared and roasted rack of lamb

Seafood tomato based penne

Caesar Salad with homemade dressing

Deviled eggs

homemade cured salmon on wheat and sesame cracker

Japanese potato salad

Tea sandwiches

Chocolate mousse laced with espresso and kahlua

Holiday carrot cake

korova cookies

***

Canape trays: home made cured salmon on cracker, devil's eggs, cream cheese and cucumber sandwiches

Since most people, including myself, face a hard time keeping to their resolutions, I have made a list of food-related new year resolutions, in the hopes that they would be more attainable.

The unfinished La Sagrada Familia

Sunflower gates: Gaudi's design

Just like the time when I sunk my teeth in the Pierre Herme chocolate macaron at Tokyo.

Well, that’s about all the barrage of words that I have for now.
I’m trying to start early and keep to my new year’s resolution to be less long-winded.