The Best Keeps Getting Better
Already known as one of the best seafood restaurants in Bali, Arwana continues to up its game with a bevy of beautiful and sophisticated new dishes courtesy of Chef Frank Ruidavet, the new Director of Culinary for The Laguna, A Luxury Collection Resort & Spa in Nusa Dua, and the St. Regis Bali Resort.
Oceanfront dining is a dime-a-dozen (or rather 100-rupiah-a-dozen) in Bali. It is no surprise, given the island’s abundance of great beaches and excellent locally caught seafood. Still, among the many, there are a few that stand far above the rest of the pack. Arwana, the beautiful beachside restaurant at The Laguna, A Luxury Collection Resort & Spa in Nusa Dua, is referred to by many as “The Best Seafood Restaurant in Bali.”
That’s quite a title to live up to, but Arwana’s spectacular setting alongside the Sea of Bali and its extensive menu of fresh seafood delights, cooked in just about any style you could wish for, certainly makes it one that is hard to argue with. The case for Arwana being the best seafood restaurant on the island got even stronger recently with the appointment of Chef Frank Ruidavet as the Director of Culinary for The Laguna and its sister property, the
St. Regis Bali Resort.
Chef Ruidavet received his culinary education at one of France’s top hospitality schools, École Hôtelière de Nice, before heading across the Atlantic to work at some of New York’s best restaurants, including several with Michelin Stars. Eventually he found his way to our side of the globe, where he has spent nearly two decades managing the kitchens of some of the region’s top hotel restaurants in places as diverse as Kuala Lumpur, Jordan, the Maldives and Singapore.
Both his classical French culinary training and his exposure to a wide variety of international cuisines is evident in the sophisticated dishes he has added to Arwana’s already impressive menu. A recent dinner highlighting his new creations began with a selection of Chef Ruidavet’s clever new appetisers. The first was a crispy tuna roll, with a thin layer of delicate pastry surrounding cabbage and sushi-grade tuna that remained ruby-red rare at the centre. The accompanying wakame salad and soybean coulis added a touch of Japanese flavour and depth. The seafood fritto misto, featuring crisp yet greaseless prawns and calamari, were enlivened with a zesty garlic capers sauce.
Next came a fantastic Peruvian-style ceviche made with white fish and scallops. The freshness of the seafood was accentuated by the piquant marinade of lime, bell peppers, coriander and olive oil, with a touch of Tabasco sauce giving it just enough heat to sing on the palate.
However, our favourite new appetiser would have to be the warm salmon confit. Chef Ruidavet cooks the fish in a bath of olive oil, heated to exactly the right temperature for exactly eight minutes. It’s a food writing cliché to refer to things as being “perfectly cooked” but that’s really the only way to describe this salmon, which was cooked evenly all the way through to achieve a truly melt-in-your-mouth texture that made each bite a sublime pleasure. The slight bitterness of wilted spinach, the saltiness of Avruga caviar, the richness and citrusy notes of the lemongrass beurre blanc sauce, and even the gentle heat of a strategic drop of red pepper puree all worked harmoniously to elevate the already stunning piece of seafood.
Seafood is, in many ways, the trickiest meat to handle since it is generally more delicate and easier to overcook than its land-based brethren, but Arwana’s chefs have the impeccable timing required to pull off dishes like our main of bread crusted sea bass. It takes precision to get the kind of beautifully crisp crust combined with the flaky, tender fish you’ll find in this dish, and the black olive tapenade and lashing of a citrus vinaigrette kept the flavours refreshing throughout.
Another standout main dish is the zarzuela, a rustic Spanish-style seafood stew. With a flavour profile somewhat similar to a fine paella, this dish sees tender morsels of fish, squid and shrimp cooked in a complex tomato-based broth flavoured with saffron, of which you will want to sop up every drop with the accompanying garlic bread.
The last of the new mains we tried is a gift to those unfortunate few who don’t care for the joys of seafood – a Black Angus sirloin steak, cooked with the same attention to detail as the seafood. Plated with luscious truffle mashed potatoes and a sauce made from the beef’s own juices, it’s a simple but assured dish that could be served proudly at any fine steakhouse.
If you are a long-time fan of Arwana, rest assured that the menu’s other classic dishes remain, such as their extensive sushi and sashimi selections, surf and turf, lobster thermidor and, of course, their signature barbecued seafood dinner utilising a selection of that day’s freshest and tastiest catches. But Chef Ruidavet’s new dishes do add a whole new dimension of flavours to the restaurant’s repertoire, and they make for an excellent excuse to head to Bali’s best seafood restaurant once again.
(www.arwanarestaurant.com)
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ZARZUELA
INGRDIENTS:
• 200 gr grouper or seabass fillet
• 200 gr fresh squid
• 12 pcs prawns
• 12 pcs mussels
• 12 pcs Lombok clams
• 120 gr diced onions
• 200 gr diced tomatoes
• 200 gr diced sweet peppers (assorted colours)
• 4 cloves garlic
• ½ litre chicken stock or water
• 20 ml white wine
• 6 tbs olive oil
• A pinch of saffron
• Cayenne pepper
• Salt to taste
• 1 lemon zest julienne
• 100 gr toasted sliced almonds
• Basil and parsleyCOOKING METHOD:
1. In a pan, sauté the onions and garlic in olive oil.
2. Add the clams and white wine. Cook for one minute.
3. Add the fish fillet, prawns, mussels and squid. Cook for another minute.
4. Add the diced tomatoes, sweet peppers, chicken stock or water and saffron. Let it simmer for 6 – 8 minutes.
5. Add cayenne pepper and salt to taste.
6. Finish up with the lemon zest julienne, almonds and herbs.
7. Serve with toasted baguette smeared in butter and garlic.
