The recently fully renovated Kwee Zeen restaurant has a fresh, new contemporary appearance reminiscent of a food market and offers a relaxing atmosphere for guests to indulge in the culinary offerings. The food is Pan Asian and guests can choose from eclectic buffets with a range of themes, as well as the popular à la carte menu.
Turning out high-quality food packed with wonderful flavours and created with interesting twists, Senior Sous Chef Hendrikus Hendra loves to come up with something new and is always looking to create memorable dishes. His creations show great respect for authentic flavours, the region’s rich food heritage and the wonderful spices that the area is so renowned for.
With a restaurant full of guests from across the globe, he is always looking for ways to tempt people into trying something different. One example of this is the wonderful rendang pao. He makes modern, open Chinese pau and stuffs them with traditional dry Indonesian rendang to make something that resembles a sandwich or burger, thus attracting people who know and love rendang – voted the world’s most delicious food by CNN International – as well as people familiar with pau and those looking to grab a tasty light bite.
With his nasi bakar (baked rice), he has created a fusion dish that celebrates Indonesian regions, with a hint of Thai thrown in. The sublime dish comprises a Javanese element of rice stuffed with peanuts, local anchovies and fermented tempeh wrapped in a banana leaf and baked, accompanied by prime pork ribs marinated in a rich mix of Thai-influenced spices cooked the Indonesian way over charcoal for that evocative smoky impression. Jakarta’s asinan, pickled vegetables, make a perfect sour foil for the rich meat and earthy rice, while the spicy Balinese sambal matah gives the dish a certain kick. To ensure the very best flavours, the sambal matah is made à la minute.
My inspiration comes from creating dishes based on the food that I eat every day. Sometimes I combine local produce with imported produce to create something unique, for example using fresh spices from the local market, such as lemongrass and a lot of chilli because I like my food spicy.
As a concept, to me fusion is consciously fusing things that would seem quite contradictory or have no apparent commonality, just to see if it will work.
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Senior Sous Chef Hendrikus Hendra
Kwee Zeen
Sofitel Bali Nusa Dua Beach Resort
Kawasan Pariwisata BTDC, Lot N5
Nusa Dua, Bali, Indonesia
T: (+62) 3618492888
E: H9078@sofitel.com
