Putting the “fun” in fine dining
Tastes from around the globe can be savoured at Petitenget’s stylish The Parlour, committed to a deliciously casual approach for its gastronomic fine dining.
A long Petitenget’s ever-expanding “eat street”, it is difficult to place The Parlour Kitchen, Bar and Lounge into any particular category. That goes not just for its eclectic modern-meets-classic interior design (think colonial elegance meets funky industrial), but also its diverse choice of cuisine – The Parlour seamlessly multitasks for all tastes, literally.
As if reinforcing its chameleon-like qualities, this stylish new dining venture cleverly shifts in mood from day to night. By day, The Parlour is a sunny, bistro-inspired hangout for breakfast and lunch, offering a broad array of global dishes freshly made on-site – like all The Parlour’s creations. Fitting with the Petitenget-Seminyak party mentality, breakfast ends at 5PM, such that diners can enjoy late comfort foods like Huevos Rancheros and soothing Eggs Benedict, with creamy Hollandaise sauce. Lunch covers all the classics, everything from western-style Grilled Australian Rib Eye and crisp Caesar Salad to Asian favourites like Chinese-style Jakarta noodles. Alternatively, the chic living room corner, complete with sofas and glossy magazines, offers customers a café vibe; pop in anytime for freshly brewed Indonesian coffee, flavoured iced tea jugs or just-baked pastries from the in-house bakery.
As the sun sets, The Parlour seamlessly morphs into a casual fine dining – or “fun dining” – venue. On the open-plan dining floor, starched white tablecloths are now draped over marble-top tables and dangling naked light bulbs shed light on a striking mural of a cheekily smiling Balinese girl splashed across the white brickwork. Open all day, the outdoor bar area is now alluringly illuminated with LED lighting, the charming dining terrace offering an al fresco alternative. Even the DJ’s playlist has transformed, from daytime lounge tunes to slinky evening Jazz – there are also twice-weekly live acoustic performances.
If all this sounds good, things just got even better! The Parlour recently overhauled several of its menus and a new Executive Chef, Indonesian Meidy Zuhri, has brought bold, new mouthwatering dishes to the table. On the existing breakfast and lunch menus, the revision of the Kid’s, Small Bites and Dinner sections, along with the wine list, reinforces The Parlour’s commitment to keeping it real, reducing overall prices and making it affordable for all, while still showcasing the chef’s extraordinary culinary talents.
The Parlour arguably comes into its own after the sun sets, with the all-new dinner menu emphasizing their refreshing “beautiful food in a casual atmosphere” concept, where the fuss – and pretentiousness – is removed from the fine dining experience. Better yet, it offers a great deal on gastronomic-style dining.
The popular Grilled Cuts section is thankfully still on the menu. New additions to Appetizers and Mains include set menus in three, five and seven courses, incorporating individual dinner dishes degustation-style, cleverly playing with flavour and presentation – a feast for the eyes and taste buds.
The dinner menu introduces Chef Meidy’s classic French dishes with modern twists. His French techniques were honed in a three-star Michelin restaurant in Paris, and now that he’s returned to Bali he offers a unique Indonesian flare to many of the recipes he learned abroad. Using predominately local, fresh and natural produce from across Indonesia, the chef is a stickler for incorporating Balinese herbs, spices and vegetables in his dishes, including miniscule beets and delicate, edible flowers.
Showstopper, seven course Discovery Menu is the largest sampler of dinner dishes; standouts include Homemade Tortellini – part of the kitchen’s daily quota of fresh pasta – on asparagus puree, frisee and truffle oil, served in a mortar-style stone bowl; Short Ribs – Balinese stew style but Western off-the-bone – cooked-24-hours tender and presented to resemble a chocolate dessert; and Trilogy Mushroom Emulsion, the potently divine emulsion poured from a teapot onto torched mushroom erengi and olive powder. Try the signature cocktails, such as Spiced Blackforest, with spiced rum, vanilla vodka and blackforest syrup, or the whisky-based, “manly” Gentleman’s Cocktails. The revamped wine list, meticulously curated by a wine guru, offers competitively priced, formidable Old and New world wines – again keeping it fine, delicious, but affordable.
