Sarong was listed in Miele Guide’s Top 5 Restaurants in Indonesia (2010/11). And it sure helped that a fren who had been working in Bali “endorsed” that we’ve made the right choice to dine at Sarong. =)
- Mozaic, Bali (read my post here)
- Ku De Ta, Bali
- Hotel Tugu, Bali
- Metis, Bali
- Sarong, Bali
They are located at Jalan Petitenget No. 19X, Kerobokan, Kuta, Bali, Indonesia – near Seminyak (where we were staying). We’ve made reservations via email at the restaurant 1 week in advance to ensure that we can secure a table there.
Upon entering the place, there is a courtyard for outdoor dining before we reach the bar/lounge area. Since we’ve already made reservations, we were promptly led to our table. The ambience and decor of Sarong exudes opulence – from the long sash drapes, to the chandeliers and the plush seats. Sitting in the dimly lit Balinese-style hut and feeling the cool light breeze was indeed relaxing!
Having a “no young children” policy definitely helps in ensuring that every guest at Sarong have a pleasant dining experience. But we were a bit disappointed with their “No Bring Your Own Wine (BYO)” policy as the wine list there was pretty overpriced…so we end up ordering a free flow of still water at a fixed price (which was good enuf as we nd to hydrate ourselves after a long hot day)
While online reviews mentioned that the menu at Sarong is Pan-South-East Asian, I would term them “Asian-Fusion” cuisine. Its an amalagamation of Thai, Indian, Vietnamese, Chinese cuisine with a tinged of Balinese style cooking.
The ala carte menu was catered for western dining style (due to large number of foreigners – mainly Aussies I suppose) whereby there are starters, salads, curries & mains and vegetarians to choose from.
However due to our Asian dining culture, we didn’t quite follow the “rules”. While the westerners’ style of dining is to start with a few starters to share, followed by a main course per person and ending with a dessert. We sticked to our Asian way of dining by ordering 6 starters, 1 main course and a large bowl of rice- for all to share, and all dishes to be served together. Haha…
The waitress taking our order initially had a shock to hear tt we are ordering 6 out of the 8 starters available on the menu. But it turns out that I did my ”homework” well. The starters were the highlight of the dinner rather than the main course…We were pleasantly surprised at how the chefs manage to create ”Asian-fusion” starters to such perfection whereby the unique taste of each spice used complemented each other so well.
Here’s our ala carte dishes
- Complimentary cracker
- Pacific oysters with coriander deep fried shallots & chili lime dressing - East meets West oyster, instead of tabasco its dressed with chili lime
- Grilled scallop with sweet crispy duck Thai basil young coconut & peanut nam jihm - scallop was tender but couldn’t taste the natural freshness as its garnished with the stronger flavoured ingredients
- Crispy pork belly with baby mandarin ginger chili and black vinegar caramel - one of my fav dish, interesting presentation as they stacked the pork belly in jenga style and the sweet & sour sauce was freshingly tasty
- Sichuan prawn dumplings with black vinegar & chili oil dressing - this was my fav dish for the night. Simply liked the sauce which reminds me of dan-dan noodles.
- Salt & pepper squid with Vietnamese dipping sauce - one of the more disappointing starter, cos its too “normal” after tasting the other wonderful fusion starters?!
- Wagyu beef perkedel with chili capsicum & shallots dipping relish - an Indonesian side dish where perkedel means “croquette”
- Tandoori butter chicken with cashew nuts ginger & tomato sauce - not that impressive…
Despite being quite full, we can’t give up the opportunity to try the desserts hence we ended our dinner with a sample plate South East Asian desserts comprising of:
- Black sticky rice with lychees & mango ice cream - only tasted a bit as its very filling
- Duck egg ‘n’ ginger custard with palm sugar caramel & ginger ice cream - interesting combi but ginger taste a bit too strong
- Deep fried sesame dumpling palm sugar peanuts & ice cream – warm & crispy
- Deep fried bananas with coconut ice cream - my favorite in the platter
- Young coconut jelly with crushed ice tapioca & black agar-agar
- Strawberry sorbet
Overall its an exciting experience trying out Asian-Fusion food. The cost of the dinner is also friendly on our pockets – ard S$150 for all the above.
Will definitely recommend frens to try Sarong and I will also consider going back for their wonderful starters if I ever visit Bali again.
[Updates: 22nd Nov 11]
Sarong Bali was ranked #18 in Miele Guide 2011/2012 as Asia’s Top 20 restaurant!
