Metis, Bali

Metis Restaurant & Gallery is one of the restaurants that I read about since my first visit to Bali a couple of years ago. We decided to visit them this time round for our final dinner in Bali as a nice ending to our holiday. Reservations was done on their website but similar to other restaurants, we are required to reconfirm our bookings 2 days prior to the actual event. Having had an enjoyable meal at Mozaic Restaurant in Ubud before, we were excited to visit Metis that also serves French cuisines.

The restaurant’s entrance along the main road was grand and impressive, our driver dropped us at the lobby where the Art Gallery is. After walking pass the gallery, we arrived at the main dining area. From there on, somehow everything don’t feel quite right. For a start, I was slightly surprised that the place was so packed…not that I was expecting them to be empty – especially not for a popular establishment like theirs, but I felt as if I was dining in some mass-market eatery given the huge seating capacity of the place. The spacing between tables were a bit too close for my liking. The lighting of the place was abit too dark, I didn’t see the rice fields which the restaurant is suppose to be overlooking.

Complimentary appetizer was served along with the bread but I didn’t catch what was it.

I read about their wonderful homemade foie gras and wanted to try it. There were 6 types of foie gras dishes to choose from – 3 cold and 3 hot. I chose the Legendary pan seared hot foie gras, port and raspberry reduction, morelo cherry, roasted apple. It was really impressive, the texture of the foie gras was one of the best I ever had – firm, buttery and smooth. The gravy used to pair the foie gras was also well-prepared. Last-but-not-least, it was priced quite affordably at Rp230,000. After this fantastic starter, I began to show some confidence in the food after the disappointment of the ambience. Little did I expect that only the starters would become the best dishes of the night…

The other more memorable dish we had was Trio Tartare Tuna Tartare, Wasabi and Basil Mayonnaise, Salmon Roe, Crispy Seaweed; Crab and Avocado Tartare, Shallots, Chives, Celery Aioli, Micro Leaf, Seaweed Lavash; Norwegian Trout Tartare, Black Tobiko, Dill Créme Fraiche, Quail Egg.

Our mains were L’Onglet 100 days Australian Hanging Tender served with shallot sauce, dijon mustard and home made french fries and Trilogy of Seafood Lobster, scallops, crab lump, quinoa, citrus olive oil coulis, layu oil. The major problem with the main was the soggy french fries, I do not understand how an established dining place could serve such sub-standard fries? We barely touched the fries..in fact I was contemplating returning it back to the kitchen…but decided not to since we were also quite full by then. The beef was cooked to our order of medium-rare, no issues with that; but the low lighting made the beef dish looked like a pile of mushy meat.

As for the Trilogy of Seafood, upon first bite I felt that the citrus olive oil coulis was too overpowering. While the lobster and scallops were pretty fresh and succulent, I didn’t enjoy the quinoa as its subtle flavours had been spoilt by the sourish citrus taste.

We finished up our 2 glasses of wine: Pinot Grigio 2012 Allegrini Corte Giara Italy and Bordeaux 2010 Menuts Appelation Bordeaux Controlee and left without ordering any desserts.

For the price we paid for the 4 dishes and 2 drinks at Metis, we could easily go Mozaic to enjoy the 6-course Discovery Menu in a much better ambience. Left Metis feeling disappointed with the overall experience, though I was impressed with their foie gras. Would probably suggest diners to opt for lunch so that you can better enjoy the view at the restaurant and a better value-for-money lunch menu.

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