Kayuputi is the fine dining restaurant at St Regis Bali. Strangely it has the same name as the St Regis Langkawi which had really enchanted me. It is thus with a rather high level of expectations that I reserved a table during my stay.
The Concept
Kayuputi is a restaurant that offers dishes inspired by all regions of Asia with the promise of high quality meat and fish.
Its wine list has been regularly awarded for 7 years.
It is obviously a high-end property.
The setting
Kayuputi means white wood in Indonesian and as soon as you arrive you understand the reason for the name of the restaurant.
We start with a superb bar.
Then the room where one notices well the white wooden structure.
The tables are well spaced, the seats comfortable.
It has well on a terrace but between the heat, humidity and a beautiful tropical storm announced I stayed inside.
But the most remarkable is its superb open kitchen that easily represents 30% of the room’s surface.
We are really in the front row to see our dishes being prepared.
The Menu
Cold starters
Fish and meat
The house specialties
Hot starters and soups
The vegetarian menu
Ice cream and desserts
The wine list is horribly expensive so I’ll take a wine by the glass…but even then it’s astronomical and not justified in my opinion.
And to finish the highlight of the show: the tasting menu which will of course be my choice.
The dishes
It begins with a welcome cocktail accompanied by a fresh fruit brochette.
It’s not the ultimate in mixology but it’s fresh and smooth. Considering the climate, it is appreciable.
I am then brought different types of bread and their assorted sauces.
Surprising and the breads are really good and original. On the other hand, the sauces are adapted to Western palates, in other words, they are not very spicy. Even the one with sambal will lack spice and look more like ketchup.
Then comes an amuse-bouche. A tuna ceviche.
It’s good, fresh, maybe not spicy enough for my taste. The combination with the mango is very pleasant.
We begin the serious things with the salmon.
It is not fatty at all and tastes good. The accompaniments spice things up a bit, well especially the beet and coriander. The rest is a bit bland and I don’t even mention the milk pearls. The sauces are discreet.
It’s now the turn of the scallop with a mushroom ravioli and a mushroom consommé.
The scallops have a lot of body and taste, the ravioli was very good and the consommé carried the whole very well. On the other hand, the fried stuff on top had no taste or interest.
Then the foie gras. At first sight one thinks that it will not be easy to cut.
And it turns out to be true. Very good with the caramelized coulis and the reduction, the compote is almost too much although it brings freshness and lightness.
We continue with the shrimp risotto with octopus carpaccio.
The rice tastes great with the coconut emulsion. The same goes for the shrimps. The octopus also brings taste but more likely related to the paprika
It is the first dish of the evening that is really eaten with greed and leaves a real presence in the mouth.
Now the lamb chop.
The meat is really excellent, the vegetables well cooked and melting. The meat is really excellent, the vegetables well cooked and melting in the mouth.
And dessert for the road…
Both fresh and crunchy, not exceptional but not bad at all to finish the meal.
They will come and ask me if I want tea or coffee before I even start the dessert. Surprising but it will save me from falling into the service’s oblivion.
The meal was accompanied by two glasses of a Pommard, not bad in itself but totally unreasonably priced considering the quality.
The Service
Irreproachable, fast without being rushed and the staff was very kind as always in Indonesia. As I was dining alone, I was offered magazines to find the time less long
The Atmosphere
The atmosphere is naturally rather muffled in this type of restaurant but without it being heavy or boring. The bright lighting and open kitchen also help to bring life to the room.
For a “fine dining” restaurant, you feel good without being embarrassed.
Bottom line
Kayuputi is a very good restaurant but I expected more from my experience in Langkawi. Not necessarily a good idea to use the same name: it naturally encourages comparisons between two tables which, apart from the fact that they are in two hotels of the same chain, have nothing in common.
As a person who knows the area well said to me: “you have on one side one of the best tables in Bali and on the other one of the best in Asia…obviously you were a little disappointed”.
In fact everything was good but only the risotto and to a lesser extent the lamb left a memory and made me want to have more. All this lacked a bit of pep and creativity and I didn’t find the trace of an Asian cuisine either but rather something very westernized. A little short of the promise.
And even if we know that taxes on alcohol are very high in Indonesia, the price of the wines is really outrageous. 50 euros a glass of a decent Pommard is totally irrelevant. I’ve found it much more affordable in other equally upscale places.
So Kayuputi will not disappoint you but will not make you dream either.
