Another stay at W Bali gave me the opportunity to dine again at one of the hotel’s restaurants, Starfish Bloo, and this time to really take the time to write about it.
The concept
In its own words, the restaurant offers “pan-Asian cuisine with western flavors“. This concretely gives a rather creative fusion cuisine where seafood is very present. Another stay at W Bali gave me the opportunity to dine again at one of the hotel’s restaurants, Starfish Bloo, and this time to really take the time to write about it.
The setting
The restaurant is big, very big and totally open to the outside. And in the evening its lighting is very…. blue! This does not make it easy to take pictures.
The menu
This time I won’t eat from the menu and will take the tasting menu.
The meals
A small remark in relation to my recent dinner at Kayuputi at the St Regis Bali : the wines here are two to four times cheaper. Of course we are not in the same category of restaurant but the hotels on the other hand are on the same positioning even interpreted in two different styles.
That said, I start the dinner.
A little reminder of the menu to start.
It starts with swordfish.
Very fresh, like a ceviche. It has taste, probably because of the ginger, but the vegetables on the side are bland. I feel the Sambal a little bit but not enough for my taste
Then the duck croquettes.
It is warm and melt in the mouth. It has a presence in the mouth, I feel the spices at the bottom of the palate it is good but not spicy enough for my taste. The peanuts are tasteless without interest
Then comes the tuna with vegetable tempura with squid ink.
Perfectly half-cooked and seasoned to the point that the sauce on the side is almost useless. On the other hand, it does spice up the tempura, which needs a bit of it.
Now the lobster.
The fried tile placed on top has absolutely no gustatory interest. Maybe decorative ? The lobster is fried too, it is both surprising and even a little disappointing. The taste is not exceptional. However, once mixed with the lemon emulsion, it is excellent. At the limit one could be satisfied with the emulsion without the lobster that is a bit spoiled.
Then the quail with coconut curry.
The curry is very good, a little spicy to please most people (so not enough for me anyway). The quail is a little dry but it is ok. Cabbage surprises in a good way.
But in the end it is the curry that wins over everything so no matter what meat is served with it, it fades behind its taste. A bit of a shame to sacrifice a quail in this way.
Coconut curry very good, a little spicy just right for many people
Let’s move on to the shrimp and squid ink noodles.
The spicy sauce was very good and even more spicy than what I’ve had so far. The shrimp is fresh and cooked just right, the mixture is very good. The noodles are also well done but once again it is the taste of the sauce that prevails over the rest of the dish, maybe a little too much.
We are nearing the end with the beef cheek!
It is overhung by a popcorn tile without any interest. The cheek is melting and the chilli just right. The potato is in fact a very pleasant mashed potato.
Not much to say about the “indonesian pickles”, sympathetic and fresh which make wait to go directly to the dessert: the passion fruits with white chocolate.
The dessert is prepared in front of me with a real ceremonial – almost a show – around the preparation of the white chocolate in liquid nitrogen.
The brioche is soft and the passion fruit coulis is very good. The blackcurrant sorbet with the spices around is surprising and very well done.
But the highlight of the show is the really smooth white chocolate, a real delight. In the end, it’s the star of the dessert and not the passion fruit!
In the end, quite creative and well executed dishes served in ideal doses for a 9 course menu. At the end you are full without feeling like you are exploding.
Having said that, we can criticize some strange choices: a little too many fried things (in the menu but especially in the a la carte menu) which can seem counter-intuitive in a hotel rather in the “healthy” trend and even opposite to the tastes of the targeted customers. We can also regret that some “noble” products such as lobster or quail are more hidden than highlighted by the accompanying sauces.
In short, it is creative, it is good without being exceptional and it is very varied.
The atmosphere
I dined at Starfish Bloo at a really quiet time, just before the Christmas fury and the restaurant was quite empty regarding its very large size. I can’t speak of a particular atmosphere except for the omnipresent blue light. But at least it was appreciably quiet.
The service
As always in Indonesia the staff was very friendly, a real pleasure. One of the waiters who speaks French even remembered serving me a year before.
A bit of “juniority”, however, for a waitress who places a dish next to one that’s not been removed and then removes the second one and slides the plate across the table to reposition it in front of me. Nothing serious but in this type of property it is immediately noticed.
But the service was good, with no waiting between courses, which is important on long menus like this.
As a titanium member of the loyalty program I was entitled to a 20% discount but only on the a la carte menu. I was surprised to be able to apply the discount to the tasting menu as well, which I really appreciated.
Overall an excellent experience, with a lot of attention
Bottom line
Without really being “fine dining” I like the creativity of the Starfish Blue’s cuisine and the quality of the service. But I think it’s a shame to sacrifice a lobster and a quail, one because it’s fried, the other because its taste was hidden up by the sauce that accompanied it. A little more healthy, fresh and less fried would be welcome.
But as in Kayuputi I am still looking for the “pan-Asian” inspiration of the menu….
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