Bali Expat Forum - Bali Travel Forum

I just saw on Luxe.tv this Restaurant called Mozaic in Bali. Anyone on this Forum have been there. I'd love to know how the food is. Although I don't usually like Fusion food as the chef is stating, I'm willing to try it out when I'm in Bali who knows when.

And if there are more restaurants that you can recommend, could you share it here?

Thanks.

Haven't been there for a while, but the food was very good when I did go.
Also try Warung Enak and Induhs in Ubud. There is a mass of great restaurants in Bali now Milan, many of them comparable to the best in Europe and Australia.
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The Lamak in Ubud is very good.

http://www.lamakbali.com/

It's WAY over priced Milan, and not worth it in my view. Moreover, one needs to FAX a confirmation of your reservation in advance of arrival, or your table may not be available.
The quality of the food is superb, but the portions are very small, and wine by the glass hardly covers the bottom.

I agree with Thorsten that Lamak is a much better value, and the food is also superb. There is plenty of parking behind the restaurant. Lamak is on Jalan Monkey Forest a little up from the soccer field and directly opposite Purpa Silver.

Also, if you haven't tried Cafe Lotus which is directly in front of the Pura Saraswati on Jalan Raya, this is also excellent and again, a good value. Bon appetite!

Hmm...I'm going to copy all the infos given here by each of you. I really appreciate it. I'm going to read them again as I'm doing several things right now.

Mozaic is perhaps the best restaurant in Bali in my very humble opinion, and I'm not alone as The New York Times named it as one of the ten best restaurants in Asia. The Chef has a global reputation and people travel across the world to go to it..hence the need to reconfirm when the bookings are heavy. Although a phone call (and they call you) is usually enough.

They have the most knowledgeable staff, for food and wine I've had in Bali and are the equal of any.

The menu is a six course degustation menu..hence the small sizes, plus nibbles in-between. I've been many times and never left less than satiated and quite full.

Price wise, its Rp495.000 a head, which is extraordinarily cheap when compared to similar eateries anywhere else in the world. Or for that matter many of the 5 star hotels or Seminyak places (like Ku De Ta, Warisan or Sarong).

If you miss it you are missing perhaps the finest dining experience in Indonesia.

Just a note, we always skip the wine matching and go for either something off the list or, better still, bring a bottle of our own. We've had a couple of wine matches we weren't happy with.

As others say, Lamak is very, very good but it's not in the same league (and doesn't pretend to be). Indus I would avoid like the plague. Great view..have a coffee...but the food is shockingly bad. Also avoid Ary's Warung..overpriced and quite average for what it is.

On this one Simon, let's just agree to disagree, but personally, I've never gotten out of Mozaic for 495K a head, and since I never dine alone, it's more like 1.5 million for the two of us to have dinner there. Of course, if you ever want to treat, I'll be there in a heart beat, because as you say, the food is wonderful, and Chris is brilliant.

What do you pay for corkage? We've never brought a bottle of our own there.

Roy wrote:On this one Simon, let's just agree to disagree, but personally, I've never gotten out of Mozaic for 495K a head, and since I never dine alone, it's more like 1.5 million for the two of us to have dinner there. Of course, if you ever want to treat, I'll be there in a heart beat, because as you say, the food is wonderful, and Chris is brilliant.

What do you pay for corkage? We've never brought a bottle of our own there.

Yep, its the bits on top that add to the price and the maddening Indo thing of not including tax and service in the price (illegal in many countries now). Try to get out of any hotel in Jimaran for 1.5m..impossible. I agree, in Bali terms it ain't cheap but in terms of it's global positioning, it's a bargain. And it's a bargain next to to the very overpriced and average Sarong, the current beautiful people's favourite.

And yes, Chris is brilliant. When I thought I had a touch of off salmon about a year back he was very concerned and I had two calls over the next two days to check (I was fine). I've never had that anywhere in the world (and we eat in a lot of restaurants).

Corkage is Rp75.000 a bottle..very reasonable.

Milan,

I’ve never been to Mozaic and I also don’t have any intention to go there, this is not a matter of the price, it’s simply that I don’t need this when I’m on Bali.
I know that the Mozaic is rated excellent and if you compare it with prices in Europe, you will consider it as a bargain, but when I want great French food, I will get it here, or I will simply go to France, but I don’t have any desire to have it on Bali.

There are a lot of great restaurants on Bali and compared with Italy the prices are ridiculous, guess I’d better not mention what you have to pay for a decent menu with some nice wine in the Toscana, but frankly, I love to be somewhere in thongs, shorts and a t-shirt and enjoy some authentically Balinese food with a bintang from the
bottle, get to know some real people, I enjoy this ten times more than anything else.

I know that people living on Bali will probably have a different point of view, but for my excuse, I’m still a tourist yet, more or less!
Another thing, Balinese expat wine drinkers can be a pain in the ass, no matter where they come from!

Best regards
Thorsten

Thorsten writes:

There are a lot of great restaurants on Bali and compared with Italy the prices are ridiculous, guess I’d better not mention what you have to pay for a decent menu with some nice wine in the Toscana, but frankly, I love to be somewhere in thongs, shorts and a t-shirt and enjoy some authentically Balinese food with a bintang from the
bottle, get to know some real people, I enjoy this ten times more than anything else

I agree as I'm with you on this as I'd do this for lunch, let's say. At the same time I do love an elegant restaurant where one dresses-up and be in a romantic atmosphere once in a while and just to feel marvelous and happy.
You're right, residing in Europe, we have access to the more authentic Italian, German and French food obviously, but it's not always the case as I have the best German food in KL, Malaysia and Pattaya, Thailand. Loved one Restaurant in Munich though...

As for Corkage, do you know that I never knew you had to pay for it? I thought taking a bottle of wine with you to the Restaurant ( which I experienced in Jakarta only and in no other cities), I took a bottle of red wine that I got from Bordeaux, France, as I spent that same summer there and came to Indonesia the same year. Had dinner with 3 ladies (2 American girlfriends and an Indonesian) friend. Perhaps SG knows this restaurant if it's still there? It's a cozy little tiny and romantic French Restaurant in Menteng that I've forgotten the name, sorry. You're allowed to bring your bottle of wine, it was just so lovely and so nice. And the price was reasonable yet the place is elegant and warm.
Can't wait to be in Indonesia again (but still don't have any confirmation as yet due to things keep on changing that plans have still to be postponed again indefinitely).

Anyhow, all your inputs are what I needed to know so I could find my way around on selecting the right restaurants at the right time based on economy, mood, company, occassion.

And I need to add that Roy's assessment on a Restaurant is the same way how my husband would rate/view a restaurant.

Bolli, I can see you have passion in food. I love that.

Mozaic is not French, German or anything else, it's pan Asian using only Balinese ingredients, so you won't find that elsewhere. Which is why people come from all over the world. It is very much a Balinese experience, unlike anywhere else I've been.

Another factor in all of this Simon, is my wife Eri. The first time I took her to Mozaic, she figured out...during dinner, that at a minimum, we could buy 200 bungkus nasi with ayam betutu and for days later, she was constantly reminding me of what else we could have purchased with that money.

Let’s face it, when was the last time you met a Balinese who loves dinning, gourmet food, and great wines? It took me almost a year to get her to sit and eat at a table, let alone use utensils. Even today when we go out, she hates to linger and almost always orders food immediately after sitting down.

In our early days I thought I could help this along by buying her a great antique set of Gorham flatware, service for eight, but that remains sitting in its silver chest. The last time she looked at it she only wanted to know how many grams of sterling were there. I think she was thinking of a silver jewelry business!

The casual reader may be thinking that I’m demeaning my wife, but those who are accustomed to Balinese culture will know this is commonplace among the Balinese to prefer to eat alone, and to eat with their right hand from palm leaves. Fine dinning is just not a Balinese thing. They may think it’s novel during the courting period, but once married, forget it. A big difference between Eri and I is that while she eats to live, I live to eat. She remains at 45 kilo, and me?...hah hah, fat chance, and no pun intended!

In my past life, I’d think nothing of having dinner at the Oak Room, Smith and Wolensky or Tavern on the Green, especially if entertaining clients on my Prudential expense account. But that was then. I love fine dinning, but in this life, it’s a very rare treat for me.

Simon, if your every up in Ubud without your wife or someone to dine with at Mozaic, I’m game for sure...going Dutch of course. I have my own little “mad money” fund put aside and I don’t have to tell Eri that I dinned at Mozaic!

And I also agree that Mozaic is by far the best restaurant on Bali, on a par with the finest restaurants anywhere. And, when compared to the costs of similar standard dinning anywhere else in the world, it is actually a very good value.

If you ever find yourself craving sweetbreads, the only place to find them, and they are magnificent, is at Lamak. They are an appetizer dish but Roland is more than happy to make it an entree. And now I am hungry!

Simon, if your every up in Ubud without your wife or someone to dine with at Mozaic, I’m game for sure...going Dutch of course. I have my own little “mad money” fund put aside and I don’t have to tell Eri that I dinned at Mozaic!

You never know..I might take you up on that Roy!

I agree with SG and Roy...Mozaic is absolutely superb.

I also rate the restaurant at the Damai Lovina Villas.

Fish and chips at the Kori in Kuta is great...if you can suffer Kuta for more than 5 minutes that is.

Cafe Warisan is also a very good asian take on French cuisine too.

Roy wrote:Another factor in all of this Simon, is my wife Eri. The first time I took her to Mozaic, she figured out...during dinner, that at a minimum, we could buy 200 bungkus nasi with ayam betutu and for days later, she was constantly reminding me of what else we could have purchased with that money.

Let’s face it, when was the last time you met a Balinese who loves dinning, gourmet food, and great wines? It took me almost a year to get her to sit and eat at a table, let alone use utensils. Even today when we go out, she hates to linger and almost always orders food immediately after sitting down.

I had to laugh out loud when I read this - I'd been reading this post, wondering to myself how I might be able to swing it for a meal at Mozaic - knowing that 1. it would be really hard to convince Damsiah to try it, and 2. if he did agree, he would not enjoy it as the whole time he would be calculating how many nasi bungkus we could have bought with the money, and 3. how much I would 'pay' in being reminded of this for the weeks to follow
I
t was one of the aspects of being married to an Indonesian that didn't occur to me before I got married - that dining out in a very nice restaurant would no longer form part of my social life. I used to base my social life on eating out - now it is a very rare occurance.

I once took my mother in law to a nice restaurant. I thought I was doing it as a treat but all she said was the food was too sweet and she did not enjoy it. I am with Eri on this as eathing food out of a banana leaf with your hand somehow makes it even more tasty.

As for the price of a meal for two.....well it puts the cost of living for many families on a million a month in perspective (Wether in Bali or anywhere else)

On top of all that I have yet to meet a cook who does it better than Maria....as can be seen from my rather rotund appearance

it is nice to go out from time to time and dress up I agree but a million and a half for the privilege does not seem worth it to me but each to their own.