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This quite simple Japanese sushi bar, formerly the home of Hibari, a similar establishment without the finesse, is marked by delicacy, with a Japanese emphasis in every aspect.
Even the draped front door. The restaurant is very plain and functional. Setting are simple
and minimal.
There are about 12 seats around the preparation area
and a couple of tables.
There is the days menu,, this is a sample, which varies a little according to what was available that day. It's largely sushi, sushi and sushi. The choice is take it or leave it, the chef organises what he will serve and in what order. That's really the definition of an omikase Japanese meal.
There were a couple of small dishes before the sushi
Chef Yuji Matsuzaki came out
and immediately started slicing fish,
and butterflying prawns
laying it out on his work table
and rolling balls of rice
to construct the sushi.
King Prawns,
Ocean Trout
Snapper
Kingfish,
delicately decorated
followed by soup with silken tofu.
Calamari were scored
and seared,
as were several other sushi to bring out their flavour. Some are wrapped in nori.
The last piece was O-Toro.
this is the fattest part of the tuna belly, the most delicate part it almost melts in the mouth and also, of course, is the most expensive pat of the fish. It was a beaut end to 12 very different sushi's. There was a green tea ice cream dessert
to end the meal. An extremely fine dinner for which booking is essential. Best by far is to sit at the chef's table on bar stools. If you like sushi Kakizaki compares well with the best you can get.
Score: 17/20
This, like lots of other areas in Bali is packed with tourists, and restaurants. We were looking for a Rijsttafel, literally 'rice table'. This Dutch word refers to an Indonesian meal made up of a large number of small dishes served with rice. There may be 40 or more but we only got eight plus sauces and rice.
Indian Spice is a barn like restaurant on the main street of Legian. It is simply decorated
with a long bar overlooked by a mural of five attractive ladies.
There's nothing elaborate here with simple table settings and menus offering photographs of all their dishes.
It's a very friendly place, as most of Bali is.
Our meal started with a peculiar (to us) soup with some small pieces of chicken, some baby pumpkin, which tasted a little like cucumber and something like very small pieces of dumpling. It was mild in taste but I have no idea how to describe it!
Next came the Rijsttafel. We were served BBQ'd prawns, saté chicken, calamari curry, fish cooked in banana leaf, battered fish, sambal, some sort of shallot salad, some tomato, a sweet sauce, a hot sauce and rice.
A meal that went very well with beer rather than wine.
The meal finished with a dessert - banana fritters with ice cream.
Thick over fried batter did nothing to improve our feeling about this meal. There was nothing elegant about this meal. Each dish had it's distinct taste and everything was tender but there was no delicacy about anything either. Certainly not a place I would ever consider returning to.
Score: 10/20
