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The whole object of travel is not to set foot on foreign land; it is at last to set foot on one’s own country as a foreign land.” – G.K. Chesterton

Tuesday 5 November 2013

Dava @ AYANA Resort and Spa, Bali

We were in Bali not too long ago to attend a friend's wedding. Bali was not on our travel radar, and if not for my friend's wedding, it would probably be many more years before we visited Bali. The wedding was held at the AYANA, a truly magnificent site for a wedding by the coast. It was a beautiful wedding, and we enjoyed a delicious reception dinner at Dava, the French restaurant inside the resort. The food we had rated as one of the best wedding food we've ever eaten, and this was partly due to the fact that we had the reception at an actual fine dining restaurant (inside a luxurious 5-star resort no less), and the kitchen also didn't have to handle a large number of wedding guests. We were served a 3-course meal of our choice, which we were asked to choose a few weeks prior to the event. Everything we experienced in Dava was top-notch - excellent service, beautiful decor, and delectable food.

The beautiful setting of the AYANA resort:

Dava is lotus-shaped, with a floating garden that surrounded the restaurant:

European-style mini-sized raisin bread loaf, served to each guest:

The amuse-bouche, a cold pumpkin cream with a smattering of caviar on top - just enough to whet the appetite for the courses to come:

Hubby's entree of Escargot au Gratin with mushrooms fricassee, lentils du puy, tomato fondue and parmigiano reggiano. This was not a looker, but it tasted really good! Who would have thought that snails and cheese make a good combination?

For my entree, I chose the Seafood Bisque with red claw crayfish, brioche, avocado relish and confit tomato. The soup was so good, full of umami seafood flavours, and the avocado relish and confit tomato on the brioche was lovely:

The boy enjoyed his main course - Pan-roasted Black Cod with prawn butter gratin, crab cannelloni, ricotta pudding and lemon basil emulsion. The black cod was cooked to perfection with a nice crust and moist flesh, and the crab cannelloni was divine!

For his main course, hubby got the Seared Scallops with Marcona almonds, potato fritters, eggplant caponata and romesco sauce. The presentation was lovely, the scallops were cooked just right, and everything on the plate was in perfect harmony with each other:

My main course of Lobster “au gratin” with zucchini carpaccio, wilted spinach and mushrooms, goat’s milk feta and preserved lemon mignonette. Interesting presentation, but this one didn't grab me as much as the other two main dishes I tried. Still, it was enjoyable, and great for those who appreciate lobster meat (which I frankly think is quite over-rated):

Hubby's dessert was Valrhona Chocolate Fondant with raspberry and white chocolate parfait, milk sorbet and bailey’s Irish cream pudding. It worked well enough, but I thought the Irish cream pudding was an unnecessary garnish:

I chose the Pumpkin Butternut Pumpkin Crème Brûlée with candied sunflower seeds, chocolate crèmeux and spiced honey ice cream. This was a beautiful dessert, and was actually a three-in-one dessert as each component would've stood well on their own:

We really enjoyed the wedding reception food at Dava. It's definitely a good choice for a special occasion or a romantic dinner.

Dava
AYANA Resort and Spa
Jl. Karang Mas Sejahtera
Jimbaran, Bali 80364
Indonesia
Tel. +62 361 702222

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