Mozaic - French cuisine, Balinese flavours

Rated as a top 5 restaurant in Asia for 3 consecutive years, Mozaic is found in the least expected place, tucked in a corner of Ubud, Bali, Indonesia's resort island. Against all odds, Chris Salans has set up a successful operation and has even extended his restaurant business to open a professional culinary school imparting his knowledge of French cooking and sous vide to chefs in Bali. 

I was blessed with celebrating my 22nd wedding anniversary there this weekend. These are the wonderful food we ate. Apologies again for bad photography - it was just way too dark to take any good pix and besides, we had to be discreet about taking photos in a fine-dining restaurant.

Amuse Bouche or "mouth-teaser".  Salmon Cornetto.  A great palate stimulator and I was ready to savour my three-hour  long dinner.

My favourite for the night - Australian Hamachi (or Kingfisher) Carpaccio.
Finger lime, pressed watermelon salad (sous-vide and mixed with the fish), Shaved Radish and Andalima Pepper Sorbet. I had to restrain myself from asking for a second helping.

Butter Roasted Sulawesi Yabbies (Crayfish) with Fresh Wakame Seaweed Linguini and Dashi-Sea Urchin Emulsion (aka Foam!)

It was a 6- course dinner paired with wines from Domaines Schlumberger from Alsace, France (near the border of Germany).

I invited Mr Alain Beydon, owner of Domaines-Schlumberger who was present that night to our table so he could explain and expound on the wine that was served to us. Here, he explains the labels on the wine bottle. He is the 6th generation of his family's winery and his niece and nephew are also engaged in the operation, ensuring the heritage is passed onto the 7th generation.

Crispy seared Duck Foie Gras in a trio of mango: puree, candy, chip. Didn't feel the crisp but foie gras in any form is divine.

Cinnamon baked Quail Pastilla. This was not good - like an Old Chang Kee curry puff.

Slow cooked Veal Loin and Roasted Sweetbread, paired with a 2007 Riesling. I could not get enough of the sweetbread which you know is NOT sweet and NOT bread. It's an animal gullet or gland around the throat region. Sounds disgusting but tastes heavenly.  I think I could savage a whole bucket of them. It stole the show from the veal.

The potato puree was magnificient and though I was stuffed, I did not allow the waiter to take this away. I was prepared to suffer indigestion for this baby. As addictive as French Fries is to my teenagers. You can't stop once you start.

As it was alfresco dining under the starlight, we also had other companions at our table throughout the dinner...see below. Yiks! It bothered me that they were there all night and I had to check my plate every now and then to make sure there weren't additional undesirable ingredients.

Fresh Morbier - Fresh Quince, Candied Walnut, Truffle, Rosemary, Vanilla Brioche Croutons. Paired with a 2008 Pinot Gris which we later looked out for at the airport and bought a bottle home. Delish!

Warm Valrhona Dark Chocolate Fondant with Star Fruit Sorbet. It oozed out like a molten lava and I licked my plate clean, very clean.

An extra touch for us.

It was an awesome culinary experience and I could ask the knowledgeable service staff all my questions. I came home with his autographed cookbook - yes, there are recipes to try! It would have been great to have interacted with the Chef personally - I always like to talk to people who cook my food. A must-visit. Or even two.