Primeval Surrounding - Avant-Garde Cuisine

Foodies Notes: The Cave Bali by Chef Ryan Clift - Dine & Wine Bali

Imagine going back centuries, to the prehistoric era, when mankind was living underground. If you've ever dreamed of dining with the Flintstones, you're in luck. The first cave-dining restaurant recently opened in Bali, for an unprecedented subterranean experience.

Located underground, the last place you wouldn’t expect to have a fine dining experience, here is The Cave Bali at The Edge, in Pecatu, Uluwatu! Just imagine having your lunch or dinner at more than 10 meters below ground, surrounded by stalactites formed thousands of years ago, in a large and spacious room with high ceilings, to reduce any claustrophobic feelings you might get, with dimmed lighting, creating the ultimate atmosphere.



The Cave Bali by Chef Ryan Clift - Interior design by @usherbydesign

The man behind this venture is one of the most renowned chefs of Singapore dining scene, Chef Ryan Clift. If you have encountered Tippling Club on Tanjong Pagar Road, you know how intense and creative Clift’s cuisine is. Well, the same applies at The Cave. A seven-course set meal (vegetarian menu available too) that will light up your brain at every mouthful. As a pleasure never come alone, in-between courses, spectacular animated visuals are projected on the cave ceiling, leading the culinary voyage to the next level.

Now that you get the picture, let’s talk about the dining experience. At first, 3 canapés served separately for a perfect mise-en-bouche. The Savoury Doughnut, with mushroom purée, pickled mushroom & truffle veil, triggers a long-lasting forestry palate. The Cured Trout Belly on nori cracker with avocado & radish is so refreshing, and the Steak Tartare on its carbon pastry with pickled shallot & hazelnut is one of the most refined raw meat mélanges I ever tasted.



Savoury Doughnut



Cured Trout Belly

Steak Tartare

The Tomato Water is a signature dish of Chef Ryan at TC. Having tasted it in Singapore, Clift took it to another dimension. It reminds me of my grand-ma home-grown tomatoes when tomato tasted like tomato, and when I was wolfing down the nectar at bottom of the salad bowl. The Hokkaido Scallop, cooked sous-vide at 50°C, covered by a parsley cracker, is basted with a young garlic soup slightly sweet and creamy, while the parsnip brings a nice bitterness to the sweet Japanese bivalve mollusc. Last dish before a well-deserved break is the Foie Gras Cheesecake. A crispy dough made of pistachio, yoghurt and foie gras fat, balancing well the light duck liver-cognac mousse atop and the freshness of the strawberries, served with yoghurt condiment for minor acidity. Flawless.



Tomato Water



Hokkaido Scallop



Foie Gras Cheesecake

After 15 min of intermission for everyone - all diners start the meal at the same time - the Hamachi is the first main to be served. The firm texture of the fish with milky colour and its delicate and sweetish flavour is so well elevated by the roundness of the kale, and a slight orange zest acidity, while the porcini dashi brings a fragrance and relish of the undergrowth. If there is no perfection in cooking, this is very, very close to it. The last savoury dish is the Tajima Wagyu. The beef is cooked on the rare side but can’t feel any rawness. The charcoal crust produces a mineral ending, and the chlorophyll of the watercress emulsion brings liveliness to the dish.



Hamachi



Tajima Wagyu

The chewing Cocktail Fruit (honey melon), as a palate cleanser, is welcome before the Bounty Paradiso appears. A bitter Kintamani chocolate taco shell drizzled with roasted coconut, filled with white chocolate crèmeux and 3 spheres of coconut sorbet dipped in 55% Valrhona chocolate, all topped with whipped coconut water as white as a Chantilly, seasoned with fresh lime, and a somewhat sour coconut water infused with lime. Chef Ryan warned us, that this dessert transports you straight to foodies' heaven. He wasn’t lying. May Epicure be with us!



Cocktail Fruit



Bounty Paradiso

As it should, a Wine & Cocktail pairing is available and approvingly recommended. No brainer here. But, by curiosity, have a look at the wine list. Extensive, with surprising flacons from old to new world. The Sweet Treats are ending perfectly a gastronomic journey taking you far, far away, in another galaxy of flavours, aromas and textures, punctuated by spectacular cinematographic mise en scene. The surrounding might be primeval, but the concept and the cuisine are vanguards! And I would expect nothing less from Monsieur (or should I say Lord) Ryan Clift.

3 sittings per day are proposed with only 22 seats per service. Lunchtime at 12.30 pm, and two slots for dinner at 5.30 pm and 9 pm. As all diners are served at once, be on time to enjoy the spectacle, be it for the taste buds or the eyes. Such a surreal culinary journey, giving the term "underground restaurant" a whole new, quite literal meaning.