WA kitchen takeover in Bali

Ten years ago, Sofika Boulton, head chef at Sonny’s restaurant in Mount Hawthorn in Perth, came to Bali on a holiday after finishing school, and did all the usual things young travellers do in Bali: hit a few clubs, went shopping and hung out on the beach.

When she next returned earlier this month, she did a very different trip: a kitchen takeover at Mama San, the signature Balinese restaurant of Will Meyrick, co-owner of Will St. restaurant in Leederville. Known for using often-overlooked ingredients to create edible works of art, chef Sofika put on a meal at Mama San worthy of The Last Supper.

Her “Feed Me” set menu included grilled yabbies in rice paper rolls with Vietnamese fermented pork peanut sauce, whole spring chicken with charred corn chimichurri, and Balinese dark chocolate cremeux, a dessert with a melting texture and creamy flavour.

There were 10 plates in total, served with matching wine from Rosabrook vineyard in Margaret River, for $100 per head.

When I turned up for the second seating at 8.15pm, there was a queue five couples long to get seated. Afterwards I sat down with Sofika for a Q&A about her experience in Bali and how it differs from Perth.

Why did you decide to come to work in Bali instead of going on holidays like everybody else? “I had never cooked or even eaten Indonesian food, not even when I came to Bali after school. We just ate western food, like burgers and fries. So I really wanted to come here to learn and taste the food.”

But one of the dishes on your menu — baked yellow rice with tempeh — was as good as the Balinese make it. How did you learn so fast?

“I didn’t. The Balinese chefs at Mama San cooked rice. During the planning phase I told them ‘this is what I want’, ‘this is how it should taste’ and ‘this is how I wanted it to look’. They did the rest. But now I know how to do it myself.”

Do you know the saying ‘if you want to hear God laugh, tell him your plans’? How did the rest of your planning go?

“Hit and miss. I planned to do oysters but after speaking with Will after I arrived, he told me I wasn’t going to get anything like the great oysters we farm in WA, so we changed it to yabbies. We tried to use mostly local ingredients. Normally I make a finger lime vinaigrette to go with my grilled snapper, but as finger limes aren’t available in Bali we used local limes instead. I actually prefer it now.”

How does dining out in Bali and Perth compare? “For restaurants on a similar level, in Bali things are a little elevated service wise. It’s better than in Perth. I think the reason for that is that hospitality as a profession is valued higher here than it is back home. Different mindset.”

What about the cost?

“Eating out is definitely a lot cheaper in Bali. Most ingredients are also cheaper, especially seafood, but beef and alcohol are more expensive.”

Sofika’s kitchen takeover in Bali was the first of a series featuring Western Australian chefs that also included Mal Chow, head chef and owner of Chow’s Table, a Yallingup restaurant that serves food inspired by Chow’s Chinese heritage.

mamasanbali.com