For Sunday night’s dinner in Bali we set foot into modern Thai restaurant Mama San. This cool joint is the brain child of Chef Will Meyrick who has already made his mark in the Asia Best 50 list with his other high profile diner Sarong. But instead of donning his waitstaff with the formality of Sarong, Mama San is his popular venture which sports a more casual appeal serving the masses with its modern Asian food. While I have not tried Sarong, I was definitely super keen to see what was in store for us at Mama San in Seminyak. (Just so you know, Chef Will Meyrick has opened two other Mama Sans in Hong Kong and Malaysia too!
Roasted Peking duck with steamed choy sum & red bean sauce.
Most of the time when you get Peking Duck its only the skin that is served because the rest of the duck is rarely marinated hence the other courses like the Sang Choy Bow comes to play. At Mama San, it was served like a Roasted Duck along side the Chinese staple of steamed choy sum and some “tim cheong”. The crisp duck skin really made an impression along with its juicy flesh. However, what I questioned was whether Mama San has overdone the sauce because it was hard to appreciate the duck when it was drowned in all that sauce. After all if one was eating Peking Duck, you would only have a small dash of sauce although some might say its a matter of personal preference.
Vietnamese Grilled Prawn on Sugar Cane with rice paper roll and nuoc cham.
Next we had these amazing grilled prawns. It has been a long time since I last had these and I really loved it. These garlicky prawn skewers are slightly sweet and almost like fish cakes but made out of prawns. This was a DIY session as we used these skewers to make Vietnamese Rice Paper Rolls! Summers!
Chatuchak crispy pork ribs with green mango peanuts & Nam Yam dressing.
Named after the largest market in Thailand, these finger licking good dish reminds me of the food I have had in Thailand. Crispy pork ribs were seasoned so well it reminded me of Som Tam Nua’s Fried Chicken. This dish was extremely palatable. The pork ribs for were fried well and flesh was tender! Then you have the sweet/sour Mango Salad which helped de-grease all that porky action that just happened. Its that sort of balance that makes Thai cuisine so popular all over the world. Two extremes on a plate that balances out one another to create a whole lot of roller coaster in your mouth.
Roasted Duck Red Curry.
Red curry and rice is one of the best Thai dishes to go with rice. This was no exception with its deep red curry sauce ever creamy and rich in spices. Unlike the overly sweet Peking Duck, the level of sweetness in the curry was spot on. I also felt like the sweetness had sense of fruitiness and acidity which really complements the creamy sauce. But be careful of the baby eggplants! They are like little land minuses they are really bitter when you bite into them.
Crispy whole fish with three-flavor sauce wild ginger turmeric pineapple chilli & tamarind.
Last but not least was the three flavoured fish. Thai cuisine’s habit of putting the three flavours of sweet, sour and salty consistently across its dishes makes Thai cuisine some of the most appealing cuisines in the world. This was no different. The fish was perfect with its mild chilli jam sauce having a nice bite of acidity from the tamarind and also the sweetness of the pineapples. What makes fish like this enjoyable is when you get a small part of the fish that is really fried and crispy despite getting soaked with all the sauce!
My highlight of Mama San would definitely be the Prawn Skewers and Chatuchak Pork Ribs! Interesting and interactive dishes thats jam packed with flavour! Not to forget it is amazing textures too. There has never been a shortage of love affair between Asian Cuisine and the rest of the world. Mama San Bali’s take on the Asian cuisine (predominantly Thai) is a decent attempt. While trying to stay as authentic as possible, I could not help but feel that the dishes served at Mama San had a notch of sugar more than I am used too. Even then, the meal was really enjoyable. Add its amazing interior with a matching cocktail list and Mama San easily makes for a great night out.
WenY
WenY
