With one of Bali’s hottest kitchen teams at the helm and a brand new menu to shout about, Selatan Restaurant is officially on our destination dining radar...
If, like us, you’re obsessed with Sundays Beach Club, then you’ll have passed Selatan Restaurant on countless occasions. With every trip down the cliffs towards your paradisal beach club perch, this signature restaurant sits on the pristine grounds of The Ungasan Clifftop Resort, overlooking that uninterrupted ocean vista that the resort is so famous for. But that’s not all. With a hot new F&B team at the helm, Selatan Restaurant now has some seriously scrummy new dishes on its menu – so we went South to check them all out.
Spoiler alert: – After tasting our way through Selatan’s collection of new creations, we’ll not only be making a pitstop here pre- and post- sun-soaks at Sundays Beach Club, we’ll be making special trips to Selatan purely to feast on the restaurant’s world-class cuisine – the sublime work of Executive Chef Josh Tyler and his sterling F&B team.
Here’s why you need to add Selatan Restaurant to your island dining itinerary…
Selatan’s superstars
They say that behind every great chef, there’s a team of dedicated and passionate people helping make the culinary magic happen – and that couldn’t be more true for Selatan Restaurant. For starters, there’s the six-star hospitality of The Ungasan Clifftop Resort at the foundation of this signature restaurant, supported by an expat-heavy, internationally-skilled squad of food & beverage veterans that bring a wealth of experience from all over the world.
There’s F&B Director Daniel Whitelaw who has one of the most impressive CVs of anyone anywhere. He’s been in the hospitality industry for over 20 years, most notably working for celeb chef Luke Mangan, overseeing his restaurants in Australia and South East Asia for the past decade. He’s also worked in some of the finest establishments in the world, from the Savoy Hotel in London, to Tetsuya in Sydney. He brings all of this foodie knowledge and unparalleled experience to The Ungasan Clifftop Resort, upping the ante for the in-villa dining offerings, the iconic Sundays Beach Club experience, and now, Selatan Restaurant’s fresh new flavours.
Then there’s the chefs. Balinese Sous Chef I Putu Marthada has been with The Ungasan Clifftop Resort since the very beginning, while Australian Executive Chef Josh Tyler joins the team after honing his skills in the fine diners of Sydney – and the world. He’s worked with Peter Doyle at Celsius Restaurant and Serge Dansereau at Bathers Pavilion, and after a stint in the mountains of Canada, Chef Josh then worked his way through the finest kitchens of Europe and China. You might recognise him from his TV appearance on River Cottage Australia, or from his very own restaurants, Tyler’s Kitchen and Tyler’s Pantry, for which he earned himself a Chef’s Hat from the highly-regarded Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide.
Wherever he was in the world, Chef Josh developed an abiding passion for local, sustainable produce, working closely with local growers, farmers and fisherman to explore and celebrate native produce. Now, Josh brings this philosophy and his award-winning rep to The Ungasan Clifftop Resort’s legendary dining destinations – including Selatan Restaurant. Using unique ingredients from Bali, uber-innovative cooking techniques, and a strong commitment towards the environment, he’s created a refined, world-class menu that is as surprising and inventive as it is sensational…
Selatan’s signatures
Before our feast at Selatan Restaurant had even fully begun, we knew this was going to be a culinary showstopper. Why, we hear you cry? Bread. That’s why. Chef Josh has managed to nail the perfect loaf in Bali, which is quite an achievement given the island’s high humidity. He’s managed to do what many have failed at, and that’s produce a flawlessly-formed sourdough that’s so crunchy on the outside and so warm and springy on the inside, we found ourselves slipping him a few Rupiah under the table in a bid to let us take some home…
But this bundle of baked perfection was just the beginning of Chef Josh’s big wins (and our stealthy bribes). Course after course, perfectly-presented contemporary plates made their way to our table – the kind of dishes that can’t be categorised into a single cuisine or cooking style. Chunks of watermelon were served almost-meaty after being baked for 12 hours, later strewn with sunflower seeds and creamy dollops of Stracciattella cheese. Or how about the potato scallops that were smoked, salted and spiced, then served as giant golden discs ready for dipping into a creamy malt mayo. And hey, these were just the starters…
For mains, expect perfect parcels of prawn agnolotti, deliciously dressed in burnt butter, sage and capers. Or the wood-grilled local octopus that comes marinated in XO sauce and served with a corn and zesty lime puree. Even the sides are worth shouting about, straying from the typical green salad or plate-filling carb, to instead serve barbecued raddichio with duck ham and sherry, and wood-roasted cauliflower with green olives, romesco and sheep’s cheese.
It goes without saying then, that Selatan Restaurant should not only be added to your next Sundays Beach Club itinerary, but this is a destination dining restaurant that’s worth crossing oceans for – or at the very least, the island.
Selatan Restaurant at The Ungasan Clifftop Resort, Jl Pantai Selatan Gau, Banjar Wijaya Kusuma, Ungasan, p. +62 811 942 1110, e. selatan@theungasan.com.
