Aug/Sept, 1998
No. 036/VI/98
Young Guns
Bali's Generation X speak out
Bali-Sumbawa Surfari
Gone Surfin",
by boat
Gallery
Imagining the Soul
Health and Beauty
Which Doctor?
Something Fishy
Fiction
Womb by Cok Sawitri
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PUTRI
DUYUNG
The Javanese have several myths about mermaids, the most famous being about the goddess who lurks in the waters off the beach of Parangtritis waiting to grab unwary men. She seems particularly partial to men wearing green. With this in mind I was relieved when my dining companion to the Putri Duyung, which means mermaid, showed up in basic grey and white.
The
Galleria at Nusa Dua looked festive as we wandered amongst the diners at the other
restaurants. I always feel like I am entering another country when I pass the gates of
Nusa Dua - no scabby dogs, no playing children, no piles of plastic bags, no lissome women
carrying banten or men shouting over tajen. So it was some relief that I
found that the Putri Duyung is an Indonesian-style seafood restaurant - a touch of
authenticity in a manufactured environment.
We were met by the effusive and well-experienced Nyoman Djuanda, who has had a wealth of experience in the hotel and restaurant trade since graduating from hotel school in 1985. He made us feel welcome and proceeded to order a collection of foods.
We started with a Steamboat which is one of the specialties of the restaurant. The big huffing thing it was. The aroma and taste was derivative of Tom Yum Goong, but with the flavours of Indonesia. The soup was rich red and the flavours vivid, but lacking in the hot sourness of the Thai original. Indonesian flavours tend to be a lot denser and in the case the outcome was pleasing and certainly filling. The soup was crammed with prawns, fish, calamari and vegetables. On the menu the soup is listed as being sufficient for two. In fact we easily shared between three and there was enough left over for a doggie bag.
I
would have been happy to stop there but Nyoman had ordered more. Crispy-fried gurame
- a farmed fresh-water fish - with soy and ginger, their teeth grinning horribly up at us.
Crispy-fried squid with a sweet chili dipping sauce and the ubiquitous cap cay (fried
vegetables) with seafood. I would have chosen slightly differently, but the choice
reflected the type of fare on hand. I am partial to deep-fried gurame, particularly
if I can munch on the head, a practice which most of my friends find disgusting. These
were small but the flesh was tender with a crisp crust (try saying that after two gin and
tonics). The heads were fried well enough to allow me to crunch my way through the jaws
and cheeks. No osteoporosis for me!
The squid was a bit ho hum as was the cap cay -the local version of what I assume to be the fictitious chop suey. So such dish actually exists in Chinese cooking. Indonesian adaptations of Chinese food vary quite alot from the originals, and while the Chinese use a lot of steaming the Indonesians prefer to fry their food but without the aromatic oils such as sesame and peanut used in Chinese cooking. However the Putri Duyung offers a good range of flavoursome steamed foods which would be good to try on another occasion. We enjoyed a carafe of a good chilled Chateaux Box with our meals, served in a rather wonderful wooden ice bucket.
The restaurant is wide open, with picture windows that allow you to keep an eye on the trade outside. The kitchen is fronted by large painted glass panels that again blend traditional Javanese glass painting arts with a festive Bondi fish and chip shop feel. Food was brought with glowing smiles and attention to detail - quite an achievement taking into account the degree of personal stress being experienced by most Indonesians right now.
Prices are very reasonable indeed, and the menu varied with such classics as Steamed Crab with Oyster Sauce and Ginger, Bamboo Shoots with Chinese mushrooms and Hainan Chicken. The chef is Chinese from Java and has been hurling pots and fighting fires since the restaurant opened in 1992. The menu hasn’t changed much so Nyoman Juanda told me, as the food they serve tends to satisfy the clientele who repeatedly return. I guess that’s what it is all about!
After the huge amount of food, I wilted at the thought of dessert - unusual for me - but also eschewing the list of boozy coffees, accepted some good fragrant black tea. As we slowly wandered back to the car I remembered the rehabilitation shop was nearby. The goods here are made by disabled people at their workshop in Yogyakarta. The shop has the best teaching toys for young children and wonderful leather goods. I stopped in to buy some toys for my household staff’s kids. Do yourself, the disabled craftspersons and your heart a favour and go there. Then take some newly found Indonesian friends to visit the mermaid! Nusa Dua Galleria. Tel. 772 051.
Photos by Ari Basuki
Above:
1. Special Chinese Steamboat from Putri Duyung
2. Putri Duyung's seafood basket
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