Life is too short for bad food - #001 - the 9 course chef's tasting menu at Cuca, Jimbaran, Bali

Hello steemit!

I am new here, let me quickly introduce myself: my name is Marcel, I'm Swiss and I love to travel and eat delicoius food. I'm always open to dive into new food cultures or fusion dishes. Sometimes I also like to cook and try new dishes or turn them into a piece of art. 😃

On this food blog you will join me on my culinary expeditions, as well as witnessing my cooking and art skills. I'm always happy to receive new cooking ideas or suggestions for new places to visit, so don't hold back! :p

all the pictures are mine unless stated otherwise

Let's start with my first food story here, the incredible 9 course chef's tasting menu at the Cuca in Jimbaran on Bali, Indonesia. All their ingredients are fresh and locally sourced. 😎👍The chef Kevin Cherkas honed his skilles at the michelin starred restaurants: El Bulli, Arzak, La Broche in Spain and in Daniel Bouluds restaurant Daniel in NYC.😋😋😋 Be sure to pay them a visit when you are on Bali, you won't be disappointed! Plus the prices are very reasonable - around 45 USD for such an expansive tasting menu!

The first time Yasi and me came here was on her birthday 🎂 🎉 last year and also to celebrate our engagement 💍 . Now on Sunday after our wedding in Singapore on 10 March 2017 we brought our parents to this fine establishment. 😊 There was no discussion, we had to order the chef's tasting menu, again! 😃😏

The first course was cuban corn: sweet softness yet a bit crunchy grilled baby corn (50 days old) paired with parmesan, lime, parsely, which makes an amazing mix! 😍😍😍what a great start into this nine courses menu! 👌

The 2nd course was honey glazed bbq pork, pancake bun, pickled cabbage, coriander - the stuff dreams are made off. 😍😍😍 This is easily the best 👌👌👌 of the whole tasting menu, I could never get enough of it! 😅 The Chef Terry Chee came to our table asking us how it was. I think this is his singature dish, it was awesome!

Take a look at how it was served ond flat beer bottle, how cool is that 😎👍 (despite being from Heineken) haha

The third course was a real treat for the eyes, look at this color combination, like a flower! 😍 🌸 a smoked butterfish from east Bali with beetroot yoghurt, zucchini pickles and parsley crumbs. 😀👌Of course it also tasted nice! 😋😋😋

Number four was a honey baked pumpkin salad with country granola, creemy green beans, tarragon. usually not a big fan of pumpkin, but this was delicious. 😋😋😋 Also how it was presented among the other ingredients and the wooden spoon added a nice touch. 👌😃

After the pumpkin salad for number five we moved to the sea enjoying a BBQ octopus surrounded by small waves of asian gazpacho 😎 and covered by fresh apple, caramelized cauliflower, and my favorite herb coriander. 💓 🐙 Octopus 🐙 can be so delicious 😍😍😍when prepared the right way, to get rid of this rubbery texture and turn it into a heavenly tenderness. This is what the masters @cucaflavor managed to do! 🙌🙌🙌 speaking of BBQ octopus 🐙 is what @yaaaasssiiii and me requested for our 😘romantic 😘 candle light dinner on the beach at @theResidenceZanzibar . The Chef was surprised that we wanted octopus. 😅he told us most couples are asking for lobster - haha. 😜😜😜

we stay under the sea 🌊 and continue with the 6th course, a rice tempura soft shell crab 🦀 accompanied by aioli, bbq pineapple and curry leaves. 😋

the good thing about soft shell crab is there is no extra work to eat it hehe! 😄Look at how nicely cut the pineapple is. 💓👌

For number seven we swim back to the land and dig in to some awesome beef 'n' mushroom ragout with whipped potato and red wine jam. 😋😋😍 - wow so much food and we are not at the end yet!

An egg sunny side up for dessert? 🤔 haha, not quite 😁 it's sweet runny mango, frozen passion fruit, whipped coconut. 😍 looks very real right? 😛😛😛I really liked this 'Bali breakfast' 😋😋😋

the last course of this tasting menu was fresh mint ice cream, which is made from thousands of handpicked mint leaves 😮, the black chocolate contains 99% cocoa😮😮, made from organic coca pods grown on Bali. Could there be a bigger chocolate luxury than this?😃😍 I think I never had such a high cocoa content in any dessert or chocolate bar before. 😅Paired with this mint ice cream, such a refreshing experience!😋😋😋😍😍😍

Again our visit to Cuca was a great😊, the Staff was so nice and comforting 🙌🙌🙌and of course they were happy we returned to their restaurant with more people this time. 😄

the first time we came here we could take a picture with Chef Terry Chee, the staff provided us with the appropriate clothing! So cool!

Be sure to pay them a visit and spread the word! 😉👍 @cucaflavor

thank you for reading my story :)