Its creative Asian-Mediterranean menu champions local flavors and seasonal island-grown ingredients.
Left to right: Ramu Kitchen’s head chef Joshira Yugopradana; a plate of seafood coconut ceviche. (All photos courtesy of Titik Dua)
One of the newest noteworthy restaurants in Bali’s cultural heart can be found at Titik Dua, a design-focused boutique hotel of just 22 rooms that quietly made its debut in the early months of the pandemic. Vancouver-trained chef Joshira Yugopradana presides over Ramu Kitchen, where the casual farm-to-table dining experience offers a changing roster of dishes dictated by the freshness of ingredients sourced within Bali and from the surrounding waters.
Open for lunch and dinner, the restaurant occupies a breezy dining room that adjoins Titik Temu’s in-house gallery, which showcases works by local artists. Joshira fuses his Indonesian upbringing and international experience — including a years-long stint with acclaimed Canadian chef Gord Martin — in Ramu Kitchen’s family-style sharing plates. Homemade focaccia is topped with duck confit, locally made brie, slivers of red onion, and hoisin sauce; inspired by the local favorite sambal goreng ati, petai pâté (a multilingual play on words) repackages chicken liver, petai beans, and balado spice paste with French techniques. Another highlight, the seafood coconut ceviche, puts a Southeast Asian spin on the Peruvian classic: citrusy leche de tigre is moderated with creamy coconut milk, flavoring a potpourri of line-caught fish, prawns, Lombok octopus, and baked yam. Similarly, arborio rice has been swapped out in favor of a Japanese variety in the parmesan- and gruyère- topped fish risotto made with roasted catch of the day.
As for signature cocktails, Pickle is a rum-based concoction featuring green pepper and acar, or traditional pickled vegetables. Basil matches the sweet notes of its namesake leaves with clarified rum, Campari, pineapple, and basil oil; the negroni infused with curry leaves is also worth a try.
Beyond its four walls, Ramu Kitchen introduces diners to the island’s produce through monthly excursions to one of its local partners. Visitors might be taken to a farm in the north-central highlands of Bedugul, learn how to spearfish or make Balinese sea salt, and more. The first outing, dubbed Picnic #1, will bring visitors to Island Organic Bali, where 50 kinds of herbs and vegetables are grown. Following a guided tour led by Joshira and the farm’s horticulturalist, guests will sit down for a chef-made meal using the newly picked ingredients.
The breezy dining room at Ramu Kitchen.
Lemon-and-butter roasted fish risotto made with Japanese rice.
Left to right: Petai pâté being served; preparing a glass of Pickle, one of the signature tipples.
Left to right: Buffalo carpaccio with rendang gremolata; a corner of Ramu Kitchen’s dining room.
