Everything begins with fire
The roomTwenty two seats around an open hearth on the edge of Ubud.
The menuSeven courses, cooked over wood and coal, changed with every moon.
The hoursOne sitting a night, Wednesday to Sunday, from 19.00.
Before there were stoves, there was smoke, patience and a cook who listened. We still cook that way. Coconut husk for heat, rambutan wood for sweetness, a little coffee wood at the very end. Nothing here is rushed, and nothing leaves the kitchen until the fire has had its say.
A kitchen with no gas line
When we opened, the builder asked where the gas should go. We told him nowhere. Every sauce, every broth and every crust at Verrin is made over a wood fire that is lit at noon and allowed to die after the last guest leaves.
It is slower and it is harder. It is also the only way we know to taste the difference between a fish cooked at eleven in the morning and one cooked at nine at night.
Seven courses, one evening
- I
Quail egg and ash
SmokeSoft quail eggs set on charred corn cream with coconut husk ash.
- II
The ring
RawCured tuna, torch ginger and a ring of flowers from the garden.
- III
Morning boats
EmberPrawns and reef fish cooked straight on the coals, red rice, sambal matah.
- IV
Green and bitter
LeafFern tips, bitter melon and young papaya with a broth of roasted bones.
- V
Duck in banana leaf
HearthWrapped and buried in hot ash for nine hours, glazed with palm sugar.
- VI
Garden at dusk
HerbHerbs picked at five, dressed with smoked lime and toasted rice.
- VII
Burnt sugar
SweetCacao from Jembrana, caramel taken almost too far, cold coconut cream.
Seven courses, IDR 1,850,000 a guest
Inside the kitchen
Nine cooks, one fire and a soundtrack of crackling wood. Guests are welcome to stand at the pass between courses and watch.
A small room that glows
Clay walls, teak tables and one long banquette facing the fire. The lights are low on purpose. Your eyes adjust, the room gets quieter and dinner becomes the only thing that is happening.
Something to pour alongside
Old world
Five glasses from small growers in the Loire and the Jura, chosen to stand up to smoke.
IDR 1,200,000Island
Natural wines from Bali and Lombok vineyards, plus a dry rice wine we age in clay.
IDR 950,000By the glass
Ask the room. There is always something open and something we are excited about.
From IDR 180,000Highland greens
Three teas from the slopes of Bedugul, brewed at the table in a clay pot.
IDR 420,000Roasted
A smoky oolong and a roasted rice tea that loves the duck course.
IDR 380,000After dinner
Lemongrass and pandan, steeped long and served warm with the last sweet bite.
IDR 120,000Ferments
Kombucha, water kefir and a tepache made from the pineapple skins of the week.
IDR 520,000Smoke and citrus
Calamansi, smoked honey and soda, poured into a glass warmed by the fire.
IDR 140,000Juice of the day
Whatever the market had at six in the morning, pressed by hand.
IDR 90,000Pull up a chair by the fire
Tables open on the first day of each month for the month after. Tell us about allergies when you book, and we will cook around them.