Room4Dessert

Ubud, Bali

New York chef and elBulli alumni Will Goldfarb thought he had struck a winning formula when he opened Room4Dessert – a ‘Studio 54 for puddings’ as described by a Wall Street Journal food critic – in Lower Manhattan. For reasons beyond his control, it lasted just 18 months and saw Goldfarb take a seven-year sabbatical as a restaurateur before bringing his idea to the tropics and opening on the Island of the Gods.

We’re glad he didn’t give up. Set within a moody, cubist building that wouldn’t look out of place in Berlin, desserts are again the focus, but don’t expect sickly sweets. Pandanbert is a silken pandan panna cotta with sour-sweet snake fruit purée and a complex confit nutmeg, mangosteen peel provides the bitterness for a gelato served with pickled tea, while elsewhere dragon fruit is paired with beetroot sponge. His use of palm sugar for meringue lends a dark, mellow quality; coconut is expertly manipulated in a dessert that serves it three ways as a milk, cake and candy that highlights its sweet and savoury notes. Medicinal herbs and locally grown ingredients – vanilla, cacao, sugar, nutmeg, cinnamon – punctuate the other puddings. However, it’s not just the sweet stuff that’s done well. Seriously good charcuterie and bread straight from the smoker keep pace for savouries. But be sure to do as instructed and save room for dessert, please.