Ubud II

September 10-15, 2017

There's plenty more to enjoy in Ubud beyond Janet de Neefe's empire. We walked through rice fields with Su, learning about the birds, butterflies, insects and plants of the area. After a bit of research, we agreed to visit the monkeys in the adjacent forest just as they were eating breakfast. We took the Campuhan Ridge walk, and at its end we lazed at Jungle Fish. And, of course, we ate. Here are some other memorable meals from our time in Ubud.

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We met a friend for dinner at Hujan Locale, and eagerly took in her recommendations from her many months living in the city. It's smart and casual and candlelit, with a focus on local produce and a clearly labelled page of vegetarian dishes. We all reveled in the Krupuk plate (IDR70k ~ AU$6.60), a gorgeous sampler of chips (potato, melinjo, sweet potato, cassava, tempeh) and dips (saos kacang/peanut sauce, sambal avocado, terong bakar/roast eggplant, sambal bajak/chilli, sambal matah/shallot & lemongrass). After going separate ways for our mains, we reunited over an oily, crispy open style martabak served with a scoop of Balinese pod white chocolate smothered in salted palm sugar caramel (IDR80k ~ AU$7.60). 

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After chilli for days, we were after a mellower meal, and Sage delivered. The mung bean-based kitchari burger was a surprise hit, one of the best mock-beef-style burgers we've ever eaten (IDR70k ~ $6.60). I still couldn't stay away from tempeh, ordering them Buffalo wing-style (IDR40k ~ AU$3.80), and we found enough room left over for their specialty layered coconut cake and its cloud-like icing.

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We actually booked our entire holiday around an advance reservation at Locavore. We chose their 7-course vegetarian menu (IDR750k ~ AU$71) and were treated to so much more! The official meal was bookended by a half-dozen delicate savoury snacks, and as many petit fours. It was a stunning parade of clever techniques applied to fresh Indonesian produce, served in beautiful custom-made ceramics by smiling staff. The myriad courses were satisfying but not heavy, a refreshing experience all round! This ranks among our all-time favourites in fine dining.

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We visited Clear Cafe when Michael needed another walk on the mild side. Their Indian lentil soup (IDR35k ~ AU$3.30) was exactly what his delicate digestive system needed, and I got in another served of tempeh - this time in the form of a TLT wrap (IDR55k ~ AU$5.20) lined with an unexpectedly nifty black bean humus.

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My biggest regret is not heading into Tukies earlier. It's a charming little spot for a cooling dessert. I was absolutely bowled over by their simple scoop of vegan-friendly coconut icecream, which was garnished with fresh coconut, dried coconut, toasted coconut and candied coconut. If only there'd been more time to try their other fruity blended and shaved-ice drinks & desserts! Even in their absence, we had an undeniably sweet time in Ubud.

Ubud

September 10-15, 2017

After a very lazy time on Nusa Lembongan, we headed across to Ubud for the second part of our holiday, ready to do some seriously good eating. We stayed at Honeymoon Guesthouses, owned by Janet de Neefe, who has run food businesses, festivals and accommodation in Ubud for 25 years. The guesthouses are spacious and comfortable, although we found our outside chairs already occupied when we turned up (see above).

Food-wise, we spent our first night at Indus Restaurant, which is part of the de Neefe empire - the hotel puts on free transport to and from the restaurant and you get a 10% discount if you're staying at Honeymoon. Indus is beautifully situated, with a terrace looking over a lush river valley - we got there right on dusk, so we only had a few minutes to enjoy the view before focussing our attention on the food.

I had the vegan nasi campur (IDR70k - $6.70) - a plate of rice and goodies including pumpkin, curry eggplant, tofu, snake beans, jackfruit and the best tempeh I've ever eaten. Cindy went for the jackfruit rendang, with green beans, coconut milk, crispy shallots and red rice (IDR85k - $8.10), which was nearly as good. We left enough space for our first real dessert of the trip, a slice of Casa Luna's famous lime tart (IDR60k - $5.70) - it easily lived up to the hype.

We had five mornings at Honeymoon Guesthouses to sample the full range of breakfasts they offered up (breakfast was part of the package) - it was such a treat to have fresh fruit and fancy juices for breakfast every morning.  

This was followed by our choice of main: banana-stuffed pandan pancakes, banana fritters, French toast with palm sugar syrup, eggs and, most impressively, a vegetarian nasi campur. Tempeh for breakfast is the best. Coming back to cereal for breakfast has been one of the hardest parts of the holiday being over.

Our other Casa Luna food-related experience was a half day cooking class the involved a tour of the Ubud market (right before it changed from the locals market to the touristy one). It was fun to get a rundown of the local produce and to get a sense of how locals do their shopping.

After we finished at the market, we headed back to the cooking school to get stuck into some Balinese cookery. A group of about 12 of us pitched in to produce a ridiculous feast: two kinds of coconut salad (urab pakis), a tempe curry, a roasted eggplant sambal (sambal tuwung), a fried chilli sauce (sambal goreng), a raw chilli seasoning (sambal matah), fried noodles (mie goreng) and a fish curry (ikan mekuah). The hands-on parts of the course were tag-teamed, so people took turns grinding up spices pastes, chopping and frying things. 

The food was astonishingly good, and the course was well suited for vegos (the mie goreng was split into two batches - one with fish sauce and one without). While we ate the savouries, the instructors whipped up a batch of pandan pancakes stuffed with palm sugar and coconut, an amazing way to end a fantastic meal. Look out for some of these dishes on the blog in the next few months.

We had a wonderful stay at Honeymoon - the staff were super helpful, the pool was great and everything we ate or drank that had any connection with the place was delightful. We'd definitely stay there again.

Nusa Lembongan

September 7-10, 2017

After our first night in Seminyak, we quickly escaped to somewhere a bit less intense, Nusa Lembongan. It's a little island about 50km east of the main island of Bali and has a much more relaxing vibe. We stayed at Sunset Garden, a lovely little hotel with gorgeous villa-style accommodation, a terrific pool and a cute little restaurant. We didn't have much luck with vegetarian food there for lunch and dinner, but we hit them up each morning for breakfast - fresh fruit, juice or coffee and a decent selection of mains to choose from. Cindy couldn't resist the pancakes (with pineapple or banana), while I went for tomato, cheese and egg jaffles most mornings. It was a good start to the day.

There weren't heaps of vego options in our neighbourhood - most places offered up a couple of meaty Indonesian dishes alongside heaps of weird western food - burgers, pizzas and the like. We were in Indonesia to eat tempeh, so our eyes lit up when we saw that the restaurant at Mushroom Garden Villas had both a tempeh curry (IDR40k - $3.75) and gado gado (IDR35k - $3.30) on the menu. We stopped in for lunch on our way to the beach and had a very satisfactory meal.

We were even happier when we wandered past Oishii Bar & Grill, just around the corner from our hotel, and saw the word 'vegetarian' painted on their sign outside. They're a primarily Japanese place, but like most restaurants on Lembongan do a bit of everything (more pizza and burgers, plus some Indonesian food).

We had a couple of meals there, featuring some excellent crispy tempeh sushi rolls, avocado rolls, tempura veggies and a decent tempeh and vegetable curry (meals were between IDR50k-80k, so about $4-$8). Like everywhere we went, they sold beautiful fresh fruit juices (and pretty decent cocktails).

While we were there we got a good tip from Amy that the best vego food on Lembongan was at Pisang-Pisang. It was right across the other side of the island from where we were staying, but we sorted out a taxi over to that side of town for some beachside cocktails and a wander down for dinner. It was well worth the trip - Pisang-Pisang has heaps of vegan options, easily the most we found on the island. Cindy had some delightful salt and pepper tofu (IDR42k - $4) while I had an amazing tempeh masala curry with fresh pineapple and roti bread (IDR60k - $5.60). The only challenge was finding a night-time ride back to our accommodation!

We had an incredibly relaxing time on Lembongan - it's a beautiful and calm place to hang out. The vegetarian food doesn't hit the heights of the more heavily touristed parts of Bali (see Cindy's forthcoming Ubud post for some real highlights), but we ate well and cheaply. You wouldn't go to Lembongan for the food, but there's enough to sustain all that pool-side lounging.

Seminyak

September 6-7, 2017

Michael and I have just returned home from our first holiday in Bali. It was a fabulous, relaxing experience and we're both hoping that it won't be our last visit to this island. Over the next week on the blog we'll be writing about our favourite meals during our travels.

We spent just one evening in Seminyak when we arrived. Lined with surf clothing shops, restaurants selling pizza and seafood, and crowded with sunburned Aussies, it reminded us of the Gold Coast.

Michael picked up some eating tips from VegieHead, and we ate dinner at Chandi. It was an expansive restaurant aimed at travellers, with a clear vegetarian & vegan section in its menu. Michael went all out on the Vegetarian Sate Platter on River Stone (IDR154k ~ AU$14.30), a selection of vegetable skewers including bacam tofu, coconut milk marinated tempeh, and caramelised pineapple. I was just as delighted with my Tempestuous Arugula Avocado Salad (IDR86k ~ AU$8.05), even though it only had three teeny avocado bites - it was scattered with coconut oil-fried sunflower seeds, shallots, chilli & tempeh chips, and dressed with lemongrass.

Our hotel had a good reputation for its breakfast spread, and we were slow to take stock of the entire spread. There was the typical western stuff: eggs to order and bacon; toast with jam, Nutella or Vegemite; cereals and a pancake station (!); a more European spread of cheeses and cold meats; then the tropical fruits and juices I craved, and clay pots with south-east Asian foods. I lined my stomach with fried eggs and rice, pickles, fried shallots and doughnut pieces, then finished up with a bowl of fruits. I loved it, and I loved anticipating many more such breakfasts to come.