Compilation of our Bali food/ other haunts... :p
Last night was a great night in the company of Mrs Jemej, Mudgod and Ms.P as we settled down for dinner @ Chatterbox which is now located on the 38th floor of the Meritus Mandarin.
side note: happy to announce that Mrs Jemej is now a proud owner of an officially functional 'ronberry'! hehehehe.... :p
Anyway, we chatted over travels and some future housing ideas as Mudgod and Ms.P have just gotten their amazingly beautiful loft and in the midst, prepping for their A.D wedding in Sept this year. The talks of great seafood, their adventures in Sebana Cove and the much anticipated Labour Day long weekend reminded me of some of the great restaurants that both Ms Clover and myself went to in Bali and so I decided to do a compilation of where we went in Bali for future references as well as to share the good things in life :)
1) Fabio's (Seminyak)
Authentic Italian pastas and pizzas along the Jl Raya Seminyak. The price is very reasonable and relatively cheap. I would suggest going straight for their buschettas and pastas. I had the lobster bisque but it fell short of my expectations as it was too thin for a bisque.
I love great pastas, esp. al dente like how true Italian pastas should be. Fabio's doesn't disappoint when my my order of the hot steaming linguine with seafood, tomato and basil (Trenette Alla Nettuno) was served up. The portion is just nice and the taste well balanced between the tanginess of fresh tomatoes and basil herb with the freshness of the seafood.
Didn't take any shots coz it was really dark in the huge compound the restaurant occupies but it's worth the short walk from our villa to enjoy nice Italian food.
FABIO's - Ristorante Italiano (click here for website menu)
Jl. Raya Seminyak
No. 66 Kuta - Bali 80361
Tel: 61 . 232 . 730562
2) Cafe Warisan (Seminyak)
Nuff said. I have dedicated an entry on this very recently so please GO TRY IT!
Reservations for lunch or dinner is highly recommended :D
plus, you get a little souvenir of your name written in golden ink on a leaf!
Jl. Raya Kerobokan
No. 38 Kerobokan - Bali
Tel: 62 . 361 . 731175
3) Ibu Oka (Ubud)
Much hype has been given to this humble roadside stall or warung for their tasty babi guling or roasted suckling pig so it was high on our list of food to try while in Bali. Making our way to Ubud with our personal driver, Dewa Marco (more on him later), was a breeze as we zipped through the little roads and shortcuts and reached Ubud center just time before the lunch crowd started coming in. Ibu Oka has shifted from its humble warung to a temp house about 150m from where it used to be and despite that, we still see lotsa tourists still making their way to try out the food. For those venturing to try, don't worry as there's some signages to guide you there :)
As I have visually blogged briefly about the Babi Guling Special, it's time to describe the taste and experience of eating there. I was kinda glad that they have moved to a house with eating areas coz I seriously wouldn't like to stand around the roadside eating this delicious local food. When you arrive, you just find yourself a seat inside and settle down to the communal long table which is stocked with keropok and utensils. Some of the tables also have mangosteens and Indonesian durians but we decided to skip the durians coz we wanted to save our stomachs for Cafe Wayan's desserts.
The taste of the roasted suckling pig is really nice, the skin crispy and adding the mild smokey favor to the mix, makes this Babi Guling meal a worthwhile trip. The rest of the condiments (rest, crackers, vegs) are the normal fare but it's the suckling pig portion that is the draw. Not to worry about food hygiene... the people are so busy with serving up Babi Guling Specials that flies don't even have a chance to settle down on the food!
Ibu Oka warung - Babi Guling Special (click to read)
30'000rp (SGD$ 4.60) for 1 serving + 1 soft drink
Jl. Suweta, Ubud - Bali
ask your driver or Ubud locals on how to get there
4) Cafe Wayan (Ubud)
Nuff' said, DEATH BY CHOCOLATE CAKE! What more can you ask for? heehee...
what a way to go...
My good buddy, Char Siu Bao, introduced me to this cafe back 4 years ago and it made a fan out of me since then for their hidden-away garden which has mini water features, cooling gazebos and excellent food selections. Apparently, some tourists just went into the restaurant without realising that it has a back portion that hides the lush garden. Sitting inside the fan-cooled gazebo while experiencing a 'deadly' sugar high from the chocolate cake just makes time stood very still (maybe it was just me, momentarily intoxicated with the chocolate rush) but you can really spend a very lazy afternoon there, away from the bustling traffic along Monkey Forest road and when it's time, enjoy a nice candlelight dinner (which we still haven't gotten round to try coz we wanted to leave something for the next trip there) there.
Worth the trip always! Stay for dinner is the usual mantra of all who knew Cafe Wayan :)
Monkey Forest road
Ubud - Bali
Tel: 62 . 361 . 975447
Other recommendations:
Personal driver(s) - Dewa / Pablo Marco
Dewa Marco (Elder) : http://dewamarco-tour.blogspot.com
Pablo Marco (Younger) : http://dewapablo-tour.blogspot.com
I usually don't blog about additional resources like drivers or service individuals from hotels but I want to give a special mention to these 2 brothers team of personal drivers who operate in Bali.
My clients, C & JJ, got them for their travelling needs in Bali while prepping for their wedding over there and I was fortunate enough to get to know the both of them since then. According to C, she got them through Virtualtourist.com and they have excellent track records, good knowledge of Bali and very friendly personalities.
Knowing that Bali is a touristy island, there will always be fierce competitions amongst personal drivers but what made these 2 brothers stand out is their commitment to service as well as their personalities. They communicate in good english and Dewa himself has a passion for travel photography which makes up some interesting conversations while driving to our destinations. Even as they drive, they always look out for safety as well as giving us local tips on the areas. Dewa even brought us to a nice secluded black sand beach behind an abandoned hotel rumored to be of some high-ranking govt official's secret investments but went bust.
An example of their commitment to service was the night where C & JJ's dinner ended late @ Canggu area so by the time I leave The Beji, it was near 12 midnight when usually their service end but Pablo still waited around patiently and chauffeured me safely back to my hotel some 40 minutes away while chatting with me on some of the news he read of Singapore... sure made the ride back very entertaining also as we chat about corruption practices, Mas Selamat's escape from ISD... etc
Hope the info have been useful! :D
Labels: Clover, Food, Friends, Thoughts, Travel, Us, vacation
this is most helpful!! must bookmark it somewhere. hehe!
Posted by
candice |
8:52 PM
super useful! thanks so much! *-* just like what candice said, bookmark is a must! and yeah, virtual tourist is a great place to get all the info when i went europe!thumbs up! =p
Posted by
=eLaiNe= |
8:37 AM
After I'm done with the moo moo job, I wanna stuff myself with the chocolate cake!!!! Thanks for sharing!
Posted by
Anonymous |
2:03 PM
Candice:
no prob! hahha.. you must also blog about your trip to Korea coz I think Jeju Island is a very nice destination to go to :D
Elaine:
heheh.. actually Virtual Tourist is a great place to see reviews :p
Muffin Girl:
hey hey.. hehehe... the moo moo job will never seem to end.. is lil'Sniffle still lactose intolerant?
Posted by
ShutterBug |
8:51 PM
Thanks for your greats comments for us.
Posted by
Anonymous |
4:03 PM
The most favorite holiday destination amongst travelers is Kuta. The resort lies on the southern part of Bali within easy drive from Bali International Airport. There are plenty of Bali hotels and accommodation from cheap hostel to five star hotel.
Posted by
Bali Hotel |
3:15 PM