Ubud: taking the rough with the smooth

If I was in a relationship with Ubud, Bali's so called spiritual centre, our Facebook status would undoubtedly be “it’s complicated”.




What is it about Ubud that makes me feel so out of synch with the rest of the world? On my first trip it was like being an extra on the set of Disney Bali. The art! The market! The colour! The people! The hippies doing yoga! And action!

I just didn’t dig it. In fact, after a few days I felt decidedly ill. A malady that disappeared within hours of leaving the city.

Four years later I was determined to give it another go. Call me a masochist but I felt that Lucy, on her first journey to Bali, deserved to make up her own mind about the place. For the previous two weeks we’d meandered along the road less travelled in the east and north of the island. Our soft landing in Tirta Gangga was a taste of paradise. Talumban gave us the thrill of the ocean. Lovina served up the perfect sunsets. Even Seririt, where I attended a mindfulness workshop for a week, was an unexpected a gem.

The final day and a half of our holiday landed us in the grime and heat of a city, without the benefit of a sea breeze to cool off. The noise, traffic and hoards of tourists seemed even harsher after the loveliness we’d been experiencing in the quieter parts of Bali. If there wasn't the small issue of a plane to catch the next day, I'd have hightailed it to the hills of Munduk to spend some more time in the spice groves. As that wasn't an option, I was determined to find an upside to the town.

And I did.

Ubud redeemed herself with simple warungs and a humble tailor. Nasi campur soothed my soul. While a wicked espresso bounced me into enjoying my last day in Bali. Once you head away from the central rectangle of streets ( Jalans Monkey Forest, Raya Ubud and Hanoman ), the pace is not so hectic. Far from the spiritual centre of Bali for me (give me the hills any day) but good to discover the smooth amongst the rough.

Humble eats

Warung Kyoma (off Jl Hanoman, in a street parallel to Jl Dewi Sita)
This local run, basic eatery saved us on the first day. Tired, cranky and need of a late lunch, this blue-walled place, open to the street served us simple food cooked to order. Cheaper than chips – the small plate of gado gado provided a much needed protein and veggie hit. The peanut sauce wasn’t too rich and the vegetables were fresh. Lucy’s spring rolls were served hot straight from the wok (they must have been good, ‘cos she didn’t share them). The freshly whizzed mango juice cost about AU$1.50, a bargain in this town.

No tax (often a hefty 21+% in Ubud).

Biah Biah (Jl Goutama)
This was a Lonely Planet recommendation. It didn’t look that exciting when we passed it in the afternoon but it was close to our accommodation and I was hanging out for a vego nasi campur. While a step up (albeit a small one) from our lunchtime warung, Biah Biah was also extraordinarily cheap. At night the simple restaurant is transformed by lights nestled in cane lampshades. Service was a little chaotic but the Bintang was cold and we had the perfect Chefs Table seats, peering into the small but ordered kitchen. Nasi campur didn’t disappoint. Nothing overly memorable, just good honest vegetarian dishes.

No tax.

Oka’s Warung (Jl Kageng)
Another day, another vegetarian nasi campur and yet another small, blue painted Warung. We popped in for a (tax free) juice to cool off and ended up sharing a vegetarian nasi campur, not because we were particularly hungry but once we saw a fellow patron served it, we couldn’t resist.

Unusually it came with a little bit of omelette. As always the tempeh was great. Bali is the home of tempeh and it’s quite extraordinary. We couldn’t get enough of the stuff.

No tax.



Warung Sopa (jl Sugriwa)
We stumbled across this unique, vegetarian café quite by chance but later found it mentioned on Travelfish (excellent app, you can download it cheaply and access it while you travel without being online). Japanese influenced (and likely owned) you feel confident that the food is without the usual dash of shrimp paste that most “vegetarian” sauces often have in Bali. Apart from homemade bread and miso paste for sale, the “nasi campur” is a little different. You get to choose from a daily array salads, curries and non-Balinese offerings such as a tofu falafel and samosas. Another twist is that it comes with red rice, a nice change for our last meal. Amongst my offerings I chose an excellent bitter melon and tofu salad. They checked first that I knew what it was. Yes it’s a little bitter on first tasting but pared with the excellent, slightly sweetened tempeh it was a winner.

No tax (and free wifi)..and still incredibly cheap
Check out their amusing website.


On my last visit to Ubud four years ago, I’d done the rounds of some of the more upmarket, foreign-owned restaurants such as Casa Luna and Kafe Batan Waru and while tasty, it was as if the flavour balance had been altered for a Western palate, lacking the subtlety of some of the local food. Both are still going strong. This time I craved simple pleasures. I wasn’t disappointed.

Expensive drinks

We took some afternoon refreshment at Casa Luna (Jl Raya Ubud) and nothing has changed about this place from my last visit, though the staff at the height of the tourist season weren’t as friendly and finely honed as I remembered. A coconut juice, or the excellent lime and ginger number sets you back more than a nasi campur and beer at any of the local warungs. Sometimes, in the heat of the afternoon, you just need to cool down in pleasant surroundings.

Tax++ Free wifi on request

Tutmak café (Jl Dewi Sita)
I’d gone two weeks without an espresso and on my last day I caved in. Ubud does in fact have some great coffee and the lovely local at Utama Spice responded without hesitation to our question as to the best coffee in town. Tutmak, a fair walk from the shop she apologised, was definitely her pick. Then shyly, as if a little embarrassed to admit it, she mentioned the cinnamon buns and we were sold. Ten minutes later we were in the land of great coffee, munching on a warm, fragrant pastry. Ubud didn't seem so bad after all.

Tax and Free wifi on request.


So Ubud, I forgive you. It's still not love. And still complicated. But I'll keep working on it for now.

name the fruit: part two

Papaya, pineapple, mango, green skinned oranges, watermelon, jackfruit, durian, mangosteen, water apple – so many fruits, so little time.

The second mystery fruit came our way in the north of Bali. At a small market in Lovina a stallholder thrust one each into our hands, demonstrating how to remove the skin. For the next week, it became a staple.

Mystery fruit #2 has a thin but robust skin, oddly reptilian in nature. Inside is a pale yellow fruit, segmented into lobes with a seed in the centre of each. The texture is pleasantly crisp. The flavour has a hint of pineapple.

This is the fruit of a palm, one of the many exotic plants we saw growing in a trek through Munduk.

Can you name the fruit?


Taken at Ubud Market (note the piece of palm tree)

Update: As Michelle and Katherine rightly guessed, this is salak. AKA snake (or snakeskin) fruit. The texture of the skin gives the name away. It's quite extraordinary. This species is undoubtedly Salak Bali (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salak).

Salak fans, have you ever cooked with it or just eat it raw, as is?

eating Bali and Gili Air

Rocket fuel! Benzin flavoured vodka

Food and drink highlights:

Sanur:
The first gado gado is the best gado gado! At Vila Shanti, on the beach, while sitting at the bar having the best beer Bali has to offer – Storm Golden Ale. which is naturally brewed in the bottle with no chemical additives. But back to the food. A smorgasbord of delight featuring rice, tofu, tempeh, cucumber, tomato, and a roll of steamed greens (likely water spinach), the peanut sauce has more than a hint of lemongrass. The most expensive version in the trip (at Rp 25,000 about au$3.30) but certainly worth it.

Pregina a better than average warung, on Jalan danau Tamblinghan, quickly became our favourite and we had a return visit. I loved the tahu isi, fried cubes of tofu filled with vegetables served with a spicy soy based sauce. A serve of 3 was meant to be an entrée but filled me up (Rp 12,000/$1.60). The grilled whole fish in banana leaf came with sambal and rice, was beautifully fragrant (Rp 40,000/$5.30).

Padangbai:
This is a town you either love or hate. I fall into the less favourable category. It’s a good introduction to Sasak food, the predominant culture of Lombok just across the water. The small establishment in the main street where we had seafood satays (with chilli sauce - Sasak style) was our first questionable meal in Bali. We thought the hygiene would challenge our digestive fortitude. What made our dinner in this town most memorable is that we came through it with no ill effects!

Topi Inn, a café and guesthouse at the Blue Lagoon end of town, was clean and had good Balinese and Western food. It got my award for the best Nasi Goreng (see photo in previous post).

Best place to drink in town hands down goes to the Zen Inn (opposite the port) run by the extraordinary Ronald, a Dutch ex-pat. A good crowd of both European travellers and locals.


Gili Air
It is hard to have a bad meal on the island, the worst you will get is average. Sasak food is the traditional fare of Lombok and the islands. To me it seems Chinese influenced (actually the Sasaks are decedents of the Burmese), with 3 standard sauces on offer – chilli/tomato (the cuisine is supposedly high in chilli but to our heat tolerant palate it seemed rather mild, so we’d always ask for it spicy), sweet and sour or garlic. For example, cap cay - a typical vegetable dish, is basically fried vegetables with a sweet and sour sauce. For wary travellers, the Gili’s have an added bonus – with no natural fresh water on the island all the ice is made from imported clean water.

Breakfast: this is where I acquainted myself with the joys of freshly picked, green coconut juice with breakfast. One of the guys running the guesthouse would climb 10 metres up a tree for me each morning. It is reputedly good for those recovering from Bali Belly or hangovers, of which I had neither on the island. Typical breakfast is a choice of: banana pancakes (or pineapple if you prefer), banana fritters (dainty lady’s fingers in a light batter) with runny honey, jaffles (egg or fruit) or a savoury omelette, with Javanese coffee. All this, while lounging in a baruga (covered platform) staring out over the pristine water.

My best 2 meals on Gili Air were - Abdi Fantastik just a shack on the beach, this was the only place on my travels I found gafé dishes. The calamari came with a rich, brown coconut sauce. I wish I’d had more! Santay Bar also cooked up a mean meal. At night, like most other establishments there was a range of freshly caught fish you could choose to have barbecued. We had red barracuda (not the blue boned one we’d had elsewhere which had pesky, fine bones) with garlic sauce, rice, vegetables and fruit to follow for Rp 50,000/$6.60). I also had a green vegetable curry, still distinctively Indonesian with the flavour of white turmeric.

Drinks: Though “Crazy Ary’s” on the south west side of the island boasts being the sunset bar (it serves only cocktails and only operates for the 2 hours around dusk – within half an hour of sunset the place is pitch dark and only bars like Star, Santay and Legends seem to have much going on), Legends at the northern end probably gives the most stunning view of the sun going down. However the young guy tending the bar at Crazy Ary’s will make you a mean pina colada and once you get to know him he’ll use the good grog, not the cheap local knock off they tend to palm off on you. He also spins a good line about black magic.

Ubud
This town is a different kettle of ikan from the other places we travelled. Here you can chow down on fine fusion food, pasta or sushi. Just watch out for the tax that ranges from 10 – 20+%. Despite that you can still find a good warung.

My favourite was Sura’s just a little walk up the hill on Jalan Kajeng. We liked it so much we went back many times, first just aiming to stop by for a fresh juice (soursop became a fast favourite) then getting seduced by the menu. Dishes are very cheap (mie goreng about Rp 14,000/$1.90 plus 10% tax). The vegetarian food was fantastic here. My partner even had a steak, a steal at Rp 30,000/$4. Service is slow, which they make a joke about in the menu. Yes they really do make each order up from scratch, often with the daughter getting on her motorbike to get fresh ingredients, repeatedly through the night.

Casa Luna is at the other end of the price spectrum but by Australian standards still incredibly cheap. In this, and other western owned restaurants, I found the flavours subtly different, maybe saltier and with a different complexity to a warung meal. The Balinese Paella was pretty special.

These are the people behind the cooking course at the Honeymoon Guesthouse, which will feature in my next instalment of eating my way around Bali.