Ubud
Ahhh, Ubud. If there is any one city to go to while you're in Bali, it's Ubud. It's a fantastic get away with lots of culture, art, and lush greenery. While there are lots of tourists, it's still got a fairly local feel to it (although there is a Starbucks in the middle of town). We spent 5 nights there and I could have still spent more time exploring the area. I really loved it. There are lots and lots of great food choices all within walking distance of each other or a short cab ride away. We had our first meal in town was at Cafe Wayan (Monkey Forest Road). Most restaurants in Ubud have huge outdoor gardens that seem to go on forever (benefit of it almost always being sunny) with lots of Asian style low tables that require you to sit Indian style and this place was no different. We all decided to order typical Indonesian dishes for our first meal. It doesn't get anymore Indonesian than mie goreng. I got it with seafood and honestly it was good but not mindblowing. The bits of seafood (shrimp and scallop were the only ones I could see) were pretty small and were overcooked. But all in all, it was a nice first taste to Bali. The total bill for all 3 of us was 218,000 Rp (which is about $24).
For dinner we went to Murni's Warung (no specific address). Our hotel had made a reservation for us and at
first when we walked in, it didn't seem liked we really needed it since
there was lots of open seating on the first level. But what we didn't
know was that the hotel booked us a seat over looking the river on the
4th level (downstairs). Unfortunately it was night time, so we couldn't
really see much but I'm sure during the day you would have seen an
amazing view of the river and gorgeous trees surrounding it. The
restaurant includes an antique shop and villas on site, so it's pretty
unique place. I ordered the award winning fish dish and the waitress
told me it was made with black bean paste but when it came out, it looked more like a soup/broth. It was basically cubes of white fish in a tamarind flavored broth with large pieces of onion, green peppers and snow peas served with a side of white rice. It was a nice light meal that didn't have a particular fishy flavor to it (perfect since I was having slight stomach ache that night). The great things about Murni's was that they also offered a free shuttle ride back to your hotel!
One of our negative eating experiences in Ubud was at the summit of this super touristy place to see this fantastic view of the volcano. I don't remember the name of the place but almost every tour group stops here and while the views were indeed amazing and might even make up for the shitty food, you can also just run in and take a picture without eating there. But we were so hungry that we just went for it. I don't have any pictures but it's a buffet of bad Indonesian food. Just bad quality and you could just tell that the food has been sitting out for a while. The one plus was that they did have condensed milk available with their coffee, which I love. The total bill was 125,000 Rp per person (or $14) which doesn't seem like much but given that you can get such better food for less, it was definitely overpriced.
Our 2nd dinner was at Bebek Bengil (aka Dirty Duck) (Jl. Hanoman, Padang Tegal) which we had heard was one of the best local restaurants in town and they claim to be the home of the original crispy duck. So of course I had to get the crispy duck (82,000 Rp). The duck is 1/2 a bird and served with a bean sprout salad, a side of sauces and white rice. The duck was a bit on the skinny side and I am usually used to a bigger/meatier duck (a la Peking duck). In an effort to be healthier, I generally avoid the skin but I just had to try it here and it was indeed crispy and delicious (totally made up for the fact that there wasn't too much meat). The bean sprout salad had a coconut taste to it which was unusual. One of the sauces was too smoky for me, but there was a shallot/chili/scallion oil was amazing and super flavorful and spicy. Loved it. Aarti and Deanna got a carrot/coriander soup and a mushroom soup and they were both delicious (mostly because they both had tons of cream in it). Despite being a tourist hot spot, the waitstaff did have some problems with English and the service was generally very slow to the point of irritation. But a plus is that they also had a free shuttle back to our hotel.
Another great lunch spot we went to was Batan Waru (Dewi Sita Street). We came here after a long day of art shopping and we were exhausted. The menu is authentic local eats and I got the Ayam Rica-Rica (72,000 Rp or $8) which was grilled chicken simmered in a chili, shiitake mushroom and coconut milk sauce. It was extremely delicious and I inhaled the whole thing even though it was a pretty huge portion. The chicken was super tender and juicy and the sauce had great heat and sweetness to it. One of my favorite dishes on the trip so far.
No comments:
Post a Comment