Jamie's Italian, Bali

I love Italian food. If you haven't figured it out by now, you will if you see what I usually ordered especially when looking out for new places to explore. We saw this place during our trip to Bali late last year. Who never heard of Jamie Oliver? Yeah, I know right. So when we saw this shop, our curiosity was piqued.

I  know I should have ordered the thirst quenching drink here but I just couldn't resist the Nutella Chocolate concoction. Anyway, I wished I had ordered the same thing Hubby did. It was a mocktail of sort. Apple Martini maybe? This post was so back-logged that I couldn't remember properly the name already.

 

We shared a black truffle rissotto and a pizza. Needless to say, the black truffle rissotto was amazing! and the pizza extremely delish as well. We managed to polish off everything between the two of us. The rissoto was well-flavoured and you get the woody taste of the black truffle at the back of your tongue. Subtle and light, it was not overpowering. The pizza had crunchy thin crust and the toppings were just adequate to bring out the fragrance of the herbs. Loved it!

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Jamie's Italian

Jalan Raya Kuta No. 47, 

Banjar Pande Mas, Kuta, Kabupaten Badung, 

Bali 80361, Indonesia

Flapjacks Pancakes, Bali

If you are a fan of pancakes and waffles or anything with batter, this would be a god-sent to you. I love their pancakes and the home made ice creams that accompany them are just heavenly!

We found this gem of a dessert place while we were walking along the streets along Kuta Beach Rd, Bali and I love it!

Despite my raves about their pancakes, please do NOT order their ice lemon tea! It was really a sour experience and I did not enjoy a single sip! It was so sour that I could not even finish half of it and I am fond of sour-y drinks and food. The apple soda was really good and refreshing though. So I guess just the ice lemon tea was not up to par.

The Ferrero Rocher ice cream felt like peanut butter ice cream with a hint of chocolate but the chocolate pancake was one of the best I have ever had! nyum! The cream cheese icing was also excellent and lent a bit of saltiness to the sweet dessert. 

Tiramisu Pancake with Fererro Rocher Gelato

The original pancake used below was fluffy and simply delicious! I thought it would not be as delicious as the chocolate version but I was wrong. It was amazing! The bananas were cooked to tenderness with lots of caramel sauce thrown in. The slightly tangy raisins made it a very good combination. The strawberry sorbet still has bits of strawberries in it and the swirl of whipped cream made it really wonderful. I can't decide whether I like the Ferrero pancakes better or Banana Foster...

Banana Foster Pancake with Strawberry Sorbet

Look for them at:

Flapjacks

Jalan Kartika Plaza, Kuta, Kabupaten Badung, Bali 80361, Indonesia

Phone:+62 361 765100

Hours: 8:00 AM – 12:00 AM

The Ocean Bar & Restaurant, Tanah Lot

Just outside the entrance for Tanah Lot, this eatery is probably taking a huge profit from all the hoards of hungry tourists flocking to this famous attraction.  Food here might pricier compared to warungs but for the view and the reasonable quality, it made the bill pretty worthwhile especially if you were passing by. It was breezy because of the close proximity to the beach (Tanah Lot, remember?) and we lingered over our drinks before proceeding to Tanah Lot.

Even the tissue box deserved a shot!

We ordered one Nasi Campur and one Chicken Betutu. This way, it enabled us to check these two food off our to-eat list. The Nasi Campur was IDR65,000 and my Ayam Betutu was IDR60,000. With two coconuts (IDR30,000 each) with service charge and government tax, the bill came up to about IDR180,000. 

The skewers of satay was average even though only lean meat was used. The portion of rendang (spiced beef) and turmeric chicken was quite good. We both did not like the vegetables and did not finish. They have a strong preferance to use turmeric and coconut milk to stir-fry their veggies here and somehow we both do not really like it. The tempe (deep fried soya bean batter) was surprisingly delicious and tasted nothing like what we found in Malaysia!

The chicken Betutu was a spiced grilled chicken and tasted of a light turmeric flavour with a quite strong ginger smell. I do not fancy the "kangkung" but overall the whole dish was alright for me. The chicken thigh was tender and deep-fried I think. I like the chilli paste or "sambal" that came with the dish though.

The refreshing young coconut completed my meal!

I would recommend this restaurant for two reasons alone. The convenience during a visit to Tanah Lot and the magnificent view from its terrace and the breeze that came with it!

The Ocean Bar & Restaurant

Tambanan, Tanah Lot,

Bali

Bebek Tepi Sawah, Bali - A Review

It's one of the place to have some Bebek in Bali other than Bebek Bedigil and like the famed Babi Guling Ibu Oka, Bebek Tepi Sawah has grown since its startup days. Nowadays it has branches everywhere and the one we went to was just a stone's throw away from our hotel, Eden Hotel in Kuta, Bali.

The Crispy Duck was amazing! I loved it although portion was quite tiny even from the photo. The chicken was quite puny too. I had the grilled chicken. Not a fan of the raw ulam they served it with though. Avocado juice here was thicker and better compared to the one I had at Warung Babi Guling Ibu Oka. My fiancé had the Balinese coffee which was pretty alright I guess. I am not a fan of Balinese coffee as I personally prefer the Vietnamese one. But I guess this is pretty subjective. The condiments: 4 various types of sambal. I like the one with the sweet dark soya sauce and the one with lemongrass and shallots (both at the bottom).

Overall, this was a pretty pleasant experience despite the hefty price tag. For a simple meal like this, the bill came up to nearly IDR 285 000. Anyway, it's worth going at least once so drop them a visit if you do happen to pass by.

Address: 

Bebek Tepi Sawah

Jl Kartika Plaza

Kuta, Bali.

Surya Cafe, Jimbaran Bay Seafood, Bali - A Review

We were supposed to go to Menega Cafe, but despite the fact that it was just 5.40pm, there were no more available tables. Lots of tables were not occupied but we're informed that they were already  booked. Whatttttt??? The waiting list has four names on it already and even the first name on the list meant a wait of about an hour. We decided to forget about it and was about to ask our driver to send us elsewhere when we were waved enthusiastically by a couple of waiters from two neighbouring shops. My fiancé knew I was looking forward for the dinner by the beach to watch the sunset so I could tick it off my to-do list, told me we could always go there and seafood grilled would all taste pretty similar. Blerk! Yes, I got the lack of enthusiasm from that sentence alone. Anyway, we decided  on Surya Cafe and settled for a table quite near the water-line.

Their menu looked slightly more expensive from Menega, (Yes, I googled even the menus from various cafes nearby before I even went). After some contemplation, we decided on the cheapest set for two. Even so, the cheapest was still a whopping RM120+21%. As we settled into our seats and busied ourselves with selfies and pictures of the sunset, and our drinks arrived pretty promptly. We sipped our Bintang and people watched for a while until we realised our food would not be coming as fast as we thought when the nearby tables which were occupied before we were even seated has yet received their food. @@ Good thing the view compensated for the wait and we were naturally talkative people.

A wait of nearly 45 minutes paid off when our food arrived and they were super DELICIOUS! I think I like the seafood here better than the one at Kai's Place where we had seafood the day before we came to Bali. 

Before they were turned into scrumptious grilled seafood galore:

After they were grilled to perfection!

Initially I thought grilled seafood meant just slapping all the seafood on a BBQ Pit and be done with them. I was wrong! They were marinated with their special sauce, then grilled with care. The skewered cuttlefish (satay) was really tender and not tough at all. I like the turmeric and lemongrass tasted laced into the little skewers.

The fish was huge for two person and was delicious too. The prawns were superb and you can taste the juicy freshness when you bite into them. But my personal favourite was the clams! I think the only disappointment for me is their sambal belacan kangkung which was alright but not especially impressive.

I like their condiments too! The sambal was excellent and I liked the chilli with dark soya sauce too. I don't understand the garlic oil thingie but they all tasted great with the seafood, yes even the garlic oil. Their chilli were mild so it was great news for people like me who couldn't tolerate too much spiciness in their food.

Why go Menega when you can enjoy equally beautiful view from a table or two away unobstructed unlike in Menega where the tables were packed! A few extra dollars would be well worth their value if you get some of the best view and good quality food don't you agree? 

PS: if food here was long, guess the fully booked Menega would be longer, no?

Surya Cafe

Jl Four Seasons Hotel, Jimbaran,

Bali.

Babi Guling Ibu Oka, Bali - A Review

It's finally time for us to try the famous Babi Guling Ibu Oka, first made famous by Anthony Bourdain almost 8 years ago. I was a little apprehensive about trying this and wanted to go to Babi Guling Pak Malen in Seminyak but our guide was pretty convincing when he told us that he preferred this one here. Oh well, since he's the local, we decided to trust him and went with his recommendation.

We nearly missed this shop until the guide pointed it out to us. Heh! I was expecting some gigantic pig roasting away in front of the shop but apparently it was all done behind it. 

He's all set to eat! Haha! Check out his happy face~

The setup around the shop was pretty simple and considering there are THREE branches just around the same area in Ubud, I think that is a smart move on the part of the owner. Business was so good that they have so many outlets in the same vicinity (5 minutes from each other) so that is no easy feat. We went to Ibu Oka 1!

The mandatory "teh botol" was much more expensive here at 7000 IRP as compared to the usual price of about 3000 IRP in most other places. I suspect the hike in price here is due to their popularity with tourists. We were thirsty and within seconds, we managed to polish off the whole bottle! Hehe!

All of us had the "Nasi Guling Spesiel" and even though reviews mainly said it was mild, I still found the meal satisfactory mainly because I did not have to reach for any water while I eat; a constant occurrence when I had spicy food. I absolutely loved the crispy skin, the soft tender pork strips, and the crunchy red coloured crisps? The only thing I disliked was their vegetables as I am not a fan of vegetables with coconut milk stirred in. The chilly was also a little too much for my palate. Their pork sausage was actually good although I couldn't finish it as it was really spicy for me. My fiancé and the guide found it mild though so maybe it's just me.

They provided extra chilly for extra kick if you find the food too mild. For people like me, it is not necessary at all! LOL! 

The avocado juice here tasted more watery than Bebek Tepi Sawah's. In fact, it tasted a little mango-ish...maybe their juicer was not cleaned properly? Indonesian style of avocado juice seemed to be blended avocado drizzled with chocolate sauce as opposed to the Singaporean version of drizzling it with thick, fragrant "Gula Melaka". 

Since we were still thirsty after a while morning under the hot, unforgiving sun (I have my sunburnt to attest to that), we ordered a young coconut to share (IDR 20000). Thankfully it was huge and the flesh was so smooth and thin (a mark of young coconut).

The total bill for such simple food went to about IDR 240000! Three special rice, two iced tea, one avocado juice and one coconut. 

Look for them right in front of Ubud Royal Palace or follow their exact address here:

Warung Babi Guling Ibu Oka 1

Jl Suweta,

Ubud.

Tel: 085100077490