Eating in Bali Part 2

When it comes to food you can gurantee that there'll be a part 2, maybe even a part 3! Stay tuned...

The day after the wedding was spent relaxing since we had a late night out at ZJ's , a night club in the grandest hotel I've ever seen, Mulia. Anyway, that night we had dinner at Jimbaran. Jimbaran is known for its seafood and dinning on the beach. We watched the sun set at Rock Bar but I've heard the sun set at Jimbaran is good too. I assume all the restaurants at Jimbaran are much the same,  getting their seafood from the same place. We ate at Menega Cafe, and we had a set menu since there was about 30 of us. The tables are on the sand, on a slight angle so keep hold of your drinks! Food was decent, but my parents, aunties and uncles who also ate there said the food was not that good.

After the wedding we spend a couple of days in Ubud. Ubud is known for its beautiful rice fields, and is the arty and cultural hub of Bali. There are alot of warungs on mountain tops with gorgeous views of rice fields below. Definitely worth a visit just for the great views.

For lunch in Ubud we were taken by our tour guide to a local warung where we enjoyed some smoked duck and crispy duck. I don't know what the restaurant was called, sorry! But if you do a Google search for places to eat in Ubud, a few duck places will pop up. The smoked duck was really good, with lots of sauce to be soaked up by the rice. The spices used were delicious and the meat fell straight off the bone.

Eating in Bali Part 1

One thing that I was most looking forward to whilst in Bali was not only the hot weather and cheap shopping, but the food. Gaffa and I planned most of our travels around what's best to eat, so it was no surprise that we would be gaining weight on this trip! Lol.

In Sydney we'd only eaten at a few Indonesian restaurants, mainly Ayam Goreng 99 in Kingsford. Enjoying the grilled chicken and satay sticks with copious amounts of ketchup manis and chilli sauce was just the beginning of our love affair with Indo food.

The first night we ate out at a warung - which is a name for a small family shop , cafe or restaurant. You'll see a lot of warungs around Bali, where you can gurantee there'll be good cheap local food. Made's Warung in Seminyak is not your typical hole in the wall joint, but has grown so much that it's expanded to a larger restaurant with a live band. The a la carte menu has a variety of Asian and European food, with the traditional Indonesian and Balinese dishes.

Gaffa and I shared a Nasi Campur Special and some juicy chargrilled sate skewers. The nasi capur provided a good mix of food and Gaffa was so hungry he ordered a Nasi Goreng for himself! First night in Bali also called for a Bintang beer tower to share between the table. Surprisingly the beer is not too bad. Easy to drink with a light taste.

Potato Head Beach Club, Seminyak, Bali

 

If you ever visit Bali I highly recommend spending a day or night or both, here! Potato Head Beach Club is a funky hang out for all the cool kids. There's a beach, infinity pool complete with its own bar, sun lounges, dinning tables and grassy area; all for you and your friends to soak up the sun during the day and cool off at night to the chilled out tunes while trying all their delicious cocktails.

 

Diving in Nusa Penida, Bali

My bro, Rave and his fiance, Ms. Tjak were getting married in Bali so Gaffa and I took this opportunity to do some diving. We did some research and found that Bali was famous for its manta rays and the mola mola but it was not mola mola season. So we decided to do our first day of diving at Nuda Penida, in search for some manta rays.

Earlier in the year we'd taught The Banker and her boyfriend to dive, and we also found out that a few of Rave's friends were divers too. I organised with a PADI CDC (the highest rating for a dive centre) - Crystal Divers to spend the day out on their boat with a group of 9 of us - 7 divers and 2 snorklers. They were very efficient in answering our questions via email beforehand and their level of service and professionalism was top notch. I would highly recommend them for anyone diving in Bali. They're service provides everything: pickup and drop off from your hotel, gear hire and lunch, snacks and drinks during the day. The prices are reasonable also, giving discounts to PADI professionals.