The Foods of Bali

[ozmouse]

Since we are going to be there so long I was thinking about getting a place with a kitchen, but many hotels seem to offer free breakfasts. How are the food prices? better outside of the hotels I am assuming. Feeding 5 people for 10 days can add up and i reallt want to do as much as we can. Are there grocery stores near the hotel areas that I could even buy food?

←

i would like you to consider renting a villa instead of a hotel rooms for your family. many of the upmarket villas cost the same as hotel rooms for families, and some of them includ drivers and cooks/maids!!

more to the point, you will have an indelible balinese expereince if you stay in a villa (as opposed to a corporate hotel chain in bali).

[pinkpau]

Hi Shiewie,

I'm from Msia too and was planning a trip to Bali. Which hotels did you stay in? Sorry it's non-food related but just trying to do some research! And is food there cheap in RM terms? Thanks so much!

[Shiewie]

Hi Shiewie,

I'm from Msia too and was planning a trip to Bali. Which hotels did you stay in? Sorry it's non-food related but just trying to do some research! And is food there cheap in RM terms? Thanks so much!

←

Hi pinkpau

We stayed at a villa in the Canggu area (beyond the Legian-Seminyak area heading towards Tanah Lot).

Food in restaurants and eateries is slightly cheaper than or about the same price as KL. Have a look at the Food of Bali thread, the ayam bumbu bali I ate at Cafe Lotus in Ubud was about RM16 and the babi guling (with a bottle of water) in Denpasar was about RM4-5.

These were the only 2 meals that we ate out - the rest of the meals we ate at the villa - there were 2 cooks at the villa, so you order what you want the night before (there is a menu or you can make special requests) and you're charged for the food purchased with a 30% mark-up.

[Shiewie]

thank you everyone, this information is really helpful!

I am thinking to split our trip into 3 different areas, I want to stay at least a couple nights in one of the big hotels that has a kids club, so my husband and I can get away by ourselves for a bit.

I also want to stay in a place with a kitchen for a bit, preferably in an area with a good market nearby, so I can get to cook with all of the fresh foods I won't be able to take back with me.

Then finally about 2 nights somewhere quite and away from everything so we can just do nothing....

I haven't decided yet on areas or hotels.

I did find this wonderful cooking class though, it sounds even better than the one I listed above.

cooking class at bumbu bali

←

Hi Kris

Hope your fractured leg is getting better .

Anyway, chanced upon this book Fragrant Rice that I thought you may like to read in preparation for your trip to Bali. Bought mine on impulse yesterday and paid a lot more than the price listed on Amazon , sigh should've checked first. The author also has a cooking class at Casa Luna cooking school.

[prasantrin]

If you're thinking of doing three places, I would suggest starting out in Ubud (Monkey Forest would be great for the kids, great food, quiet but there are some day trips available), moving up to Lovina (husband can go scuba diving there while you and kids can go dolphin watching and snorkeling if you can), then end up in Nusa Dua (for that relaxing resort-type area). Kuta is a waste of time, in my opinion--food isn't great, prices for Balinese goods are higher than in Ubud, and it's just too tacky touristy.

The main problem with my plan, however, is that you'll be there for a relatively short time--it takes time to travel around Bali and if I remember correctly, the roads aren't that great. I can only imagine how much more difficult it might be with children who have shorter attention spans (maybe not shorter than mine, but shorter in general). We took shuttles everywhere (very bad shock absorbers), but if you're brave, you can rent a 4WD and drive yourselves around. That way you can make more frequent stops.

[glossyp]

Well now that I know where we will be any suggestions for good restaurants?

←

I haven't been to Bali in a number of years but our food writer at GuamDiner.com did a tour last year with Continental. He wrote a series of articles but the one that you might find of most interest was about a cooking school/restaurant/resort Bumbu Bali. Unfortunately, since he was on a sponsored tour, he didn't get to explore many restaurants. He still talks about Heinz and the Bumbu Bali experience as the real highlight.

Have a wonderful time!

[HKDave]

Just got back from a few days in Bali. We were staying at a private villa with some friends in Sanur, a quiet area near a non-surf beach. Many expats in the neighbourhood. Loved it.

Two recommendations:

Bumbu Bali -

Tanjung Benoa, Nusa Dua, tel 771256. Yes, Chef Heinz's cooking school/restaurant/hotel/catering company. The school is worth doing, but I would give the optional early-morning market visits a miss - not very interesting, unless you know nothing about Asian spices. The class itself is more demonstration style but you can get involved if you want to. They cover a very large number of dishes in a short time, and the emphasis is on authentic Balinese recipes rather than 'Javanese' (which in Bali means 'from anywhere else in Indo'). And you'll get a fantastic meal out of it. If you want, you can get non-cooking spouses/friends to show up when the class finishes around 2pm and they can join you for lunch, just make sure you (unlike me) arrange this with the Chef in advance.

The class is not at Bumbu Bali restaurant, it's at Chef Heinz's Rumah Bali villas just down the street. If you're looking for a place to stay with a kitchen, check it out - they have full villas with kitchen for $60, or without for $40. And you can even rent a Balinese cook to go with the kitchen for your visit.

If you don't want to go to school, they serve the same (excellent) food in the restaurant. Details on everything here: http://www.balifoods.com/

The Village -

Jalan Danau Tamblingan 66, Sanur, tel 285 025. Italian food in Bali? It's not cutting edge Italian cuisine, but considering we're in Asia, they do an excellent job. It's better than most Italian restaurants in Hong Kong that cost 4x the price. We averaged $20 a head for 3 courses and wine. If you're after a full-on white tablecloth meal and don't want to pay hotel prices, this is a great choice.

Edited to add:

Re the question upthread about money, best thing is to use the ATMs at the airport inside the baggage claim area. There's one machine that says "Rp100,000" (that's worth about US$10) on it. Use that machine or else you'll get a huge stack of notes.

Edited June 12, 2005 by HKDave (log)

[torakris]

Thanks for the information! I actually just finalized the hotel plans this weekend. We will be spending 7 nights in Sanur at the Paradise Plaza Suites and then the last 4 nights at the Novotel on Lombok.

I can't tell you how many days I spent going through hotels...

With a family of 5 most places were telling me I would have to book 2 rooms (and this is peak season ) I really wanted a child friendly place, preferably with a kids club, and I really wanted a place with a kitchen. The Plaza suites had a two bedroom with a kitchen for a great price and a kid's club to boot. I also like the central location of Sanur.

[Pan]

Make sure you take trips inland and visit temples. Are you studying Indonesian yet?

[torakris]

I am slowly getting our Bali plans together.....

I have two guidebooks, one English and one Japanese and I have gone through and marked various things, mostly restaurants I want to try.

Here are the ones I am interested in, any opinions?

Seminyak

--Gado Gado

Sanur

--Kafe Wayang

--Splash Bakery (breakfast/snacks)

--Stiff Chilli (beachside with sandwiches and gelato)

--Cafe Tali Jiwa (organic)

--Apakabar

--Billy's Cafe (cheap breakfast)

--Massimo (Italian)

--Wayang Bali (this is very close to the hotel)

Kuta

--Kunyit Bali Restaurant

Tanjung Benoa

--Bumbu Bali (class + meal)

Ubud

--Cafe Wayan & Bakery (Sunday night Balinese buffet)

--Kafe Batan Wara

[Austin]

If we're talking about REAL Balinese food (as opposed to tourist food) then my memories are of pork, pork, pork, pork, pork. And pork. But damn was it good.

I recall chipping my tooth on a pork rind!

And the wonderful night market in... God, what was the name of that town?

Austin

[Pan]

[...]And the wonderful night market in... God, what was the name of that town?

←

Do you remember what part of the island the town was in?

[torakris]

My husband MUST eat lobster and lots of other seafood, so we are planning at least on (sunset) meal at Jimbaran Bay. It seems as though there are thousands of stalls though...

Anyone have a suggestion of a particularly good one or tips on finding one?

Any other (reasonably priced) excellent seafood places?

[Chef Metcalf]

[...]And the wonderful night market in... God, what was the name of that town?

←

Do you remember what part of the island the town was in?

←

There's a night market that's pretty good in Ubud.

Don't know if that's the one you mean though.

[Austin]

Sorry, still can't recall the name of the night market. It was inland though, north of the Kuta area.

I remember eating at a stall at Jimbaran. We chose a lovely fish and asked to have it grilled. When it arrived it was coated in a disgusting bottled sweet chili sauce and cost a ridiculous amount of money... Never again.

Austin

[Akiko]

Sorry, still can't recall the name of the night market. It was inland though, north of the Kuta area.

Austin, are you talking about Denpasar night market?

[torakris]

I have moved the Ubud discussion to the new Ubud thread

As the seafood at Jimbaran Bay, I have done extensive reading (mostly at The Bali Travel Forum --Thank you ozmouse!) and think we are going to try Roman Cafe. It was formally called Roma (or Romas, can't remember now) but it seems to be the favorite of the posters over there.

Ku De Ta is also planned for the day out My husband and I have planned.

[torakris]

We ended up eating in the Hotel's restaurants more than I planned and when we did go out I often left the camera behind so I didn't get as many pictures as I had hoped. Here are some pictures though

we all fell in love with the salt/pepper/spice servers that were on evey table

[torakris]

laksa, this was my first time to try it and I couldn't get enough...

nasi goreng

a mini Balinese feast

oops, how did that get in here?

the berry and lychee jelly donuts were good though

An Indonesian buffet from our hotel in Lombok (not Bali but it is still close...)

the view from the restaurant

[torakris]

Ok this isn't Balinese food but close to our hotel was a Japanese restaurant called Ryoshi that we stopped in for dinner one night.

This was the Sanur branch but they have branches in other parts as well. It was quite good and the price was unbelievable. I had an 18 piece sushi plate for only $7 and it was good!

I started eating before I remembered to take a picture

My husband ordered a couple of different dishes one being a baby lobster tempura with baby lobster miso soup

I found this a little on the greasy side though..

[hzrt8w]

oops, how did that get in here?

←

Yeah, Kris, how did they get in there? For a minute I thought you came to the US of A, home of donut lovers!!!