Complimentary Breakfast: Vice & Virtue

I am somewhat picky with my choice of holiday accommodation. It has to have a clean bathroom. Cleanliness is next to godliness, as is with quietness. I avoid “party” hotels and hotels near them, of which there are a few in Bali. Quality of sleep is very precious to me. What don't factor in my decision are the complimentary breakfasts.

Porcine Head-to-Tail Eating in Nusa Dua

From left to right:
Babi guling ala bakas - Rp 50,000
Babi guling campur - Rp 50,000
Sate babi - Rp 40,000

The practice of using every bit of the animal is not some fancy new-fangled phenomenon in Indonesia. And eating these lesser than prime cuts is also not something that’s extraordinary. It’s a normal everyday occurrence, examples of which can be found all over the country. Like sop kikil (broth with soft cartilage from cow’s feet); or babat hitam (beef tripe cooked in spices); or the ubiquitous soto daging (beef and intestines in tumeric broth).

In Nusa Dua, Warung Bakas specialises in pork, spit-roasted pork to be exact. This place leaves the infamous Babi Guling Ibu Oka in the dust.

Seminyak "Eat Street"

When I’m in Bali, I avoid having western-style food. The variety of Balinese cuisine and the general Indonesian food in Bali is immense, it’s almost a shame to eat food I can readily access back in Australia.

Japanese Influenced Pottery in Kuta

Being a food blogger, joy fills my heart whenever I see beautiful tableware. The same feeling came over me when I spent an hour (or maybe two) browsing Jenggala Keramik’s website prior to my Bali vacation.

Their pieces are influenced mostly by traditional Indonesian and Balinese pattern and colours, but I can see some are influenced by Japanese pottery -- clean and simple lines with muted colours. These sexy Japanese inspired ones are ones that excites me the most. I’ve been seriously coveting some of their pieces, but their price tags have so far stopped me from purchasing them online.

Subak: Rice Farming in Bali

A lot of Asians -- myself included -- won’t feel full without eating rice thanks to being brought up with the typical Asian diet of eating rice at least twice a day. I wouldn’t go so far as to say I’m addicted, but I certainly can’t picture my life without it. Last year in an effort to better my nutrition value, I’ve started adding grains, seeds and beans such as chia seeds, barley, soaked mung beans, etc. to make multi-grain rice. While I’m pretty much used to eating it without noticeable difference, once in a while I like to cook the pure unadulterated stuff. There’s this inexplicably satisfying feeling I get digging into a steaming bowl of fluffy white rice that multi-grain rice simply can’t give.

In Klungkung, One Salt Farmer Prevails

Artisanal salt farming is a dying trade in Bali. The Indonesian government has an incentive program to subsidise local salt farming in an effort to attract and retain this trade. Is it working? Is this primitive and labour intensive method of producing salt worth saving?

In Ubud, Cooking with New Friends

Bali can be many things for many different people. For the aussie school leavers looking for some fun, Kuta is party central. For the honeymooners, there's Seminyak. For the executives and families with slightly deeper pockets, Nusa Dua has its posh resorts. But Ubud, it always bill itself as the cultural epicentre of the island, where the yoga freaks congregate, where struggling balinese artists sell their work, where the Balinese organic and raw movements started.

naughty ribs in ubud, bali

The sound of charcoal crackling, flames flaring up to meet the dripping fat, the sweet smoky smell of sticky ribs on the grill. It was enough to make us salivate. Three ribs please!

novotel nusa dua hotel food

Mie goreng - Rp 65,000

I’m a person who’s pretty particular about where I stay during a holiday. Before I book, I have to know the star ratings, I pore over every picture of the rooms, I read patron reviews. But, once I'm convinced that a hotel is great value, I'd stay with them on every visit.

frangipani bali nasi campur

I like picture menus, it's like the trailer to a movie, the blurb to a book. You can decide from the photos if the food is to your liking before committing to a restaurant.

pelangi bali crab fried rice

The trouble with living somewhere other than where you grew up is that you'd go through periods where you'd miss a certain type of food so intensely that you cannot think of anything else but.

kecak, a love story

Tari Kecak, or simply Kecak, is a Balinese dance performance without any accompanying music.

tanah lot & the way of life

I enjoyed our visit to Pura Tanah Lot immensely. It is a bit of a drive from where we were staying in Nusa Dua, but it's worth going just to see how the Balinese go about their day to day life with all the tourists (including us) around them.

warung mak beng sup ikan

I've been to some pretty amazing places serving some pretty amazing food, all from the recommendations found in the blogosphere. That is not to say I haven't been to awful ones because I trusted a high urbanspoon rating, or maybe because a particular place is related strongly to a certain foodie keyword in google.

malioboro ayam tulang lunak

Tender chicken thigh, covered lovingly with delicious salty egg sauce. How tender? Very tender. Super. Extremely.

naughty nuri's bbq spare ribs

Naughty Nuri's infamous spare ribs. Are they really what they're all cracked up to be?

ubud and the artists

Batik-making is one of the few art activities you can see in Ubud.

After we had breakfast at Ibu Oka in Ubud, we went to have a look at a few of the art places around the area.

ibu oka 2 suckling pig

Babi guling (english: suckling pig) is such an iconic Balinese dish. You cannot leave Bali without trying them. And the mother of all babi guling is none other than Ibu Oka's.

menega cafe

Have you read my short post on Menega Cafe last year? If you haven't, go on, go ahead, click the link, read about it. It won't take long. I'll wait.

Dum dum dum....

There it is, as you can see, Menega is one of my favourite places to go to in Bali since my wedding organiser introduced it to me last year. And since this is my second post on this place, I won't rave about the food again.

Instead, I thought I'd show you the restaurant itself. Its scenic surrounding. Its cooking, from grill to plate.

bumbu bali nasi campur

Gedang mekuah - Rp 70,000

Gedang mekuah is a bowl of spicy green papaya and seafood soup. It was my appetiser when I went for lunch at this restaurant called Bumbu Bali.