ubud – Cooking Masterclass

Cafe Dumara Review

Cafe Damar is a newly opended bakery/cafe situated on Jl Raya Pengosekan, close to the corner of the road to Nyuh Kuning.

Lunch options are bakery and Indonesian/Western options. We ordered a club sandwich, which looked pretty, and tasted pretty good too. It had the typical ingredients of chicken, bacon, cheese, lettuce and tomato. Surprisingly the bread was nothing to rave about though given it was a bakery.

The French toast was very good, although the strawberry garnish was looking a little wilted. We would still come back for more.

There is a selection of burger options, and the chicken burger was very robust as far as burgers go. The burger itself was a pattie, rather than a piece of chicken as expected. The wedges on the side were pretty tasty too.

There are some bakery goods as well, which are all made and baked on site. From pastries to desserts and cakes. Not quite a traditional croissant, but fairly good for Balinese.

We also went for breakfast on another occasion, ordering eggs hollandaise, omelette, and pancakes, with fruit. All the meals were really good. The coffee is also of a very high standard with a specialist barista. We will be back!

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Warung Bintang Bali

It is quite a drive north from Ubud along Jalan Tirta Tawar to get to Warung Bintang Bali, but the drive is worth it. Keep a look out on the left for the flags after driving for about 10 minutes from Ubud.

The tuna steak comes highly recommended, though there are plenty of other good choices on their very reasonably priced menu.

Sit and enjoy the farming land views, and get there early while there is still light.

Cherry Blossom Cafe, Ubud

The Cherry Blossom Cafe is located on the quiet side of Jalan Goutama. The food is Japanese inspired. There is limited seating, but I have never seem more than one couple eating there at a time. The staff are young and friendly, and as you will possibly be the only one there you can get attentive service.

As you can see, it is not the usual Japanese food. The red rice sushi was better than it looked.

Pesto was OK, the pasta overcooked. Not sure why we cannot get good pasta dishes in Bali.

The chicken very dry, horrible mashed potato.

Oh, the food was pretty average. It looked good and they had tried hard. We enjoyed our icy cold beer though, and the nice and quiet location. Maybe your food choices will be better and they may have improved. It won’t cost you a lot to try it out.

Warung Igelanca, Ubud

Warung Igelanca is a relaxed casual restaurant located on Ubud main road just a few doors along from Bali Buda, and opposite the Neka Gallery. It serves Indonesian food, but not just the usual meals that you find in other restaurants around Ubud. Indonesian is such a large country with varied cuisines, but you don’t usually find a lot of different choices. Here you can eat some meals from Java and Sumatra.

Mixed juice, choices included carrot, star fruit, tomato, apple, cucumber, lime. I was very happy with my choice of star fruit and apple. Star fruit juice is not very common back home, and as we won’t be in Bali for much longer I need to maximise eating and drinking the local food.

Tempe Penyet – fried tempe with East Javanese spicy paste and basil.

Nasi goreng cap cay. lots of garlic, not very spicy.

Served with pickled vegetables on the side

A very good experience. Go to Igelanca if you want to sample some different local foods in a relaxed restaurant.

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Warung Biah Biah Ubud

Warung Biah Biah is one of our favourite restaurants, on our favourite eating street in Ubud, Jalan Goutama.

They serve authentic Balinese and Indonesian food, served on banana leaves. They even encourage you to eat with your hands (right hand as is the custom in Asia) the Balinese way.

They have a good range of tapas style small meals so you can easily sample quite a few dishes, and they are cheap too.

Some of the dishes we get here include:

ayam sambal matah
bergedel
pork sausage

Tropical View Cafe, Ubud

The tropical View Cafe is located next to the Monkey Forest on the Monkey Forest Road, and like the name says, it has a tropical view of rice fields.

We had been reluctant to go here as it seemed like it is made to cater for the hoards of tourists that visit the neighbouring Monkey Forest. However, we were surprised to find that the food’s not that bad and the prices reasonable.

I believe you can make a judgement about a restaurant by their burger, and they made a decent effort at this, by Bali standards.

Need to Know:
Located a short walk east along from the main Monkey Forest entrance on the Ubud side. Free WIFI is available.

Uma Mandi Coffee review

Uma Mandi is a very small coffee shop on Jalan Penestanan, a little out the back of the main village of Penestanan, next to Zest Cantika spa.

This place is nestled neatly between rice paddies and is away from the busy streets of Ubud town centre.

They claim to have the best coffee, and I would have to agree! The coffee is fantastic for Bali standards. Plus you just can’t beat the relaxing spot they are in, it makes all your worries vanish. They also serve a variety of drinks, from hot and cold coffee to milkshakes and juices.

It is situated out the front of some villas (Mandi Villlas), and the building itself is small and stands alone, but the set up is really cute, and quirky! It is worth a stop, to relax before getting a massage next door.

Ayam Ayam Ubud

As the name suggests, the Ayam Ayam restaurant in Ubud specialises in chicken dishes. It is located at Jl. Hanoman No.73, just opposite Cocos Supermarket.

The restaurant opened in 2014, and I visited just after it had opened. The dish that stood out to me was the fried rice with zucchini and pineapple. It was great to see a variation from the standard Nasi Goreng from most menus.

The potato wedges were also the most impressive we have seen in Bali

Here is a banner from the front of the store which gives you an idea of some of the other dishes they have have on the menu.

Pica South American Kitchen, Ubud

Review of Pica South American Kitchen

This restaurant has been talked up for its quality food, and it didn’t disappoint. The dish above was a corn polenta with mushrooms, and it was amazing. Not quite what I was expecting, but much better! It was a baked dish, so it took some time to serve, but was absolutely worth it in the end, the texture was creamy, and the flavours even better.

The empanadas, were also really tasty. Deep fried with a fabulous flavourful filling. It was served with a lovely salsa which matched the flavours nicely. From memory I also think we got some complimentary bread on arrival, home baked and tasty verde salsa and butter as sides.

Ceviche, a classic south american raw fish dish. The flavours in this really hit you at first. It came as a cold soup, served with nice bread to soak it all up. Some tender fish (I forget the type), crunchy corn and red onion) and a super tangy (its made with lime juice) soup. You won’t forget this flavour any time soon, it works so well.

The setting is nice, it is located on Jalan Dewi Sita opening onto the busy street. There are only a few tables, so get in early or book a table to reserve your spot. The night we went it was very busy, and that was early days. The owner/chef was also very hospitable coming out to the tables to greet and talk to customers, a very nice touch.

Bread Life, Ubud

We love bread life!

It is a chain bakery coming out of Japan, and first opened up in Jakarta, and now Indonesia has a love affair with it! It’s bright and light, with an amazing array of different bread products. From loaves of bread, to savoury options, as well as sweet treats, even full blown cakes on sale. When I first tried it I wasn’t that impressed, as the style is those classic sweet bread bakery items that are popular all over Asia, which I can;t say I was ever a huge fan. But with the wide choice on offer there is always something you’ll like, and the kids love it – even better!

The system works well, you grab a tray, some tongs and help yourself to whatever takes your fancy. Take the tray to the cashier, and pay, either eat-in or take-away. Super cheap and super quick. There are even some deep fired goodness options, with sausage. But our all time family favourite is the Rugby Ball!! Once you’ve tried it you’ll love it!

They also serve drinks, coffee, and frozen slushy style drinks, and ice-cream. Nice and refreshing for the hot weather.

If you want a full run down of many of the products go to the following webpage:

http://eatandtreats.blogspot.com/2014/07/bake-and-dine-with-breadlife-indonesia.html

Located on Jalan Raya Ubud near the corner of Jalan Hanoman. A nice bright orange sign will ensure you have found the right spot.