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Mahamaya @Gili Meno (Lombok, Indonesia)

October 28, 2013
#Seafood, @Gili Meno, @Indonesia, @Lombok, Indonesian
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Proper food at Turtle Point.

imageAfter a few days into our island holidays we switched over to Gili Meno, the smaller and more quiet sister of Trawangan. Our resort there, the Mahamaya, was a beautiful and small boutique hotel with a wonderful reef for snorkelling just in front.

In the evening they did setup tables at the beach for people to have some food in a nice setting without booking these weird staged romantic dinners you’ll often get in places like this and today they had fresh grilled fish as a special. Our exceptionally friendly and helpful waiter for the evening helped us choosing the right fish, which turned out to be a humongous red snapper. It was delicious and finally some proper local style food. The bbq fish was very meaty and juicy and was covered with a flavourful mix of garlic, cilantro and fragrant fruity and mildly spicy chilli. I just wished the heat would have kicked in a bit stronger.

Fresh seafood straight off the boat, stunning surroundings and outstanding service from all staff made this a great start into the second half of our holidays. I miss this place, terima kasih.

Mahamaya Boutique Resort
Turtle Point
West Nusa Tenggara
West Gili Meno – Lombok
Indonesia
Tel: +62 888 7155 828
http://www.mahamaya.co/

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Waroeng Bule @Gili Trawangan (Lombok, Indonesia)

October 27, 2013
#Fusion, #Meat, @Gili Trawangan, @Indonesia, @Lombok
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Waroeng Bule boleh!

imageJust behind the beach strip and semi-attached to our hotel was a small shop called ‘Waroeng Bule’, which despite its’ rather strange name turned out to be a fairly nice and cheap lunch option during our stay. Obviously the food here was also tuned to suit the mainstream tourist’s taste but brought out some delicious options nevertheless.

We had the the ‘Coconut Crumbed Chicken‘ which was absolutely amazing. Covered by a crunchy but not too special tasting apple salad, the chicken breast was still juicy and coated with a comparably light and well drained coconut curry crust that was crunchy and crispy and made this a super satisfying dish. I’m just a fool for everything coconut.

A simple place but with good food to reasonable prices and so close it was our most frequented place for beach day lunching. They also screened two movies each night at the beach here for just a few bucks and people were hanging out on the lying chairs enjoying the breeze and cold beers. Well done but maybe think about a different name.

Waroeng Bule
Hotel Villa Ombak
Kabupaten Lombok Utara 83355
Gili Trawangan, Lombok
Indonesia
http://www.vilaombakhotel.com/waroeng.html

Trattoria Cucina Italiana @Gili Trawangan (Lombok, Indonesia)

October 27, 2013
@Gili Trawangan, @Indonesia, @Lombok, Italian, Pizza
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Finally some heat.

imageAfter a couple of days on Trawangan we figured it’s quite tough to get real Indonesian food down here – maybe apart from the nightmarket  – and therefore didn’t feel guilty going for some Italian tonight. I found the chain of ‘Trattoria Cucina Italiana’ on the internet and as it was also ridiculously close to our hotel and we were exhausted from all that sunbathing we came here for dinner.

I generally prefer a thin crust but this ‘Diavola’ was a tad too thin for me, still good but I missed a little bit of dough to chew one since this crust just crumbled away on me. The sugo-cheese-ratio was as usual leaning towards the cheesy side but the taste wasn’t bad at all and to my great joy this thing was sweat-on-forehead spicy. Funny only I had to go to an Italian restaurant for that.

Trattoria Cucina Italiana
Beach Front
West Nusa Tenggara 83000
Gili Trawangan, Lombok
Indonesia
Tel: +62 8190 798 2995
http://www.trattoriaasia.com/

The Pearl Beach Lounge @Gili Trawangan (Lombok, Indonesia)

October 27, 2013
#Fusion, @Gili Trawangan, @Indonesia, @Lombok, Greek, Indonesian, Spanakopita
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First lunch in paradise.

imageThis year’s holidays brought us to beautiful Gili and our first stop was Trawangan Island. Down the beach from our hotel was ‘The Pearl Beach Lounge’ which we decided to have lunch today.

My main was the ‘Stir Fried Chicken in Bamboo‘ which was covered in a thick glaze sauce, a bit sweetish but delicious as well crunchy from the cashew nuts, the quinoa aside together with the customized cinnamony mango chutney made great condiments.

imageFor starters I had a chilled ‘Garlic Cucumber Soup‘ which was tasty and super refreshing, perfect for a hot day like this but also quite sharp from the huge amounts of raw garlic which gave me severe dragon breath and made my stomach growl for a little while after.

imageFantastically tasty and salty were also their ‘Waterspinach Feta Cheese Rolls‘ that reminded me of greek spanakopita and worked pretty well together with the grilled pepper dip that gave it a fruity contrast.

This is a very nice place, stylish, extremely friendly staff, delicious food and all at a prime location right on the water, if only just the dishes weren’t so damn westernized. There wasn’t a hint of chili or spiciness to be found even after asking for several different sambal which was a big disappointment knowing how great Indonesian sambal can be . However one of the better places to be eaten at when being on Trawangan.

The Pearl Beach Lounge
Jalan Gili Trawangan
West Nusa Tenggara 83355
Gili Trawangan Island – Lombok
Indonesia
Tel: +62 812 3812 999
http://pearlbeachlounge.com/

Warung Eropa @Seminyak (Bali, Indonesia)

April 12, 2013
@Indonesia, @Seminyak, Bebek Goreng (Fried Duck), Indonesian
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Crispy Bebek in Seminyak!

1339224652586We discovered this place during our last visit to Bali out of pure time pressure. We used to go to ‘Bebek Bengil’ in Ubud but for our duck fix but since we were staying in the Seminyak area we didn’t want to make the long drive out there and so ended up here on our last evening on the island.

I ordered their signature special package no.3, the ‘Bebek Goreng‘. Part of the set were also ‘Nasi Putih‘ (white rice), ‘Urap Urap‘ (mixed veggies) and sambal, a real stinger. Additionally I ordered their special ‘Sambal Bledek‘. The duck here was absolutely fabulous, fried so crispy that I didn’t have any problems chewing the thin bones like crackling skin but still moist on the inside with a good and solid duck flavor to it. Veggies and rice were ok but nothing extraordinary but the sambals, oh the sambals. My body always hates me for it but I just can’t go around any sort of chili, sambal and other spicy stuff. The special sambal was supposed to be the burner but I didn’t find it spicy at all. It tasted mainly like anchovies which was interesting but didn’t work for me together with the duck so I attended to their standard sambal instead. This one consisted of red and green bird chilis, thinly chopped onions, all mashed up in oil and drizzled with lemon juice. It was great and hit the spot just right. It didn’t take long for me to breath with an open mouth and feeling sweat drops running down my head. All entirely positive signs of course.

I enjoyed my duck and the place very much. It’s a down to earth and relaxed little restaurant without  that fancy setup many Seminyak places have, yet not quite a warung.

Warung Eropa                                                                                                                                                    Jalan Petitinget No.9D                                                                                                                           Kerobokan                                                                                                                                                            Bali 80361                                                                                                                                                  Indonesia

 

Potato Head Beach Club @Seminyak (Bali, Indonesia)

April 12, 2013
#Seafood, @Indonesia, @Seminyak, Fish, Western/International/American
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That’s why they call it Butterfish!

imageAfter pre-dinner drinks at the W Hotel in Seminyak tonight we walked via the beach over to ‘Potato Head’ to get our grub on. The setting was stunning facing the sea in a half circle separated into beach club and restaurant, covered with window shutters from the in- and outside.

I ordered the ‘Pistacchio Crusted Butterfish‘ with arugula, pomelo and a truffle infused vinaigrette. I was surprised that for a place like this the prices for food were very reasonable and for the level of quality even more.

The butterfish, according to it’s name, was super moist and crazy sweet similar to crab meat. The texture was very firm and it fell into big chunks when getting at it with the fish knife. The crust added a nice crispness to the fish but I couldn’t make out that it was pistacchio no matter how hard I tried. The popping pomelo pearls and the bitterness of the arugula worked great with the dish but my favorite combination was just the fish together with the truffle vinaigrette. Simply delicious.

The friendliness of our waiter could have been more welcoming as we arrived 20 minutes before last order and felt like a bit of a bother but put that aside and considering the taste and quality of the food and the fantastic location I’ll be returning to this place when being back on the Islands of the Gods.

http://www.ptthead.com/

Potato Head Beach Club                                                                                                                                 Jalan Petitenget                                                                                                                                        Seminyak                                                                                                                                                              Bali 80361                                                                                                                                                  Indonesia

Warung Babi Guling @Ubud (Bali, Indonesia)

April 12, 2013
@Indonesia, @Ubud, Babi Guling (Suckling Pig), Indonesian
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Oink Oink!

imageI followed my friends to Bali this week and yesterday we were driving around the island and ended up in Ubud for a late lunch. One of my Indonesian friends really wanted to try out a popular restaurant for ‘Suckling Pig‘, ‘Warung Babi Guling’. Their main branch next to Ubud Palace was already packed so we continued walking a bit further to the ‘Ibu Oka 3’ branch. It was kinda hidden but there was enough signage and people directing us to find it easily and I must say the atmosphere here was even nicer as it was more quiet and overlooking a bit of jungle.

We ordered the ‘Spesial‘ which is a collection of pork meat, crackling (skin), blood sausage, fried pork, potatos and rice. The pork meat was lovely tender and juicy and marinated nicely with Indonesian spices. All greasy fat was removed from the skin and it made awesome cracking sounds and tasted great. Even that I am not a huge fan of blood sausage and black pudding I really liked this one all over, consistency and the well flavored taste. I just left the casing as it didn’t look very appealing and seemed quite tough. The fried meat didn’t taste like much besides the spicy batter and was rather dry. The vegetables were simple potatoes that were slightly spicy but too soft for me but the rice again fitted nicely with its coconut flavor and and tasted delicious in combination with the meats. It all got even better when we asked for their sambal which was chopped and marinated bird chilis and brought fire into the game.

I really liked the food here and for only 30,000 IDR for the ‘Spesial‘ set I now have a new attractive and tasty option when passing through Ubud in the future.

Warung Babi Guling (Ibu Oka 3)                                                                                                                     Jalan Tegal Sari No.2                                                                                                                                       Ubud                                                                                                                                                                      Bali 80571                                                                                                                                                  Indonesia