Travelling and digesting Indonesia isn’t always about food carts, warungs and restaurants. Sometimes you get a more personal experience by organising a meal at someones house. We met Harry when he came out to our boat as we were anchored off of Komodo Island. As there are no warungs or restaurants in the area Harry offered to take us back to his place for lunch at a cost Rp100000 per head.
We organised to have lunch at his place a few days later, after Kye and Kailey arrived from Adelaide. After taking the kids to see the Komodo dragons, Harry picked us up and took us to his village.
Komodo Dragon
Unfortunately Kailey was sick and was not able to join us. We left her snoozing on the boat and headed to Komodo Village. On the walk through the village we saw some of the men carving little wooden komodo dragons which are sold as souvenirs at the entrance to the national park.
Carving the komodo dragon souvenirs.
The walk through the village included interacting with the village children which were, as we had come to expect, happy, feisty and very photogenic!
This was Kye’s first village and he loved the experience of interacting with the kids.
Once we arrived at Harry’s house we were introduced to his wife, baby daughter and in-laws.
Harry’s family
Food was already laid out (don’t know how long for…but it didn’t kill us) and we were bid to eat almost immediately. Dwayne had put in his requests with Harry, and Harry’s wife had cooked ayam goreng (fried chicken), ikan bakar (grilled fish), mie goreng (fried noodles), nasi goreng (fried rice) and egg plant. It was all delicious. Harry ate with us but the rest of the family just watched (which is a little off-putting if you are not use to it).
The Spread
It was a lovely meal, and after we thanked the family and bid them farewell Harry took us back to our boat.
Harry bringing his boat to the jetty to pick us up.
Total cost: Rp 400000 (approximately AUS$40) We paid for Kailey even though she was too sick to come.
Verdict: Dwayne had organised the meal with Harry, but at $40 it was a bit expensive for what it was. Good experience though. We hadn’t been sailing Indonesia for too long at this stage, and we did not know much bahasa Indonesian, which made communicating with Harry’s family difficult.
Dwayne, Garry, Janice and Libby at Rezeki’s huge over the water restaurant.
Garry and Libby from the yacht Aquarius insisted we try Rezeki’s, so a small group of us went there for a lunchtime feast and we were not disappointed. We were joined by Janice from the yacht Zoa and the five of us enjoyed crab, fish, squid with rice, veg and beer for approximately AUS $20 per person.
Choosing our very fresh crabs.
What we ordered:
3 x chilli crab Rp308000
1 x fish (about 700g) Rp175000
1 salt & pepper squid Rp75000
1 x nasi goreng Rp60000
1 x cap cay (mixed veg) Rp45000
3 x lemon juice Rp60000
5 x large Bintang beer Rp200000
Total: Rp923000 + Tax Rp923000 = 1,015300 (approx AUS $100 = $20 per person)
Verdict: Great chilli crab. Dwayne says it’s the best chilli crab he has ever had…. even better than mine. Ouch!
Chilli CrabDelicious fishChilli crab
Batu Besar
Batu Besar is a village close to the Nongsa Point Marina (about 10 minute drive). At Batu Besar we found lots of nice cheap warungs. Our favourites included RM Mekar Sari and Bahagia 2.
RM Mekar Sari
RM Mekar Sari is a small warung that advertised Gule Kambing. Dwayne loves anything with goat so he just had to try it. During the week we stayed in Batam we tried many of the dishes from Mekar Sari including the gule (gulai) kambing, sates, bebek goreng (fried duck) and nasi goreng kambing.
SatesGulai Kambing
What we ordered:
1 x white rice Rp4000
1 x lontong (rice cake) Rp3000
2 x gulai kambing Rp44000
2 x fresh orange juice Rp10000
Total: Rp61000 (approximately AUS $6.10)
Kangkung (water spinach)
What we ordered:
2 x Bebek Penyet Rp50000
1 x sate ayam Rp13000
1 x sate kambing Rp18000
1 x kangkung cah Rp12000
2 x white rice Rp 10000
1 x fresh orange juice Rp5000
1 x small bottle water Rp4000
Total: Rp112000 (approximately AUS $11.20)
Verdict: The gulai kambing is delicious. Gulai is a spicy coconut broth which you eat with rice. The duck wasn’t the best I have had but still nice. The nasi goreng kambing was delicious!
Bebek Penyet
Bahagia 2
This Masakan Padang (serve of rice and lots of little dishes of food) is delicious and reasonably priced. We ate there several times and once got take away and had dinner on Thorfinn with Gary and Libby. I can’t remember the price sorry! But was cheap and really good. The best masakan padang we’d been to.
I think all this food cost us about Rp100000 (approx AUS $10) including a beer!
Amazon Seafood Restaurant
Amazon is another seafood restaurant. This one is near the ferry terminal five minutes from Nongsa Point Marina. Dwayne and I dined here one night and enjoyed it very much.
What we ordered:
1 x chilli seabass (about 600g) Rp 138000
1 frogs legs in garlic Rp60000
1 x broccoli Rp55000
1 x clay pot rice Rp500000
1 x large bin tang beer Rp650000
Total: Rp368000 + Tax Rp36000 = Rp 404800 (Approx Aus $40.00)
Verdict: The frogs legs were amazing! The setting, which is also on the water, is nicer than Reseki. The food is a bit different from Rezeki’s so impossible for me to say which is the best. I had frogs legs (my favourite) at Amazon, whereas Dwayne loved the chilli crab at Rezeki’s.
Frogs legsChilli seabassThe broccoli.Clay Pot Rice
We love Balinese food! This was our favourite restaurant in Bali Dino Dapur Inovasi Dino Dapur Inovasi
Ayam GorengLaksa AyamNasi Goreng and Ayam Betutu
What we had (one of the times ate there)…..
1 x chicken laksa
1 x nasi goreng rendang sapi (fried rice, with beef and flavoured with curry)
1 x kangkung (water spinach)
1 x ice tea
1 x ice lemon tea
Total: Rp 53000 approximately AUS $5.30
Verdict: Probably our favourite restaurant in Bali. It’s a little out of the way but worth a visit. A huge selection of nasi gorengs to choose from. My favourites were the nasi goreng gulai kambing and the nasi goreng rendang sapi, ayam betutu, kangkung and the laksa ayam. We have eaten there a lot and they have a huge selection of food and everything we have had it delicious. We had a meal at Dino’s with Marie and Jedd when they were in Bali. We enjoyed Ayam betutu, nasi goreng, prawns, veg, beers, mie goreng… you name it we ate it…. all forAUS $17 The music they play at Dino is often too loud. The restaurant is clean, open and airy but on a main road.
We found some great places in, and around kuta. In Denpasar we found an interesting place, with tasty food, that served babi guling (spit roast big). Basically they serve every part of the pig. Crispy pig ears and trotters, sates and soups plus a lot more. Delicious!
The best beef rendang was at Kalazan on Jl. Raya Kuta.
Out at Serangan they serve a lot of seafood in the local warungs. We had a great meal with some friends where we enjoyed the prawns (udang) and grilled fish (Ikan Bakar) so much that we went back a second time. The prawns are delicious grilled over coconut husks and basted with their special concoction of onions and garlic…. the fish is also grilled the same way and then served with rice and sambal. They serve it with a chilli tomato sambal and sambal matah which is a sambal of onion, garlic, lemongrass and is so delicious. The run down..
Serangan
Warung Batan Santen
Fish and prawns cooking over coconut husk.Delicious!Sambal Matah
What we ordered…
2 x Grilled prawns
1 x grilled fish
1 x kangkung
2 x rice
1 x bintang
1 x small bottle water.
Total: Rp 190000 about AUS $19
Verdict: Delicious food. Love the sambal matah. Very friendly people.
WarungPojok
1 x grilled fish, rice, sambal
1 x nasi goreng special (includes fried rice, fried egg, and fried chicken (leg & thigh)
1 x kangkung (water spinach)
2 x small bintang
2 x Smirnoff ice
Total: Rp199000 about AUS $20
Verdict: desini makan enak sikali. The food here is delicious. Very friendly place, good food.
Warung Biru Aremastrong Stand 20, WR Papa ARSA (Bu Lowis) Serangan
4 x BBQ prawns
4 x rice
4 x Kangkung (water spinach)
1 x BBQ fish
8 x small bintang
2 x can coke
Total: Approximately Rp450000 Which worked out to about AUS $12.50 per person.
Verdict: Very nice. Have had better on Serangan, but it was a really good feast with friends Ilija and Oleg.
My birthday lunch was next door to stand 20… maybe 19?
It was delicious. I can’t tell you how much it cost but it would have been peanuts. We enjoyed fish, rice, kangkung (water spinach), seaweed and more.
Ikan BakarSambal, Kangkung and SeaweedIkan Bakar
Warung Pok Cong – Serangan
Friendly people at Warung Pak CongSoto AyamThe Crispy (Kentucky) Chicken and Nasi GorengAyam Goreng, Rice, Soto Ayam, Nasi Goreng and Crispy Chicken
1 x nasi goreng (fried rice)
1 x crispy fried chicken
1 x soto ayam (chicken soup)
1 x ayam goreng (fried chicken with rice and Sambal)
1 x bottle of tea
Total: Rp 53000 AUS $5.30
Verdict: Very friendly place. Not a huge selection as these small warungs usually specialise in one or two things. The soto ayam is delicious. Very nice nasi and ayam goreng. We often came back here for a meal.
Bakso Carts Bakso from the carts is delicious!
Yummy Bakso. Meatball, noodle soupDwayne loves his Bakso!
Kuta & TubanSABAKUL Saung Bandung Kuliner – Jl Raya Kuta, Tuban
Crispy DuckCrispy ‘soft bone’ duck
2 x Bebek goreng Tulang Lunak Sambal (which means something along the line of… soft bone fried duck with sambal) Rp35000 each.
1 x mango shake @ Rp 15000
1 x small bottle water @ Rp 5000
Total: Rp 90000 (approximately AUS $9)
Verdict: Delicious. The sambal (not a chill sambal) was not hot and had very delicious flavours. The duck was cooked to perfection and the bones were edible… I ate everything on my plate… I mean everything, even the garnish. Would definitely eat here again.
Kalazan – Jl. Raya Kuta not far from Hotel Ratna. The best Beef Rendang, I can’t remember how much it cost but it would have been bugger all. And it is hands-down the best rendang in Bali.
Beef Rendang, rice, kangkung, and spicy potatoes
Tiny warung – Jl. Raya Kuta (Can’t remember the name of it).
2 x fried chicken served with rice and sambal
2 x ice tea
Total: Rp 46000 approximately $4.60
Verdict: Delicious meal and so cheap. If you are looking to save money these little warung are the way to go. They are there for the locals and only the adventurous tourist will bother exploring these places. Very nice traditional food.
Warung Biru Arema – Jl Raya Kuta
1 x rawon soup Rp15000
1 x fuyung Hai Rp15000
1 x nasi goreng Rp15000
1 x ayam mentega Rp15000
1 x ice tea Rp5000
1 x small water Rp5000
Total: Rp70000 approximately AUS $7
Verdict: Friendly little warung on Jl Raya Kuta, set back from the road with about four others. Delicious food. The fuyung hai is a bit like an omelet only very different… can’t explain it. Yummy. Dwayne’s rawon had all his favourite bits and pieces in it… tendons, veins etc. KutaLongtong Sayur Padong ‘Bu Adam”
Nasi Kebuli KambingBeef Rendang
2 x Nasi Kebuli Kambing Rp20000 each
2 x Rendang Beef
2 x ice tea
Total: I think this meal came Rp80000 approximately AUS $8
Verdict: Delicious! Very friendly proprietor explained that the nasi kebuli kambing was a special served only on Thurdays and fridays. It is of middle eastern origins taught to him by his grandmother. It was delicious goat, rice and spice. Rendang was yummy too.
SanurSate Babi – Small warung
2 x sate babi with rice cake (about 7 sates)
1 x sate babi without rice cake (about 10 sates)
1 x large bintang
Total: Rp 60000 AUS $6
Verdict: Awesome little sates. So delicious, the best I’ve had. The sate sauce has a little bite to it. Love the rice cake with the sate.
Titi’es Warung Semawang Beach Sanur (I didn’t get any photos… food didn’t look that good)
1 x chicken spring rolls (3) Rp 20000
1 x shrimp spring rolls (3) Rp 25000
2 x beef rendang Rp 45000 each
1 x mango juice Rp 15000
1 x small water Rp 5000
Total: Rp 155000 (approximately AUS $15.50)
Verdict: Chicken spring rolls had more flavour than the shrimp. Beef rendang was not rendang. It was nothing at all like a rendang is supposed to be. It was too runny/watery and too sweet. Dwayne like it. I did not; it was edible but not worth the Rp 45000. Setting on the beach is nice. Eaten here twice now and I have been disappointed both times. Nice food but not what I expected. Will not bother again.
Odah Oning – Semawang Beach Sanur
Sate AyamBabi KecapNasi Goreng
1 x nasi goreng Rp25000
1 x sate chicken Rp 30000
1 x babi (pork) kecap Rp 35000
Verdict: Very nice food and a nice setting on the beach.
Denpasar
A place called Candra that specialised in babi guling (spit roast pig). All parts of the pig were used!
The mixed pork…. a bit of everything!Sate Babi (Pork Sates)
