Cend Woo's (Not Too) Short Bali Guide & Restaurants Pick #1

Is it me or maybe anyone elses? BALI IS NEVER BEEN BORING .. No matter how often i visits this exotic island which is famous throughout the entire world for its vibrant culture, genuine beauty, long sugary beaches, busy clubs, surfing spots and maybe everything you could ask for, just name it! Those urges of going to visit again anytime soon is somehow unbearable. By the time i was around, another cozy spots has popped out and definitely piqued up my curiosity. A week is not enough so does a month, if only teleportation machine does exist.. Life could be much easier.. and, here my two-bits.

WHAT TO DO IN BALI ? 

Remember how was Bali back then? it has transformed itself from a laidback surfer hangout into one of the world's most popular destination. Like i've wrote before.. You can do it all (or nothing at all) in Bali. 

Whether you're going to make your sweet escape from those intoxicating deadline and at the end of the day, you're going to reward yourself with good feast, don't worry it scattered all around Bali. 

A curious traveler charmed with Bali's culture, you can make your way to Ubud, a remarkable town in the middle of island which known best as a cultural center. 

In the mood of something more challenging? then, Tanjung Benoa is definitely for you, which located on the sandy beach in the South of Bali. They offered various kinds of water sports experiences such as scuba diving, banana boat, parasailing, jetski with safe and eco-friendly facilities, and services that really ensure your safety. My friends were doing most of them while me? Nah.. i passed, i tanned my skin while sipping my refreshing mocktail. 

Or.. maybe you are a die-hard party goer who loves to do nothing but PARTY! Kuta-Legian is obviously the answer.. Line of busy night club that invites you to go in. Personally, my most favorite club there is Sky Garden which raise its admission to IDR 100.000/entry. Because i think the crowd is more educated if you compared it to Bounty perhaps. Sky Garden is a huge entertainment complex divided into many spot. I'm not sure how many are there. But, different spot means different type of music either. There are one spot in Sky Garden which commonly filled with upper age crowd that plays beach-y music with food bar on it. When i was at Sky Garden, there was a special performance by an Australian DJ (i don't know who was it though) playing progressive music that made the crowd gone wild. Unfortunately, i don't know much about the other clubs, but if you look from outside Paddy's are club with older crowd and that's definitely not my place. Haven't tried Bacio, Mbargo, Syndicate or any other clubs nearby. But, if you are looking for a club with North Jakarta ambiance, Boshe might suit you.. It reminds me of 4 Play though. But, if you're comparing between Bali night life and Jakarta night life.. Bali's way more casual while Jakarta's more that dressed-up type of silent rule. 

GUIDANCE

* If you are a group of friend, do rent a care in advance.. Why? Because.. Bali is kind of big and trust me..by car is definitely the most correct way of exploring Bali. Especially if you are going to night club, Taxi drivers could be such a sabotage B*eep set a sky-rocketting price which unreasonable despite the distance taken. Take a note, they can be quite rude too, sometimes.. Count your luck!

* Looking for a place to stay around Seminyak? Go to Seminyak Town House.. I think it was quite cheap around IDR 1.000.000 for a penthouse with two rooms, nice living room, swimming pool, dvds with peaceful ambiance. Seeking for peace and tranquility? This is it.. And, exceptional services! My friend's headset was left behind, and their management called my friend so they can send it back to her... for FREE.. they said no, continuously when my friend going to gave him/her a tip. Customer satisfied? Check! 

* Dying to taste Bali's authentic dishes? then you have to try these... it may be not all, but these are the most famous dishes from Bali i know, by far

Bebek bengil, Ayam Betutu, Babi Guling, Lawar, Jaja Bali, Nasi Tempong, Nasi Jinggo, Serombotan, Rujak Bali etc..(sadly, most of them i've tasted before i became a food blogger and effortless eating it without taking pictures.). 

* You are a group of friend or alone that will be going to a club for having fun not hook up.. I think Sky Garden is the safest with pleasant rings to ears and free entry drink. And.. oh, just use your casual attire. No need for dressing up. Although, foreign woman mostly dressed up themselves. 

* Looking for souvernir? Joger or Krisna are the biggest, i think.. or maybe you are up to another guilty pleasure? Make sure you ordered the most famous, one and only Pia Legong 2 weeks before the coming. Or, you will have hard time queue-ing and face intermediary that ask for a higher price in front of the shop. I bought it IDR 70.000/box ($7) Pia Susu is also a must, if you want fresh from the oven pia susu, don't buy from street/shop you passed by. Buy straight from the owner's house which terribly sorry, i totally forgot where it was.. *soon to be revised or email me if you badly want it. 

* If you are a hardcore pork eater, go to Titiles.. Non-halal foods as souvenirs are waiting to be picked up

* You love fresh seafood with beach view? Go to Jimbaran.. Line of seafood restaurants ready to serves you.. Menega Cafe is the most crowded but i didn't like it.. The services were a turned off, and the foods were standard though. I suggest you to try just beside Menega (totally forgot the name, again sorry) with polite, attentive waiter and waitresses plus.. good foods! I guarantee you.

* DO NOT EVER step on offerings which scattered like all over the place. It's a sacred offering to Gods according to Bali legend, hereditarily.

* This might be not a good example, but here.. If you are going to Monkey Forest. no need to buy tickets since they are not paying attention at you though =P of course, i bought it but later on, i found they weren't even checked it out. 

* Yes, the birds talk are flying into the right direction. Babi Guling Ibu Oka & Babi Guling Chandra are so damn good! 

What else? thinking hard....

Lastly..

These are some of my top pick restaurants when you are around Bali. 

ps: some may not offered the best dishes, but it surely delivered nice feast for the eyes.

Cocoon Beachclub

Beachclub is now officially become my addiction. Mostly or precisely every beachclub have their own pool, and obviously the beach. Divided into two corners, restaurant corner and the pool corner where it filled with clean and blue water. Just by looking at it, i really wanted to jump over but sadly, i didn't brought my swimming pants.

Cocoon located at Jalan Double 6 right next to Bacio. This place surely gave a sort of Ibiza-ish feeling. I came by day, and it tends to be pretty quite or maybe i should say it was one relaxing spot but from what i've heard this place really comes to life on night time with that bing bang music that makes you want to move your body!

Upon arrival, we were greeted and ushered to our seats on the pool corner. Unfortunately, the food service was bit slow and not really attentive.

Their mocktails priced at IDR 45.000 each. pffftt and sorry i've lost the bill. For my early lunch i had Tiger Prawn Pizza for IDR 65.000 which was quite a turned down. I'm talking about the size here. Although my pizza tasted quite good with super thin crust but it made me a bit speechless. It was "mindblowing" dish, when the wind blows quite strong, my pizza was blown away too.. That definitely explain how thin and not generously put base ingredients for IDR 65.000. Their tiger prawns cooked well tho, it was still juicy and fragrant. I love how they put the cheese quite generously.

On the other hand, my friend ordered Pork Belly IDR 55.000 and it really came in a petite portion with almost none of those sinfully fats below the crisp but the right balance of flavors with not so much kick made this dish quite enjoyable as well. I think it was an overrated dish.

The bright note is on their mocktails which most of them were refreshing and definitely a good companion for your sunbathe time. I love the crowd too, young vibe.

Jalan Double Six, Blue Ocean Boulevard

Seminyak-Bali

Indonesia 80361

+62 361 731226

Nasi Pedas Ibu Andhika 

It was my thrice coming and nothing really changed except the food tasted less delicious than my other two visits. I don't know why. Nasi Pedas Ibu Andhika is an Indonesian warteg style where you choose anything you want on your plate. Then pay for it. Up till now, i don't even know how much they tagged each of their dishes since there's no price details on it. The worker just looked on your dish then state the price. Personally, i think nothing really stood out from this super popular Nasi Pedas Ibu Andhika except their delicious and spicy chili. But, you have to try it because it maybe the matter of taste. Many Indonesians which are my friends are impressed though.

I spent IDR 30.000 for a piece of spicy sauce chicken, fried noodles which tasted just standard for me and an omelet, excluding the beverage. However, the chili managed to spoiled my taste bud.

Jl. Raya Kuta Gg.Kubu No.120C

(Depan Supernova)

Kuta, Bali

(0815) 5831 8187

Naughty Nuri's

This super famous pork ribs specialize restaurant is definitely worth that famous tag following it. I'm really sorry i couldn't take any good shots on that dazzling afternoon, The place itself gave that homey nuance as if i was at home nearby the garden to enjoy my irresistable-slash-tempting-slash-mouthgasm pork ribs that made me drooled all over the place. I knew how my order would turn into something so yum but sickening at the same time. No, don't get it wrong, i'm sick that i'm gonna gain another kilo from eating one and a half of it! Fingerlicking delicious. It'll cost you around IDR 95.000/portion which is huge.

Jalan Batu Belig, 41

Kerobokan, Kelod

Bali 80361

+62 0361 847 6722

Paon Beachclub

It was when the others having their water sports lovey-dovey time, me and my friend having our own quality time chilling out at one of a place that you can say, this is the depiction of a "Hidden Gem" Paon beachclub is a restaurant, a beachclub and usually use for gathering or something. Jason Mraz held his concert at Paon, several years ago. I love how a worker greeted us when we arrived and ushering us to our wanted destination, either we wanted to be placed in the restaurant or near the crystal blue swimming pool with broad beach view ahead. I must say, the service was exceptional, the place itself was like SO BIG! and whether we wanted to order more, the waitress was like somehow popped up from nowhere. This venue wasn't that packed because i think the way it look from outside wasn't like a beachclub but more like a shrine. However, if you are around Tanjung Benoa.. you definitely have to move quick to this place!

As usual, i've lost the bill already at this point. I know, this is like my daily bad point.. I just can't help it because this is like a postpone post for more than a month already but here several dishes i managed to tried here and most of them was satisfying. 

The main courses we ordered priced from IDR 55.000-150.000 if memory didn't failed me. 

I had this Bangkok Prawn for around IDR 85.000. I love how they presented this dish beautifully. Not only it looked good but also tasted good! I rarely order prawn based dish whenever i stepped into a restaurant but since that day was literally so hot and i felt like i was in Pattaya so i decided to ordered this Bangkok Prawn. It was fragrant, the prawn itself was cooked the way i wanted it to be. I can tasted the juice and tenderness from it. Last but not least the clear sweet-sour sauce below the prawns, it was so refreshing giving a nice balance and side kick toward the entire dish.. 

One of Bali's well known dish named Ayam Betutu / Betutu Chicken around IDR 55.000. Well, if you want to find a cheaper ayam betutu, you can find the ayam betutu stands around Bali and i think it won't be that hard to find some or simply use WAZE application on your iphone/samsung, if you don't have it. Still, there's a thing that knows almost everything named Google. Personally, i;m not a fan of Ayam Betutu, this one quite similar with what usually locals sells. My friend, who ordered seemed to enjoy this though. She said, it was quite good comparing to the other ayam betutu she have tried before. 

This Hangover Brownie (IDR 55.000) was different from any other sweet desserts i usually craved for. I got that liquor-y after tasted. The more i digged in, the stronger it tasted. I love how those chunks of brownies tasted loveable but not too sweet and when you combined that cream which already blent into one with particular liquor, it just endearing! 

Wait up.. my friends were catching up with us and soon they arrived.. they ordered some too..

fyi : i almost forgot but this Paon Beachclub has mininum charge IDR 135.000/pax..

Don't have a single clue whether that salmon cost IDR 135.000 or 150.000 but it was around that price. That yellowish sauce on the plate was pumpkin sauce. I tried some and it tasted good. The salmon was cooked evenly so you could felt how it still had that crisp on the outside but tender inside. I must say they know what they were doing, they cooked it into perfection. Surprisingly, their Fried rice IDR 55.000 was also likeable. We are Indonesian, we love fried rice. Especially, if that is a good one. I can't say no to perfectly cooked egg on top like that. They did put the seafood generously with two chicken satays and crackers.

Taman Bhagawan, Jalan Pratama No.70

Tanjung Benoa, Bali 80363 

(Formerly Paon Beach Club)

+63261 776555

Jimbaran Seafood Area 

This is it, calling all the seafood lovers out there to come, enjoy fresh and good seafoods around the beach. There are many seafood restaurants selections here. The most famous seafood restaurant here i think it's The Menega Cafe. Been there,tried that and nothing stood out. What memorable was only the lousy service and extremely stuffed. Therefore, i tried Beluga Cafe (luckily i remember the name) is another seafood restaurant just beside Menega Cafe. The service was way better also the foods. 

Shockingly, we had to order their specified portion of their rice which cost us IDR 20.000 and that was too expensive for a plate of mere white rice but no.. the waiter didn't explained us that the portion was designed special for hungry people.. What came was a big basket of white rice and my friend (a girl) made a dead grave order this for herself along with ridiculously expensive deep fried squid for IDR 85.000 if i'm not mistaken. But, hey.. another shot straight on the head! What came was a monstrous portion enough for 3-4 ppl share. We were too full back then, so she decided to take it home. The very good news is : The deep fried squid tasted SUPERB with all the crunchiness outside and the squid didn't tasted chewy like half cooked squid. I mean, it was like the best deep fried squid i ever ate with delicious sauce dipping. Mouthgasm..

But, no.. even we were full. There wasn't need for holding back, wasn't it? since we were in a holiday mood and yes, it meant getting fat after the holiday ends. Their Balacan Kale (kangkung) was like good homemade one. I had their Seafood Fried Noodle IDR 28.000. They used instant kind of noodle like mie telor, i think.Hold on.. Somehow, even with my bloated tummy, it still tasted so good with kicking spiciness and savoriness within it. My friends, they enjoyed it too. And, there's no way we could left fresh young coconut especially on the beach. 

Bawang Merah Beachfront Restaurant, Kelan, Jimbaran Bay, Bali 80361 

Daily 12:00-22:00, free pick-up & drop-back: call (0361) 216 8521 or 770 210

And this short guide turned out to be one long post... Stay tune readers, i'll have the second part of it or maybe i will make a separated review for Ultimo, Babi Guling Ibu Oka, Babi Guling Chandra, Warung Italia, and El Kabron. 

WAIT UP THIS ROLLER COASTER RIDE HASN'T END YET! 

So? How about you? if you ask me, I miss Bali already anyway.