Cooking Masterclass – Page 4 – the world of masterchefs

Asian Prophecy Cafe Review

Asian Prophecy is a cafe on the busy Jalan Raya Pengosekan, on the opposite corner to the gas/petrol station.

They serve illy coffee, which is usually a good option, served very hot this time, just how I like it. I also could not resist a donut, as you could tell by the photo. Unfortunately it was not baked today, something you can’t tell by looking and you can’t always expect in Bali.

I have been here before, and has a good meal too, they make some good wraps and burgers.

The modern indoor and outdoor eating area is OK as long as you ignore the road noise.

Warung Schnitzel Ubud Review

Warung Schnitzel is located on Jalan Sriwedari, only 20 meters north off Jalan Raya Ubud. It was a place we had passed may times before, but were reluctant to visit as eating schnitzels in Bali just did not seem right. When we finally decided to go, for a birthday celebration, we were very impressed.

The restaurant spans over three levels. So lots of stairs if you choose the top level, but worth it for the air space, comfy seats and the view.

The dining experience included a free snack of battered and deep fried leaves, not sure the variety but they were very nice, even the kids ate some of the ‘green stuff’.

Of course their specialty schnitzels are pretty good, and not the typical poor quality western dish that we see in Bali. One schnitzel fed the 3 kids quite well, it was served with mash potato, and it was pretty good mash too.

This was a delicious beef stir fry with capsicum, and from memory, ginger. Really good choice, even though it was a tad small.

Being a birthday celebration, we ordered some yummy desserts. This cheesecake with ice-cream and passion fruit coulis was so creamy and delicious. I would go back there just for the dessert!

Blue Star Cafe, Jemeluk Bay, Amed, Bali

The Blue Star Cafe and Bungalows, located along the shores of Jemeluk Bali in Amed, in the north-east of Bali. It is next door to Ombak Restaurant, sharing views over the bay. The restaurant is a step off the beach, and we took up half the place with my brother and his kids.

With 9 of us there, we tried a lot of different food. Starting with a mushroom bruschetta, which was a little like a pizza, having a sauce base, fresh tomato, champingons and melted cheese. The bread was more westernised than the usual sweet Asian style, and was very think sliced and filling.

The pizza was alright, personal sized, but a little heavy handed on the sauce. And only the cheese was melted, other ingredients were raw, including the onion.

The pasta marinara, was very tasty with a rich tomato sauce.

The chicken curry my brother ordered was very nice according to him, but he ordered it with potatoes instead of rice. Big mistake, as the potatoes were a creamy bake of some sort, so he had to order plain rice also, which just gave him more food than he could manage to eat!!

The sandwich was good, with nice bread as described above. All meals came with a small serve of pickled cucumber, carrot and pineapple. This was quite a refreshing addition to the meal.

The satay ikan lilit (minced fish with spices) was delicious. Best dish of the night. Tasty satay, served with my favourite urab vegetables (cooked with grated coconut). Not a bad night at this restaurant, however certain aspects were a little disappointing. The service was not at all friendly, which is unusual for Bali. Although the location is idyllic!

Warung Bali Balo Review

Warung Bali Balo is located on the busy Jl Raya Nyuh Kuning. There is a small amount of parking to the side of the entrance for a bike or car.

It is a cosy place, nestled into the front of a family compound. Budhi has good English and his mum (I think) does the cooking. The set up is actually quite thoughtful, even though it seems basic, there is some very nice art work on the walls.

There is the usual array of drinks, nothing out of the ordinary. We had some mango juice and a fresh coconut.

I wasn’t feeling that hungry, but the serves were substantial, and in the end I was totally full. We ordered steamed greens which came with a satay sauce. Although you can order a number of sauces with any of your meals, from satay, sambal, tomato, sweet chili, fresh spicy…

The pork sates were tender and the sauce was yummy.

A slight difference with lilit sate being served with the fried rice. Rob really enjoyed this rice dish, it was better than average.

Ikan pepes, minced fish cooked in banana leaf, was a very decent serve, and also very tasty.

Cassava Rice (Tipat), which is plain rice cooked with small cubes of cassava, just for something different.

The food and service was all good, large serves for a very reasonable price. The setting is nice, although a bit noisy next to the busy road, but we’ll definitely come back again!

ARMA Cafe Review

The ambiance of the ARMA café is very nice. It is the most causal of the eateries at the ARMA museum and hotel complex, situated road side on the bend in Jalan Raya Pengosekan.

The standout menu item for Rob was the Balinese Pizza – combining Balinese flavours and of course pizza. The toppings included mozzarella cheese, shredded chicken, lemongrass, chili, kafir lime leaf, which sounded great. In reality it was a very average pizza. It did not fit the description at all, turning up with very little chicken and a heap of finely cooked vegetables, with very little of what we would call Balinese flavour, hardly any spiciness.

Another dish which sounded great, but more closely matched our expectation was the lawar dish, a type of Balinese salad usually served on special occasions. This dish, Lawar Pakis Dan Papaya, was described with ‘fern and paw paw’. It came with minced chicken and grilled grated coconut, mixed with Balinese spices, and served with a large cracker. There was no sign of the paw paw? But the dish tasted lovely.

Bregedel jagung Dan kentang (corn and potato patties), these were also very average, lacking in any flavour at all. Even the kids didn’t like them!

Chicken wings; we asked for these not spicy as they were for our daughter Olive, but they were almost the spiciest dish we got! Olive was a trooper and ate them all up.

Clare’s main choice was Nasi campur bumbu desa, this dish came with saté ayam and saté lillit, vegetables, chicken with a coconut curry sauce, grilled tuna with Balinese sauce of matah, and rice. A very nice balanced and tasty meal. The best of the lot.

The restaurant is in a great location, has a very nice ambiance, but unfortunately the food was not up to scratch.

Cafe Garam, Amed, Bali Review

Cafe Garam is in Hotel Uyah Amed Spa & Resort, Amed, Abang, Bali. As we were driving through Amed this seemed like a pleasant place to stop. Once we saw the grass, the pool table and table tennis table, we knew the kids would like it here.

It had been too many days without a good coffee, so we were very glad to see they made a nice espresso coffee here.

The food was of very high quality, given the area it is in. There is not a lot of western or higher end options around Amed. The chicken wings were a good non-spicy option for the kids, with a lovely little salad on the side.

They have a rather unusual interpretation of bruschetta here, with the description not matching the product. On saying that the taste of the trio was quite nice. One was fried mushroom, one was basil pesto (a little dry), the last The bread was not the typical sweet white Asian bread, which was nice for a change!

A chicken and salad baguette, would have been great, if they hadn’t smothered it at both ends with mayonnaise. They seem to love mayo here in Bali, or they think that westerners love it??

Overall this was a nice experience, where the kids could play while waiting. They also discovered a giant chess set which occupied them for some time too. The food overall was very good, but maybe a few minor adjustments.

Location:
Near the start of the Amed strip along the coast. Paired with a lovely resort with lots of grassy space and ocean views.

Abang Sari, Kintamani, Bali

There are a few small warungs with amazing views in the area of Penelokan, Kintamani, on top of the ridge overlooking Mount Agung. This one is in the most convenient location, right next to the parking spot with the view!

You can have drinks, or some small bites to eat, while you soak up the atmosphere of the stunning volcano. It is a breathtaking site to see the size of it, and witness where the lava has leaked down the mountain after an eruption.

Abang Sari Restaurant Kintamani Bali

The food was OK, however, the location is what makes it good. Our family just had hot chocolates (it was rather cool that high up), and fried bananas, but my brother and his kids tried the spring rolls, which were plentiful, mie goreng, and an omelette.

Abang Sari Restaurant Kintamani Bali

The service was friendly, but remember to take a light jumper or long sleeve shirt as it can get cold when the clouds roll over.

9 Warung Review

Located in Lodtunduh, on Jalan Lotonduh a couple of kms out of Ubud town. It is on the sharp corner just after you go through the big dip in the road. There is a good off-road parking spot just after you get round the corner. It is a very busy road so go slow and be sure to turn into the parking, or it’s hard to get back. Admittedly, we walked there from our villa while staying in Lodtunduh, which was rather convenient.

This place is ridiculously cheap, it is a vegetarian buffet (not sure its all you can eat though) more like a campur, where you cam try a little of everything available. It included some very interesting home style cooking food.

The staff are very friendly, and the decor (some of which is for sale) is very colourful and artistic.

This is a must visit for vegetarians. If you like the food, you can also do cooking classes with the lady owner.

Aloha Restaurant Kuta

The Aloha Hawaiian Bistro is located at the beachfront, in front of Discovery Mall in Kuta. It is a fabulous location, with a great view of the sunset right on the beach. After an exhausting day at Waterbom park, which is across the road, it was a relaxing way to finish the day. Now I’ve never eaten Hawaiian food before, so I didn’t know what to expect.

The pulled pork dish came with rice a a nice side salad. However the meat dish itself was super salty type of stew, and the pork was a bit chewy compared to other pulled pork meat I have had in the past.

It was a pretty decent burger, with quality fries on the side. Chicken katsu type dish, which was again served with rice, but also an over creamy potato salad. The meat itself was so thin it was almost all batter!

This was a type of sushi, although it was called something else on the menu, nothing special.

Hawaiian fried rice – with pineapple of course. The interesting thing about this dish was the fried Spam that came on the side.Now this wasn’t the only dish with Spam in it, there were many that boasted this ingredient. I am not sure what is so great about a food that was eaten by those starving during the depression, or on a war-time mission, but it is not something that tickles my taste-buds at all. A big thumbs down for the Spam, even though the rice dish itself was OK!

We ordered a glass of milk for our child. They had no plain milk, only chocolate milk, and they had the audacity to charge us nearly $5 for one glass which came straight out of a carton worth about $1!

A dessert of milk, ice-cream and shaved flavoured ice on top… good enough as a main meal perhaps! It was enjoyed by the kids.

This place does not come recommended for food, only for the view and convenient location to Waterbom Park. Don’t go out of your way to get there!

Aloha Hawaiian Kuta

ARMA Thai Restaurant Review

ARMA Thai is located at the enormous ARMA Resort and Spa on Jl Pengosekan. The entry to the Thai restaurant is off the side street…? There is a sprawling dining area, which begins indoors, and then branches to an outdoor area, and the extends further to small romantic tables near the creek running through. The ambiance was lovely.

There are many drinks on offer, and to add the pleasure there was a free appetizer, of spiced pumpkin soup to enjoy while having your drink.

One of our entree’s was rolled eggplant. This was delicious and nicely spicy, with some fancy rolled carrot to garnish.

For mains we ordered a stir fried chicken dish, and a red curry. The chicken was battered, and the curry was amazing!