My first trip to Bali was more than 30 years ago with my ex company. Subsequently every few years or so I would go again. The more memorable occasions were a wedding and later a celebration of my birthday with a group of friends. I recalled dancing the night away at Club Double Six, pilgrimage to the swanky Ku De Ta and Potato Head Beach Club, enjoying nasi campur at Mades Warung and La Lucciola for their then novel and delicious Italian food.
Our brief for this trip though was to abandon the familiar and embrace the new. We landed at Denpasar on Friday evening and after a rather long wait for our luggage and going through the expected traffic jam, we had to change our dinner appointment from 8 to 9 pm. Fortunately Opeum was located right at our hotel, Lloyd’s Inn, and after a quick check in, we were seated at our table.
This place was highly rated and helmed by MasterChef Singapore finalist Sharon Gonzago. The setting was very casual, service was good and the food was tasty with no frills. The star dish was the beef brisket rendang with fried rice, tender and wonderfully fragrant.
The next morning, our amicable guide and driver Wayan picked us up and our first stop was at the scenic Tanah Lot for some pictures. Back to the road again and a pleasant 1 hour drive took us to Jati Harum Bali, a coffee plantation where we were shown the process of making luwak coffee. The cup we ordered also came with free tasting of 12 other cups of different flavours! A most pleasant instagram friendly stop for your java.
The beautiful Unesco site Jatiluwih Rice Terraces was next and before we went for our 40 minute trek, we had lunch at the scenic and breezy Warung Wayan Jatiluwih where we had a most delicious mee goreng and a nice gado gado.
It was then a 75 minute ride to our hotel in the Monkey Forest district where we bid our driver goodbye for the day. The Evitel Resort is centrally located and getting around was a breeze and after checking in, we went for a nice relaxing massage at Jaens Spa.
I was most excited over our dinner at Hujan Locale, one of the many restaurants conceived by Will Meyrick, Portugal born and a Scottish celebrity chef based in Bali! Buzzy and great vibes. ( children under 12 only allowed for lunch ) Excellent menu with his take on Indonesian cuisine and if we go back to Ubud, we will certainly make a return visit. Pics below are from Hujan Locale’s webpage.
It was a pity we had to rush through dinner but we had another place to go to for dessert and it does not open the next day which was Monday
Wanna go for a 3 hour dining experience that you will remember for the rest of your life? I mean how to forget a 21 course vegetarian meal of which 14 are desserts. Go in with an open mind and be treated with exemplary service from ALL the staff who will be able to explain to you each dish and give their genuine opinion on it..and even if Will Goldfarb ( Netflix Chef’s Table Volume 4 ) is not around, someone else will be, in our case a John Becker. Click here for the story on Room 4 Dessert and enjoy our pics on some of our favourite courses!
….and there’s 13 more delectable delights. There’s also beverage pairing, alcoholic or otherwise, or like us, took the H2O option. And that concludes a fabulous evening to a wonderful day in Bali. Look for my part 2 out soon.
Sim - The Wandering Chef 