42 Hours in Ubud Accompanied by Smell

Rating:	★★★★
Category:	Restaurants
Cuisine:	International
Location:	Bali

Arriving in Ubud on a lazy late Sunday afternoon, I realized I have finished reading all my books that I have brought on this trip and so decided that my first stop would be the second hand bookstore near Pasar Ubud. I chose a used paperback titled Smell and instantly fell in love with the first few paragraphs.

--- When the wind blew hard, as it did that very often in spring, the smell of fresh baguette would fight its way into the Epicerie Madras to do battle with the prickly smell of pickles and masalas.

It would enter the store confidently, making light of the heavy-breasted, sari wrapped mannequins, Chinese prayer wheels, and Indian video cassettes that were on display in the large window sill facing the street. Before the shelves of cooked foods – banana chips fried in coconut oil, samosas, gulab jamuns and papads- it would pause, some of its strength diminished by the pungent foreign odours. ---

Smell- by Radhika Jha Paperback: 307 pages Publisher: Soho Press (June 1, 2002) Language: English ISBN: 1569472882 (60K and 50% refundable if you take it back and buy another book. Ganesha Secondhand Bookstore - Ubud)

I now know that my adventure has started, not only that, but on the right culinary note!

I have just finished the first part of my Bali trip in the Jimbaran/Seminyak/Legian/Kuta area and did the usual anak muda Jakarta in Bali stuff in the afternoon and evenings. Dinner at Jimbaran seafood at Menega à must try clams, aargh! , hangin out at Dhyana Pura bars, late night bubur tio ciu at Furama, an afternoon in Tekor and simply loafing about, though I did manage to NOT go to Kudeta, La Luch, Hu’u and those strip of restaurants on Laksamana street near Oberoi, aka Trattoria, Mykonos etc, just cause I wanted to make this trip a little different than my usual Bali trips:). In Jimbaran, I stayed at the Intercon and I must tell you that this resort deserves it’s own review cause the service, room, food and the 24 hour Club lounge: free yummy food and drinks, is truly exceptional! (The Club Room with access to the Club Lounge is 1.7 mio per night.) The Ko Japanese restaurant there must be one of the most elegant I’ve seen and the most delicious Japanese food I’ve had in a blue moon. The bill of course fits the scene.. hehehe…Will get you the review one of these days folks….

Anyway… back to Ubud…the sophisticated village that I fell in love with…
Our first stop for grub is at The Three Monkeys. As it was only around snack time, my companion ordered the soba noodle salad with seaweed while I had the vegetable spring rolls and shared a creamed spinach side dish. The salad was fresh, with a hint of asian spices in the sauce while the soba noodles fought with the greens for space in the plate. I had a bite and had to actually stop myself from stealing from my friend’s plate. My spring rolls (3 pieces) came out in the shape of fingers of a small monster. Crispy and tasty, it also came with a tangy sweet and spicy sauce. Next came the spinach, where they succeeded in making it creamy and flavoursome, without wilting the texture and sacrificing the original spinach taste. (loh emang yang gak orisinil gimana yah???). The Three Monkeys is a beautiful open air restaurant situated next to fields of green paddy that cools your eyes, even though it is located smack in the middle of Monkey Forest Road. Total bill was circa 180’s inclusive of beverages. Steep for snacks, but worthwhile for the setting and taste.

After procuring lodgings for me as I didn’t book anything (Ubud Bungalows 125k per nite, clean, great location, decent breakfast and a great pool!), dinner time rolled around and off we hopped to Deli Cat! Yeay!

Deli Cat is owned by a Norwegian man (who was present at the premises making sure the guests were taken care of) who’s now a local in Ubud and serves authentic cheeses, deli meats and wholesome western meals, all at reasonable prices. Little wonder the expats living in Ubud make this resto as their hangout place. The ambience was relaxed and quite frequently strangers share a table as we did that night. This lovely café is located right in front of the soccer field affording the guests amateur games by locals if they come in the right time of the day. I ordered the Today’s Special, Roast Lamb with Mushroom Sauce with veggies and ‘tatoes for 35k and my friend had the Ham Gammon also with veggies and ‘tatoes and a slice of pineapple on top for also 35 K. For the drinks – we ordered a carafe of red wine, ok, ok, it was two carafes and boy, we were happy campers! Total damage for two hungry people was in the 170’s and it was worth every tasty morsel! The ham was cooked just right and my lamb was succulent without being too fatty.

My friend, who lived in Bali, went back home and left me on my own to explore Ubud for the rest of the trip. So it was me, my novel, the crickets and the cool balmy air that I enjoyed my first evening in Ubud.

My only full day in Ubud started off with breakfast (scrambled eggs, bacon and cheese waffled between two toasts), rented a mountain bike and headed to the paddy fields up in the hills and lovely kampungs. The scenery was breathtaking, the weather gorgeous and the atmosphere just magnificent… Ubud, I am in love…

After 5 hours straight of pumping legs and sweating, my body complained and decided that it deserved some FOOD! Lunch time !!!! Off I head to Tut Mak resto, located just a couple hundred meters from Deli Cat and ordered a light creamy chicken salad packaged in warm tortilla with fresh greens on the side, hmmm yum scrum… and don’t forget the ice cold beer…hehehe… Tut Mak was packed with a late lunch crowd and comes highly recommended by Ubud expats. The bill came to 60K and I rode my bike away happily to one of the ubiquitous spas and treated myself to one of the most deserved massage.

But peace I did not get. My mobile tweedled crying out a text message – my friend who lives in Denpasar is unexpectedly coming up to Ubud to accompany me for dinner! The message explicitly mentioned yummy ribs, hmmmh!! This gotta be good...

A bit of browsing and shopping at the art shops, a swim, a nap, a hot shower and I was ready to paint the village red…. I waited for my friend at this cute casual eatery called The Warung. While waiting, I befriended the owner (a Balinese from Karangasem) of this establishment who turned out also own the world famous Jazz Café down the road and we had a good jolly time talking about famous people who’ve visited his place. The Warung just opened recently and he’s really excited. It serves nasi campur with daily specials, such as opor ayam, tahu tempe and the likes, catering to local and foreign tourist. Reading from the board menu, nasi campur with 3 types of dishes is 15K, 4 types 20K. Clientele was mostly upmarket foreign tourists wanting a taste of traditional Indonesian fare in familiar surroundings.

My friend arrived and quickly transported us to Naughty Nuri’s - which I think is located down at Hanuman Road– famous for its baby back ribs at only 45K per gigantic portion. Two small cute people like me can easily share a plate. It was as long as a small pianica, ya know, the blue one that we had to learn to play in elementary school. Hehehe…Tony Roma’s, please take the back seat, Naughty Nuri’s has just snatched that teeny weeny place in my heart for ribs. The meat was practically falling off the bones and just damn tasty!

After a lazy leisurely breakfast the next morning (Eggs Florentine on thick Farmer’s Bread and a cup of strong coffee), I was on my way back to Benoa to meet up with friends for a delicious lunch in Conrad resort at its famous open air Suku restaurant (Nasi Campur Bali komplit banget, worth every bit if you add in the view), a quick tour of their beautiful spa, a detour to Denpasar to browse a friend’s gallery, Baron Art (filled with antique treasures you cannot imagine...) and in no time I found myself at the lounge at Ngurah Rai Airport waiting for my flight to take me back to ‘reality’.

Yes folks – it only took Ubud 42 hours to make me fall madly in love with it and wanting for more! Great nature, smiling people, lovely art, good food, great places to stay, affordable. I will certainly be back more sooner than later…and yes, next time I promise to visit all the museums and not waste all my time and money in the restaurants. Hehehehe. Liar liar, pants on fire.

O yes, and that book Smell is also recommended. Simply brilliant.