BALI ESCAPADE: THE MAKAN PLACES

The Makan Place

As this was a full board trip, our food was well taken care of. The food over there is very much bland compare to our food in Malaysia, probably the lack of use of spices. Obviously, we were taken to places where spices are used sparingly to suit the tastes of the tourists. The portion of servings was too big for two people, so we invited Wayan and Adi to dine together with us.

It is advisable to go venture on your own at the small stalls. But, not recommended for people with weak stomach.

Perama Tea House at Lake Bratan

Humongous portions. Nothing to brag about, the taste of the beef is funny. They called it sapi here. The fried rice is smashing though.

Selera Bandung, near Kuta

Both of us particularly loved this restaurant for the famous serving of a fresh water fish – which I couldn’t recall the name. It is prepared in Javanese style – deep fried and comes along with a plate of soya sauce with cili padi.

Babi Guling

Everyone advised us not to miss this specialty of Balinese food. The best can be found in Ubud. As we were already overstuffed with pre arranged food, we made a pass while we were in Ubud, and had this after our trip to Uluwatu on the last day.

Bintang Beer

At only Rp8,000 (RM3.20 - you may get cheaper if you buy them from K-Mart), indulge this drink – I loved it for the fact that it is less bitter compared to other brew. Something like a light beer.

I prefer this over KilKenny anytime!

Coffee

Balinese coffee trees, which are grown in Bali, cater for local consumption only. The taste was rather bland, almost like charcoal.

We had a go at this Uno Coffee Cipta Indonesia, (UCCI) office near Kuta.

Here, we were treated like coffee connoisseurs – having 4 shots of coffee and tea at a go. Actually we are not connoisseurs. We are just coffee addicts.

It is nice to have met a fellow Malaysian, Mr Lee from Ipoh, who is running his family coffee business here in Bali. The head office is in Jakarta, which has a history of 60 years; specializing in Indonesian coffee. Coffee trees were grown on volcanic soil in either Sulawesi or Java.

The highly marketable coffee of Indonesia is Toraja Arabica coffee, grown on the soil of Toraja Highlands in South Sulawesi.

There is also a special coffee bean, called the Peaberry – its coffee bean comes in pairs. I was told regular coffee beans can be split into two but not this one.

The coffees are superbly aromatic. The taste is not as “kaw” as our most loved local Aik Cheong coffee, as they were not mixed with oils/butters when they are roasted. I was told that Indonesian coffee contained 1/3 caffeine compared to other normal coffee and has lower caffeine content compared to Coke!

What we loved most is the Peaberry chocolate – milk and sugar were not added, even if they do taste milky. The special thing about this bar of chocolate is the 12 Peaberry beans in every bar. WY and I perked up after helping ourselves with a few servings of chocolates. Chocolates are indeed aphrodisiacs!

UCCI’s offices in Bali

JL. By Pass Ngurah-Rai, Komp. Ruko
Tuban Plaza No. 38 Kuta Bali 80362
Tel: (0361) 759 439, 763 797

Or

Monkey Forest StreetPadang Tegal, Ubud, Bali 80571
Tel: (0361) 974 252

P.S. I hope my explanation is accurate enough – as I had promised to mail Mr Lee once this post is out. (In exchange for some discounts on the purchases – ha ha!)