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Batan Waru: Under the Waru Trees!
Batan Waru has always been one of my favourite breakfast spots in Ubud. Their Shitake Eggs [scrambled eggs imbedded with slivers of shitake mushrooms], wholewheat toast and great coffee have started many a Bali day for me over the past few years. A perfect Eggs Benedict [unusual for Bali] is another alternative that always pleases. A chance brunch whilst entertaining overseas visitors opened my eyes to their main menu. Unlike sister restaurant, teraZo, which is very International in its cuisine, Batan Waru specializes in Indonesian fare. Great dishes at reasonable prices!
Bebek Bengil 1: Those Ducks are Dirty!
I guess that there is a story behind most restaurant names in Bali. Whether they be true or false, who cares? The naming of Ubud’s Bebek Bengil is stranger than most. Built 12 years ago, when the village of Tegal, at Ubud’s southern end, was nothing more than rice paddi’s, the restaurant was almost finished when it was invaded by a flock of ducks, bored with chasing worms in the water and mud of the adjoining paddies. The mess they made on that early morning invasion gave birth to the name, Bebek Bengil [Dirty Duck], and a restaurant that seems to have become an Ubud institution!
Barberkyu: More than Just a Barbecue!
Bali has many restaurants that offer what I call a ‘Tourist Menu’. By that I mean one that covers many different cuisines, obviously trying to find ’something for everyone’. Sadly, most fail and all the offerings finish up as a local version of everything, almost unrecognizable from what was originally attempted, at least in taste.
Ary’s Warung, in Ubud, has always been an above average restaurant. Now, since a major redesign and menu upgrade, it has become an exceptional one. The lower level is dominated by a very stylish bar setting, with minimal dining areas and what there is mainly used for luncheons. Upstairs is a spacious room, an open tree-lined veranda, which seems to catch whatever cooling breezes are present at the time.
Dragonfly: Fried Dragonflys, anyone?
In Thailand you are constantly walking past heaped trays of fried grasshoppers, as you twist your way through the hoards of street food vendors. They are wok-fried, and are supposedly crunchy and delicious, but I have never been tempted. Maybe one day? Having just returned from Bangkok I half expected to see Fried Dragonflys on the menu of this quaintly named newcomer to Ubud. I was relieved to discover that they were not on the menu, so I did not have to try them after all.
Kafe: Ubud’s Yoga-friendly Cafe!
It started as not much more than the shop downstairs under the Yoga office, somewhere for the friends of yoga to meet and relax. It doubled in size within months, but not much else changed. Kafe serves simple breakfasts, snacks and light meals, most of which are healthy or as they call them, yogi-friendly?. It is located half the way down Jln. Hanoman in Ubud, the one way street going the opposite way, and adjacent, to Jln. Monkey Forest. Small pleasant balconies front the café, under the abundant greenery, but the tables thereon are difficult to find empty. Inside is a variety of comfortable seating/lounging positions where the main aim is to relax and enjoy, whether you are reading, meditating or people-watching.