Resto Review: Tekor Bali

07 Mar 2011 Leave a comment

by Little Sumo Girl in Bali, Beach, Restos & Food, Travel Tags:

March 6th, 2011 – The day after Nyepi (day of rest & silence on Bali), I was invited out for lunch with 2 other girlfriends and their parents, who are also here in Bali for a visit.

We head out about 12:30pm and it’s already steaming hot. We couldn’t figure out where to go so we headed out towards the beach, where the breeze should be good.

Dad had heard of a place called Tekor Bali which was a fave spot of a girl who wrote in the Bali Gazette. We were able to get a seat in the back of the resto, given we were a large group. Luckily there were fans, cuz it was hot day! It was nice to be in the back cuz we almost had the entire back way to ourselves, which was particularly nice for my girlfriend who is actually walking (and is in her exploring phase…) Occasionally, she had to watch out for the waitresses who were coming out back, trays in-hand, and weren’t expecting to see tiny people like us down there!

After ordering, they served us complementary bread with Aioli while we waited. Unfortunately, the service was EXTREMELY slow on this day. The adults’ drinks arrived at 10-15 minute intervals and finally the food arrived approximately 1-hour later. Luckily, mom had brought my lunch with her, otherwise I would’ve been starving to death! Thank god there were sufficient fans blowing to keep us cool. Waiting so long in this scorching heat would have been unbearable!!

Eventually, the guacamole appetizer with tortilla chips arrived! The guacamole was quite tasty, but I think they could’ve been a bit more generous on the chips…

Mom and one friend ordered Gado Gado – a traditional indonesian dish with lots of veggies, fried tempe and fried tofu. It came with a bowl of steamed rice and a peanut-dressing sauce. Mom’s friend had ordered it here previously and was quite disappointed with today’s servings. The presentation and the food were simply not to the same standards as the last time he came. In addition, the peanut sauce was much too watery so he asked them to change it. They did so without hesitation and the non-diluted version of the sauce was quite yummy.

Dad shared the Indonesian Rijstaffel with two other friends (60 000 Rp/person – minimum 2 person order) – A sample of 20 different Indonesians dishes, including:

  • Sate (Tuna & shrimp) – Best of the lot
  • Tempe Manis
  • Corn Patties
  • Fried Tofu
  • Vegetables
  • Beef Rendang
  • Pulled Chicken
  • Chicken curry
  • Quail eggs

The platter looks quite impressive and overall was quite good. This is a good way to get a sample of all the traditional Indo dishes. One day, when I’ll be able to eat more spicy foods and when my hand coordination will be better, I’ll be able to pick at the different plates on this buffet platter.

Mom’s other friend seemed to have enjoyed her shrimp salad dish, but it didn’t look out-of-this-world…

It was the day after Nyepi, so that would probably explain the slow service and the below-average taste/presentation of the food. People were still in the ‘No-Work’, ‘relaxing’ mood…

We were in good company and still had an enjoyable time, but Tekor wasn’t all it was decked out to be…this time around!

Food: **1/2
Deco/setting: ***
Service: **
(out of 5 stars)

Jalan Double Six (Arjuna) St.
Legian Village, Kuta

+62 361 735 268

Daily 7:30am – 12pm

Resto Review – Kumala Pantai Ristorante Italia

06 Mar 2011 Leave a comment

by Little Sumo Girl in Bali, Beach, Restos & Food, Travel Tags:

March 4th – It was the day before Nyepi and we were out checking out the Ogoh-Ogoh and hoping to catch a bit of the parade. Unfortunately, it was starting to get rather late and mom was worried that I would get too hungry. I was so happy to be walking the streets and seeing the crowds that I didn’t really feel hungry at all….Ah moms, they always worry too much for nothing!!

Mom and Dad were looking for a little warung to eat at, but given that Nyepi is such a big holiday and most people go back to their villages to be with their families. Most restaurants were closed. We finally ended up along the beach front and ate outside enjoying the strong breeze at Hotel Kumala Pantai’s Ristorante Italia.

We weren’t the only ones with this idea, as many tourists were coming to eat at this establishment. There were so many people arriving at the same time, we chose our table on our own. Table #1 – with the most wind…Aaahhhh 🙂 Mom asked for a high-chair but the group of 12 that came in just before us, nabbed the one and only high-chair of this 60-seater resto…Ah well, too bad! I was still able to enjoy my meal on mom’s lap.

In order to avoid a longer wait, mom and dad hurried to order before the big groups! Dad ordered the Gnocchi with Tomato and Basil Sauce which was simple but tasty. There wasn’t too much basil taste to it, but it was alright by my standards – note that my taste buds are not quite as developed as some people…Still need plenty of practice 🙂

Mom ordered the Eggplant Parmigiana, which was a bit dry. In the rush of ordering, I don’t think mom realized that the eggplants would be deep-fried with batter before being placed in between layers of tomato sauce and cheese like a lasagna. She was a little disappointed with having all that batter, especially since she was sharing this meal with me, and I don’t need any more extra ‘filling’, if you get my drift! Anyhow, I still enjoyed my meal, cuz by then I was starting to feel extremely hungry now that the Ogoh-Ogoh excitement was over. And when you’re hungry, just about anything tastes good – I’m sure you know that feeling!

Many tables beside were ordering the famous pizza. From what we could see, they use a traditional crust for their pizzas so knowing dad, we will most likely come back for a taste test!

It was already past my bed time, so after our meal we took a brisk walk home. It was also to avoid the potential storm. During the meal we started seeing lightning a far, and the few drops we felt on our heads was not a comforting feeling to mom & dad, especially considering it’s been pouring rain for the last week or so.

Overall, the dinner at Ristorante Italia was a quick and decent meal at a reasonable price (45 000 Rp/dish + 30 000 Rp for a large Bintang beer) that capped a nice evening out before a quiet day at home for Nyepi…

Food: **1/2
Deco/setting: ***
Service: **
(out of 5 stars)

Hotel Kumala Pantai
Jl. Werkudara, Legian Kaja, Kuta
Bali – Indonesia

Phone: +62 361 755500
Fax: +62 361 755700

Website : www.kumalapantai.com

Ogoh Ogoh & Nyepi in Bali

06 Mar 2011 1 Comment

by Little Sumo Girl in Bali, Fun Facts, Travel Tags: ,

March 5th marked the Caka Lunar New Year Nyepi holiday here in Bali – Year 1933. It is a day of silence and rest for the entire island, and apparently one of the most important rituals for Balinese Hindus. Trust me, this holiday is taken extremely seriously as we have been hearing about it for over a month!

It is a day where you are not to work, you are to stay at home & spend time with your family, not use electricity (not even for cooking or lighting), and not enjoy any form of entertainment. Just to give you an idea of how serious this is, even the International Airport of Denpasar is closed on this day. Tourists are asked to stay on the hotel grounds where they are staying at and to not leave the premises. Access to beach is also closed to everyone on this day…

The day before Nyepi, the Balinese Hindus perform special purification ceremonies at the temples.  There is a parade of giant Ogoh-Ogoh’s, which represent evil mythological creatures made of paper-mâché. Following the long procession, the Ogoh-Ogoh’s are burned as a ritual to ward off evil. Despite the late night, my parents decided that this was a must-see and worth keeping me up later for…Yipppeee!

We headed out at around 5pm and saw all the Ogoh-Ogoh’s on display. It was incredible to hear already how quiet the city was. Streets which were normally lined with parked motorbikes were suddenly empty! The one day that I could’ve gone out sitting comfortably in my Baby Jogger stroller, mom decided to take the baby carrier for fear that the streets would be too crowded.

It was still early so there weren’t too many people on the streets yet. We were actually able to walk on Legian Street, which is normally filled with cars and motorbikes in crazy traffic! We made it up to the main Temple, where a purification ceremony was already taking place. Unfortunately I could not see anything, nor could my parents 😦

Since it was getting late and we didn’t know when the procession would start, we decided to stop and grab a quick bite to eat cuz it was already way past my supper time! We went to Ristorante Italia (see upcoming post)

Although we did not get to see the full parade and be with the crowds the night before Nyepi, I’m glad that I got to stay up later than usual and to see all the Ogoh-Ogoh’s. Some were indeed quite scary, but I’m a tough gal. I didn’t even have any nightmares that night!

The next day was just a nice relaxing family day spent at home with mom and dad…in the silence of Bali…

Resto Review – Poco Loco

28 Feb 2011 Leave a comment

by Little Sumo Girl in Bali, Restos & Food, Travel Tags:

February 19th – We decided to go for a nice evening walk and head out to find a restaurant in Seminyak/Legian area, ideally something other than Indonesian food.  We’ve been in Bali for only a month, and already my parents have had their fair share of Nasi Goreng (Indonesian Fried Rice), or ‘Nasi Boring’, as they have to come call it 🙂

Despite not having taken my afternoon nap, I’m always happy to go exploring the town. Within approximately 10 minutes, we found Poco Loco, which is actually easy to miss, as the restaurant is set beyond a parking area and ‘garden’. So, it just seems like there is a vacant piece of land between the crowded buildings on Padma Utara, but when you look up, you see that there is actually an establishment there. I’m used to it anyhow, cuz from my stroller I miss about 80% of the things that do not appear directly in front of me….

At first glance, Poco Loco almost looks like a small amusement park with its multi-coloured ‘flags’ and vibrant furniture. Dad checked the menu and it seemed appealing to him – he really likes Mexican food 🙂 The restaurant opens at 6pm and it was a few minutes to six. We decided to continue our walk to see if we could find anything else around, otherwise we had our ‘backup plan’. It’s a bit un-cool to be the first customers at a restaurant, and besides the staff looked like they were still setting up.

After having seen the menus of other restos close by, which weren’t too inspiring, we decided to stick with our first choice and headed back to Poco Loco. Aahh, there were other customers now, so we were able to maintain our ‘cool-factor’ too, phew! As you can imagine, there were also kids at the other table – Who really has supper at 6pm besides families with young children??

The restaurant is actually huge and has at least 2 floors, and maybe even 3. I couldn’t really tell from where we were sitting. I think it would be a fun place to be at for a celebration, bday party or to watch a World Cup game, or an NHL hockey game if we were back home. We had our choice of table and the staff was nice and friendly. I didn’t see their high chairs, cuz I had brought my own chair this time…Mom and Dad started out with a large bottle of Bintang (beer) while going through the menu, and meanwhile I was chatting it up with the other kids (who seemed a little shy or perhaps I was just too loud for them?)…Finally, I gave up trying to make small talk with the other kids and poured my soul out to the Bartender instead, who was a much better listener when he wasn’t busy mixing daiquiris for the other table!

Dad took the BBQ ribs from the Specials of the day and mom took the vegetarian burrito. The veggie burrito and the beans from mom’s plate were quite yummy for my taste 🙂 The only thing I had to be careful for, were the chopped chili peppers that were sprinkled on top, which looked like tomatoes at first. Thank god, mom realized the difference before my tongue was on fire! The ribs looked tender but were not the ‘Fall-off-the-bones’ type ribs that dad really enjoys…Overall, mom and dad seemed to enjoy their meals as well, although it may not have been their best Mexican meal ever. But hey, it’s nice to have a change for your tastebuds sometimes… Trust me, I know! I eat almost the same things everyday, so this was a welcome change for me as well – Ole!!

Food: ***
Deco/setting: **1/2
Service: ***
(out of 5 stars)

Poco Loco
Jl. Padma Utara, Legian.
(0361) 756.079

Resto Review – Corner 66

13 Feb 2011 Leave a comment

by Little Sumo Girl in Bali, Restos & Food, Travel Tags:

Sunday, February 6th started out as a regular relaxing family day with a stroll at the beach…For some reason, I was feeling a bit moody that day. No explanation, just one of those days.

Lunch time was quite ‘painful’. I think mom and dad found me quite testy and I was dreading afternoon nap time. So, I made it clear that I did not want to sleep. The plan worked and we went to the pool instead…Yes! I managed to postpone nap time and as a result, dinner time was later than usual. Mom & dad seemed exhausted, I don’t get why cuz we pretty much chilled all day…

Rather than having dinner at home, we (They) decided to go out. We headed to Corner 66 which is just a 5 minute walk from home.

We were greeted by a friendly staff, and as usual, they were smiling alot with me. They offered me the high-chair, but when dad saw that there were no straps on it, he said ‘No Thanks’. They didn’t seem to understand cuz they brought it over anyways. Dad went ahead and strapped on my own chair with all the security straps…Obviously, he doesn’t trust me to sit still through dinner….hmmmm….

We had to wait a bit for my veggie plate, but at least there was some entertainment… The shiny multi-colored lights that hung from the pillar were fun to look at for a while. They reminded me a bit of the decorative balls on Grandma’s Xmas tree, except they weren’t half as nice as Grandma’s tree. Her tree has flashing lights 🙂 There was also a candle on the table, that mom quickly hid from me 😦  Then, there was the plasticized Wheatgrass brochure on a wood stand that could be split into 2 for double the entertainment. The cocktail menu was also plasticized so I could drool all over that too.

The restaurant, as the name states, is located at the corner of ‘Double 6’ and ‘Werkudara’ streets. It’s sad to say, but daddy only figured this out tonight…But I can’t really blame him – old folks are a bit slow sometimes…Since it’s an open air restaurant, we get to see all the passers-by, the motorbikes and cars…This is always fun for me…Plus there were flat screen TVs for the sports fans.

The food arrived within a reasonable delay. I didn’t really notice the time since I was keeping busy. My veggie plate consisted of grilled vegetables (carrots, peppers, eggplants, zucchinis) on a bed of lettuce, dressing on the side, with a slice of baguette (soft and tender). Some of the veggies were a bit hard for my taste, but I only have 4 teeth! The main problem with the dish was that it was too salty! I ate it anyways, but was glad to have a piece of bread every few bites to get rid of the salty taste. Not the best veggie plate I’d had here so far. (In my opinion, the one across the street at Marzano’s was far better for about the same price ~ 25000Rp)

Mom was slightly disappointed with her Tempe Burger. She was expecting a big piece of grilled Tempe, but instead she had Tempe Manis between two buns with lettuce and tomato. Tempe Manis is a popular dish with a sweet flavour, but the small slices of tempe make it really messy to eat in a burger. Dad’s pork snitzel was standard, but nothing too extraordinary. Both dishes were served with fresh fries and ketchup on the side.

Overall, the food was alright and the location was convenient for us, but I wouldn’t purposely go out of my way to come. If you’re in the area and wanna have some simple food at reasonable prices with a nice airy feeling, then you can consider coming around the Corner….

Food: **
Deco/setting: ***
Service: ***

For more info, check out:
http://www.guidegecko.com/bali/legian-barbeque-restaurants/66-corner-restaurant-cafe/p,608175063