A Few of My Favourite Things !

Can you be nostalgic for a time & place that you’ve never known? I’ve heard that Beirut was the ‘Paris’ of the Middle East in its heyday and citizens who have since moved from Lebanon wax lyrical about its beauty and liveliness. Having now made my first (whirlwind) visit to Beirut, I wish I had known her in her prime. I loved the hospitality of the people, the mountain-to-sea aspect, the contrasting fashions of the various religious groups. I would return in a heartbeat.

My first walk was along the promenade to the Raouché (Pigeon Rocks):

The American University of Beirut:

You don’t see female taxi drivers very often there (in fact, she was the only one I saw) and our driver so SO unimpressed that a woman was driving:

This place deserves a post of its own. Serving the kind of food that we travel for, Ibu Oka in Ubud is patronized by locals as well as tourists. They do one dish and they do it incredibly well – Babi Guling. You point to what everyone else on the communal table is having and it’s plated and served in about two minutes flat. Help yourself to the prawn crackers in the basket and everything just gets tallied up at the end of your meal.

Too good and had us licking our lips for the rest of the trip. It’s a pity we didn’t get to go back for seconds =(

Breeze: Just stopped for drinks here one evening to see the sunset but too cloudy…

Cafe Warisan: Reputedly the best French and most romantic restaurant in Bali if you believe the Luxe Guide. Go during the day if you want to see the rice paddies although I’m sure the food is great either day or night! Be warned however that the whole crew is moving to Mentis in September 200. Warisan will continue trading under a different owner with different cuisine.

Scallops with seared foie, shimeji, puy lentils and sherry jus – just awesome! Easily the dish of the night.

Crab millefeille, crab emulsion, leek, soft shell crab tempura – pretty good too

Sole Meunière, creamed spinach, potato – hhhmmmmm, I really expected more from this dish.

La Moelluex- okay, I recently made one that beat the pants off this!

Nammos Beach Club at Karma Kandara: Wow, a private beach where you have to pay for entry – that’s something that Aussies are just NOT used to. However, I have to say that the view of the Indian Ocean was stupendous and I would definitely do it again!

Something special…sigh!

Isn’t this photo convincing enough? The ride there is a little bumpy but I’m still wondering how much it costs per night to wake up to this:

Bumbu Bali: The kind of place where they all greet you when you arrive (kinda like the “Irrashaimase” of Japanese restaurants) and place a frangipani behind your ear. Go only if you want to feel like a tourist because the food ain’t worth it.

ONe more post to go after this…

So it’s been a few weeks since our return from a one-week break in Seminyak, Bali but I haven’t posted about any of the food we ate, although there a pictures aplenty. Of course, I know this means I will probably have forgotten the names of most of the dishes, my mind being the sieve that it is. However, I shall do my best to recall them. We based our choice of restaurants/cafes on friends’ recommendations, reviews and the Luxe Guide and there were hits and there were misses and there were dishes in-between. I think I shall just make it a chronological review so here goes:

Made’s Warung: Apparently a visit to one of the two Warung Made (Kuta or Seminyak) is compulsory for all visitors. They serve a mix of international and Indonesian foods. It was more than passable but we tried to pick places that concentrated more specifically on Indonesian food after this.

Nasi Campur

Rujak

Lumpiah

Venue @ the Moon: About three shops up from our hotel, The Kayana, so it was easy to grab takeaway. Their food was some of the best we had in Bali!

Kuta Mall: We just had to take a peek, and really that’s all it was. We dropped by at the mall in Kuta and did a little bit of shopping. Enjoyed the humidity while watching the waves rolling in and enjoying a plate of garlicky prawns.

Grocer & Grind: No food photos but a really cool place to hangout if you’re missing home.

More to come in the next installation…

What is not obvious from these photos is that the rider’s helmet is covered in matching pink fur. His girlfriend didn’t appear to have a helmet so I’m assuming that he is the one with the Hello Kitty obsession. Interestingly, we also spotted quite a bit of Hello Kitty paraphernalia being sold in Spain & Portugal. Is she making a bid to take over the world?

Jian Bing – a thin, crispy crepe sparsely filled with an egg, some green herbs, brown sauce and chilli, fi you like it hot. Just fatastic and my favourite breakfast in Shanghai.

Having a breakfast of toufa with the locals

Hang your coat up and have a waltz in the square:

Throwing up your wishes and dreams:

Adventures in Shanghai – Part 1
Adventures in Shanghai – Part 2
Adventures in Shanghai – Part 3

Walking around Shanghai one evening we came across a place that was grilling lamb kebabs over a charcoal fire. We looked up at the shop frontage to see the shop name appearing in Arabic script next to the picture of a mosque. The music that wafted towards us along with the smoke was definitely Arabic although the workers looked just like extremely fair Chinese. Following some research, I realised that there is actually quite a rich Islamic heritage within Chinese history.

Towards the evening, long queues snaked across the street waiting for the lamb kebabs to come off the grill. Not wanting to wait, we just picked up some interesting-looking bread. The dough is mixed with pieces of lamb (chewy for the most part) and fat and baked into a fragrant flat loaf with a crusty exterior.

Next to the bread is an egg custard tart from Lilian Bakery, a franchise that has several branches scattered around the city. A connoiseur of egg custard tarts, A has decided that this is best one we have had so far and I am inclined to agree. The custard, which is wobbly and just eggy enough to lure me but not put A. off, is held together by a flaky pastry shell. Utterly divine!

Somewhere between a roti and a naan, this sesame seed-coated bread is fried in a large flat pan which gives it a crispy shell. We had a great version the first time then had a lot of trouble finding elsewhere. The second one turned out to be too soft and mushy to be enjoyable.

This is a Chinese delicatessen! Every second shop in Shanghai seemed to sell a variety of preserved and dried foods, biscuits and sweets, as well as herbal ingredients. Most of the preserved meat were vacuum packed in foil wrappers, making it difficult for non-Chinese reading people like us to determine what each contained – feet, chicken wings or tongue, just to name a few. This shop made it somewhat easier although I can’t imagine buying that porcine face mask. It reminds me rather creepily of Hannibal – eeeuughhh.

Adventures in Shanghai – Part 1
Adventures in Shanghai – Part 2
Images of Shanghai

Can anyone shed some light on what I was eating? Cos I have absolutely NO IDEA!