The Uma Balinese Restaurant, Kota Damansara

When we speak of Balinese cuisine, many of us (especially those in Klang Valley) would think of Ole Ole Bali, Bumbu Bali or Waterlily. But there's more than just that famous chain, right?

A few months ago, we decided to pop over to Uma, which serves non halal Balinese cuisine.

I thought we could finally have babi guling, alas, when I checked with the owners, it was not in their plan to serve babi guling. Nonetheless, there's still lots of porky selection to satisfy our porcine cravings..

The menu's quite extensive, but was told that it will be expanded further with more pork dishes (by now, with my delayed posting, am rather certain that the new menu is ready)..

We started with some pork satay..

Juicy pork satay which was very well marinated. Smoky in flavour, the meat had a slight chewiness to it, but was still nice.

The rest of the pictures will look the same as all of us ordered the rice set- with the same side dishes, but a different main (meat)..

The side dishes served in Uma were way better compared to Ole ole/Waterlily..

There were deep fried potato bits- spicy and very good, the vegetables were crunchy and fresh, the shredded chicken was well-spiced and goes wonderfully with the rice while the condiments- onion/ shallot sauce and the chilli sauce was excellent.

Here's my order..

Deep fried duck..

Yummy, reminds me of the bebek (duck) I had in Bali (only that this was larger in size). The duck was juicy, the skin was crisp and aromatic. My only small gripe was the slightly salty skin.

The curry lamb and curry pork dish looks the same..

The only difference was that one was served in yellow rice while the other was white. Was told that different flavours of rice enhances the overall taste of the dish. Both curries were delicious, but if I had to choose, I'd take the lamb.

Jem decided to have the Babi masak kicap (pork cook in soy)
Melt in mouth pork served in a rather chinese tasting sauce. Tasty nonetheless.

Andrew, who seemed to crave for pork satay had his rice served with pork satay. What can I say? I think he OD on porkiness..

Hmm, seems like everything sounds good and scrumptious? Not really actually. I didnt like the satay lilit here, find it too mushy. Some of my friends did mentioned that its rather pricy for its portion.

But these are small flaws that I'm willing to overlook- will definitely return when I feel like having Balinese food again :)

The Uma Balinese Restaurant is located at The Strand, Kota Damansara, 7-G & 7-1 Jalan PJU5/21, 47810 Petaling Jaya, Selangor - Tel 03-6142-2771.

Ole Ole Bali, Solaris KL

We planned a lazy Sunday lunch. A girls lunch to catch up on gossips and just yak away :)

I never like venturing to Solaris though, it's always packed, but with the exception of sunday mornings. Parking is almost a breeze :p

Ole Ole serves predominantly balinese food and also a selection of western food. Our focus were solely on the balinese food though.

Amy was pleased that they served Avocado Shake (RM10) here; something that she took aplenty when she was in Bali. Me on the other hand? I decided to have the Ice blended Pulut Hitam (RM9)

Amy's Avocado shake was creamy and smooth. Taste very much like vanilla milk shake with slight hint of avocado. Very nice. My Pulut Hitam tasted like the bubur pulut hitam blended with gula melaka and coconut milk. Lovely too, just a tad sweet.

The new MC decided that she should be adventurous, so she ordered Cucumber with Passion fruit cooler (RM11)

It was way too sour for my liking. MC seems to find it ok. Jun said it tasted like cough syrup :p

The Sop Buntut (RM14) was very rich..

More like beef stew, this balinese version of oxtail soup was very heavy in flavour. The beef was tender, and served with nasi impit- this bowl of soup could easily be a main meal for a light eater.

Our salad was Tipak Cantuk (RM13)

Is that another name for Gado Gado? I'm not sure but the ingredients do seemed very similar. All of us find it mediocre as the peanut sauce was too sweet and reek strong tamarind taste.

We all preferred the second salad better- Grilled squid salad (RM14)

Huge portion, this salad had generous amount of grilled cumi cumi (squids) and greens. The dressing was tangy yet refreshing- hence complemented the sweet vegetables wonderfully. The grilled squids had a subtle smoky aroma that goes well with the salad. My only gripe was the very hard keropok.

We were all captivated by the Ole Ole Trio platter (RM38)

The platter was generous and the colours were so pretty. A combo of sate lilit, cumi cumi goreng and grilled chicken wings. The sate lilit was juicy and well marinated, and goes very well with the sambal and herb sauce. Jun liked with deep fried squids- crunchy batter with softer squids. The grilled chicken was good too; it was smoky and a wee bit dry- tasted like those I had in Bali.

The Nasi Kambing Bumbu (RM26)..

The mutton was served with yellow rice and kangkung. The mutton was cooked dry in their spices and sauce- I liked this too. The slices of capsicums and caramelised onions balanced the meat perfectly. The rice and vegetables were nothing to shout about though.

Overall a satisfying experience at Ole Ole Bali. The food here does remind me of the food I had in Bali- ie, it's more on the dry cooking style, not much gravy and the balinese sambal is readily available. Though the sambal served here was not that fiery. Oh, and they dont serve bebek and babi guling (for obvious reason :p)

Ole Ole Bali is located at J-0G-15 & J0G-16, Soho KL, Solaris Mont Kiara, 2-J, Solaris KL.

Subak, Bukit Lanjan, KL

Bollywood Queen always have me in mind whenever she comes across a new place to eat.

XOXO girl!

So obviously, when Farid introduces her to this new makan place, it didnt take her long to bring us there :)

When Bollywood Queen drove us there..deep into the Bukit Lanjan area, I thought she was bringing us for a ride. It was rather in the 'jungle' area, when sudden we see it, Subak, perched at a higher ground surrounded by trees and lots of greens.

We were there for dinner, when it's all dark. And the first impression I get? It's reminiscent of a restaurant I went in Bali, called Tepi Sawah.
The warm, cozy setting makes me feel at ease immediately, and the well mannered, friendly staff adds more brownie points to this place.

We took our seats, got comfortable and let BQ do most of the ordering...

Our drinks...

BQ's teh tarik which she absolutely loves..

Amy and I had Blue Coraco (or sounds like that)

Looks pretty but I didnt like the taste..

Compliments from the chef...Rice sheet with veg filling. A refreshing piece, reminds me of what I had at Bobby Chinn's, sans truffle oil and fresh mushrooms.

Our starters was served soon after..

Ibu Yati's Gado gado (RM10)Though the portion's rather dainty, I find it absolutely scrumptious! It's the peanut sauce that got me hooked; it's extremely aromatic, almost like eating freshly roasted peanuts. Very good stuff.

For soup, we had Pak Ajelan's chicken soto(RM10)..The soup looks murkier than the usual soto I had, but it's delicious. Subak's very generous with the ingredients, there were lots of nasi impit, shredded chicken, beansprouts etc. Well, not that the ingredients swayed me over, the soup was good enough pull for me to order this again on my next visit.

Mains up, I wanted to try the Balinese Fried rice with seafood skewer (RM25)..It looks very much like what I had in Tepi Sawah, bali . And tasted lovely too! The fried rice had good wok hei and nice aroma to it. Seafood grilled was fresh and sweet; and I liked the plum acar, goes well with the fried rice.
Sizzling honey spring chicken (RM32) was a hot affairSizzling alright..the chicken was served on a bed of summer vegetables- squash, zuchinni, brussel sprouts and new potatoes. The chook was tender and moist; the creamy sauce goes nicely with the sides. Though tasty, I still prefer the asian dishes we had that night.

And how can we end the night without desserts?

BQ chose the tantalizing Glutinous Rice Tapai with Vanilla Ice cream. (RM8)One of the fusion that works. The vanilla ice cream complemented the pungent, fermented flavours of the tapai. A good combo that has to be savoured slowly..

Overall, we had a good time at Subak. I guess for those who miss Bali and want a break from the bustling city; Subak may just be the answer for a few hours of unwinding :)

Subak is located at Lot 3213, Jalan Penchala Indah, Bukit Lanjan, KL. Click here for Subak's map n directions

Tepi Sawah, Bali

This will be my last post on Bali...did I hear a faint Hurray! somewhere? hehe

We were on our way back from Ubud, when we decided to have dinner. Ketut suggested Tepi Sawah, which he said, serves very good nasi goreng (fried rice). Should we trust his recommendation? There were a few hits, but also misses on his previous recommendations...

Since it's late and we are really hungry...

It's getting pretty dark at Tepi Sawah, do note that the lightning is pretty bad..Yes, it's romantic with dimmed lights, candles and all, but hey, it's so dark at the walkway to the entrance you might trip even before you could enjoy what's in there..

Now, that aside, Tepi Sawah is a cozy restaurant located, yup, you guessed it, next to a paddy field...

We took our time ordering, a compulsory would be the nasi goreng (the whole reason we decided to come anyways..)

The nasi goreng....Ketut was right! It's very tasty, the rice was full of wok hei, the ingredients and spices tasted wonderful. I didnt think that the fried shrimps, fried satay lilit, crackers and egg would swerve my opinion. The rice is nice. Hey, it rhymes! hehe

We decided to have a duck dish as we tried some yummy duck at Bedugul Lakeview previously, think this should be good too..This is the fried duck we had. Looks slighly malnourish coz, again, the ducks and chicken here are, small compared to those in Msia.. Irregardless, this duck tasted amazing! It's so crispy, some parts of the could be eaten! The meat was very well marinated, every bite has the subtle hint of spices while the meat remains tender and juicy...

Bollywood Queen spotted a rather interesting dish, grilled cock fighthing chicken.

So I guess the one we're eating lost the fight eh? I asked the waitress..

She stared at me blankly..Oh, okaayyyy...

We were rather worried that the meat would be tough as afterall, it's a 'sports' chicken..haha..muscly ma.. It smelled fantastic; smoky, salty smell that makes me wanna devour it immediately. The meat was surprising juicy, even juicier than the duck. The skin was grilled until it's crispy, with a lingering smoky aftertaste. A tad spicy with the marination, I would recommend this cock fighthing chicken anytime...

Of course, we didnt realised that the best was yet to come..

Lo and behold, the pork ribs.. This must be one of the best pork ribs (not that I've tried that many) i've ever sunk my teeth in..The exterior was covered with sweet sticky sauce, the meat grilled till slightly charred and had that bit of crispyness to the bite. The meat melts off the bones, so tender yet perfectly marinated. I believe they used a rather young pig(maybe even a piglet?) as the bones are a tad tiny and the meat's texture is very fine. Please please order this..hehe

Total bill was RM145, that's inclusive of 2 more plates of nasi goreng and drinks.

Tepi Sawah is located at Jl Raya Goa Rajah, Br Teges, Peliatan, Ubud 80571 Bali,Indonesia. Tel: (0361) 975656. Email: sumerta@denpasar.wasantara.net.id

New Langsam Cafe, Bali

Jimbaran is famous for it's fresh seafood, beautiful sunset and perfect ambience for the romantic night out..Or so I was told by my friends before I went..

But I had the same warning told repeatedly, by my concerned friends, Be prepared to pay

We were recommended to go to New Langsam Cafe as the restaurant I wanted to go was destroyed by tsunami (or so I was told).

New Langsam Cafe does have a nice ambience, very cozy and romantic. But I went there with 3 other girlfriends, romance was not that important that night..hehe

Got the menu and scanned the price, the price was somewhat like Malaysia's, but their live lobsters and some fish were more expensive than Msia.

We had grilled garoupa..

Flesh was sweet, but I feel that the spices and marination was just too strong, after a few bites, I could hardly taste the fish..

The grilled squid was next.. ..It was fine, springy texture, had the smoky flavour. Though at times can be a tad chewy..

The grilled chicken was too dry and well, burnt..
The veg was normal...

But the worst dish of the night goes to the crabs!!! WF and Bollywood Q took the trouble to pick live crabs, and knowing it's fresh, wanted it to be steamed..

The cooks insisted that we have grilled, but we still wanted steamed. We were really curious on the cook's insistent.. And we finally understood why. The crab's flesh was soft, to the brink of mushy. Lots of ginger and spices to cover the fishy smell. We were very sure they did not serve us the live crabs we chose. These are definitely dead crabs, not even fresh.

We did not enjoy our meal and with the price of RM180 (total bill), I will kiss their @$$ if I ever return to this place. If you really wanna try this place (ambience over food?), it's located at Kedonganan Bay, Bali. Note: One of my friend ate at ths restaurant 4 years ago and said that the seafood as really fresh. Guess either the food's detiorarated or we were just plain unlucky..

Krispy Kreme @ Bali

I was hoping to sink my teeth into a Krispy Kreme in Bali since it's not available in Malaysia..

Heck, I even heard that it's not available in any SEA countries except Indonesia..is that true?

On the second day in Bali, I casually asked Ketut is there's any Krispy Kreme in Bali. I didnt put my hopes too high too..but to my utter delight, Ketut said Yes! hehe..

So off we went to select our goodies.. There's not that many flavours to choose from, which was pretty sad :(. And the famous glazed was not available!! Well, more like it's fully sold off, we need to wait for 1.5 hours for the next batch..sigh.

I had double dose of the white chocolate and it was just out from the oven!! I could see the dark chocolate filling oozing out and that's it..I'm getting 2 of this babies! The doughnut was soft and had this melt-in-your mouth texture; the white choco was just nice and not sickening sweet while the dark chocolate filling was so rich and sinful..sigh..perfect match..

The surprising cinnamon was my favourite though..

The base was the famed glazed doughnut, lightly dusted with cinnamon powder..To sink my teeth into it was purely divine. Terribly delicious..

Had the mango too Same dough base, I was surprised that the mango jam filling tasted very much like the real mango. Unlike Dunkin Doughnuts, which flavourings can taste really artificial, KK's version feels..erm..natural? hehe

My least favourite would be the Blueberry I find the filling a tad too sweet for my liking. No amount of blueberries could assuage that..

After half dozen, the verdict? Yes, so far it's the yummiest doughnuts I've ever tried ;)

If you're in Bali, and craving for Krispy Kreme, pop over to Centro Shopping Mall..

Rumah Makan Bedugul Lake View, Bali

It was rather chilly when we were at Lake Batur. After walking and snapping loads of pictures, it was only natural that we wanted to eat, the cold makes us hungry real quickly..hehe

Luckily for us, our lunch was only 2-3 minutes drive from the lake. :)

Rumah Makan Bedugul Lake is a simple restaurant that has a very nice view of the lake (from afar). We decided to seat at the extension of the restaurant, build with planks and supported by sturdy wood at the bottom. Ordering was prompt, we decided to have their specialty, ayam bakar taliwang as recommended at the entrance..

Drinks were served first, and I ordered kopi jahe which was something I've not tried before. It's actually kopi Bali with halia (coffee with ginger). I've tried teh halia, so, kopi halia should be ok? The ginger taste was pretty distinct, most unfortunately, the coffee tasted slightly burnt. Not so fantastic, just an average beverage..

Our salad came next, well, it's called pelecing kang kung there, which is actually spicy chinese water spinach.This is a very appetising dish actually, the sauce is very spicy and sourish; the vegetables were sweet and refreshing; and the peanuts add some crunchy and savoury taste to this dish. I like this.

We had the bebek bakar (roasted duck) which was really lip smacking. I noticed that the ducks in Bali are small, we ordered a portion of this, which was not sufficient! The skin was very crispy, I would have thought that they deep fried the duck, but after taking a bite, there was a subtle smoky flavour lingering amidst the spices and herbs marination. Love it. Didnt like the accompanying sauce though, tasted like diluted peanut butter with chilli oil. Just skip the sauce and enjoy the duck in it's full glory. ;)

We wanted to have pecel lele (fried catfish), most unfortunately, they ran out of it and we settled for gurami goreng. I was a tad worried that this fish would have the muddy taste, luckily for us, the fish was fine and very fresh. Juice squeeze some lime juice on it, and it's a pretty delicious deep fried fish. Not as good as the duck though...hehe

Alas, the star of the restaurant, ayam bakar taliwang... I'm not sure how they roast their meat in Bali, but again, the chicken looks like it was deep fried (though now we know it's not). The chooks there are small too, the drumstick was tiny! Still, this is one tasty chicken, very well marinated with herbs and spices; and the meat was very springy and sweet. Very tasty. A satisfying meal with a total cost of approx RM30. It's all good.. ;) Rumah Makan Bedugul Lake View is located at Jalan Jurusan Denpasar, Singaraja, Candi Kuning. From Candi Kuning/ Lake Batur exit, take a left turn. Drive on for about 2-3 minutes. You'll see some stalls along the lake. Just after the stalls is the restaurant on your left.

Local fruits, Bali

On the way up to Kintamani (to view the volcano and lake), we passed by loads of fruit trees.

We kept quiet at the beginning, observing the various fruit trees on both sides of the road. It was nearing 1pm when we asked Ketut is we were any where near Kintamani.

Lebih kurang 1 jam lagi, Ketut replied

Our stomachs were already protesting, we need to eat something..
Apa tu? Bollywood Queen pointed to her right. We see some small trees with fruits resembling mandarin oranges..

Tu buah jeruk, Ketut replied patiently, as we have been asking him question on Bali for the past 2 hours..
We saw a stall by the road selling fruits and we promptly stopped to do some marketing..hehe

Jeruk did taste like mandarin oranges, albeit a slightly sour version of it. We also had buah salak, which can be found in Malaysia. Bali's buah salak is sweeter and more fragrant though..

The buah belanda was hard to miss with it's vivid colouring.. All of us wanted to try it so the local quickly cut a fruit for us..I cant describe the flavour, it's something I've not tasted before. Sweet, sour, tangy..and crunchy, as we are to eat it with the seeds, this local fruit was erm, different. Not one of my favourite though..

I prefer buah markisa, which tasted something like passion fruit.. Eaten again, with the seeds; the first taste that hits you is sweetness, followed by sourness....The funny thing is, if you choose eat the fruit without the seeds, it's actually really sour. But if you chew it with the crunchy seeds, it somehow neutralises the sourness and it tasted just fine. And no worries about the seed; it dont have the raw, green taste. It tasted something like sunflower seeds, but crunchier..

My friend said that we can find buah markisa in Msia, have you bought it before?