7. 10th May 2013 – Part 2 – The Food Lovers Guide to Seminyak

3rd Annual MonoWilli&Clops ChilLaxCation 2013

The Food Lovers Guide to Seminyak

Day 4 continued – Friday, 10^th May, 2013

We bid farewell to our Hyatt & jump into a taxi bound for Seminyak.

Traffic is fine until we hit the west side of the island then it’s terrible. The taxi driver keeps apologising which is sweet & so unnecessary. We thank him & tell him it’s not his fault & we knew it would be bad. Still it doesn’t take too long ‘til we see HOTEL VILA LUMBUNG ahead of us on Jl Petitenget. I love this area of Seminyak (Kerobakan really) & choose Hotel Vila Lumbung based on location, price, reviews & facilities.

We are checked in & led to our downstairs bungalow in no time. The Bungalow is great as it has a separate 2^nd bedroom for Clops & a lovely outdoor bathroom including shower which we all ohh & ahh at. The room is well equipment, clean & cool – I’m very happy!

We are hungry so head off for a walk around to see what we can see. For months I have trawled the forums, reviews & wonderful JBRs to compile a full list of restaurants, cafes & bars for this section of the trip that I MUST try. I have also found Little Miss Bali on Facebook to be amazingly inspirational & have noted many places from her posts – thank you LMB.  Actually there are more places to try than meals in the 5 days we are here!

We find SEA CIRCUS first & walk in all smiles to find the place in pitch black. I lovely smilie girl greets us & tells us they are closed as there is a black out! Oh no : (

On we walk & it’s a very hot day. We finally chance upon CHANDI & they have a generator! In we pile to the air conditioned room for lunch.

Probably if we hadn’t been so hot & hungry we would have sat out in the main restaurant & I could give you more detail on the ambiance & street view but alas my need for cool air won.

Bintang ordered for us, spring rolls ordered for Clops then the real fun begins in our menu selection.

WillEYE orders a chicken wrap dish which he adores. I go slightly more upmarket & get a gorgeous combination dish with 4 different dumplings & it is amazing. I enjoy each & every mouth full, taking my time to savour the experience.

We even have dessert which was also good. CHANDI has given us the best meal of the trip so far (and stays up there in the top three of this trip).

Fully fed & watered we cross the street & buy some DVD’s. Buy 10 get 5 free. Clops happy. Into a cab & we ask to be taken home via the back way. The Taski driver says it’s not a good way to go & we say oh, ok but he takes us that way away. He wasn’t wrong, it was a very bad way to go. The road was full of ridges & pot holes but it was very interesting all the same. I did feel really sorry for asking to go that way & hope his Taxi was ok.

We get back to Lumbung to find a group of English men sitting at the pool bar completely slaughtered & carrying on being noisy & generally drunk. Willi comments that this is how you drown on holidays. We have a quick swim in the main pool – Clops makes a friend. Back to the room for some down time. I unpack, Clops hides in her new room watching her new dvds. Willi watches motor sport so we are all happy.

At 6pm we grab a cab to ULTIMO!

We LOVED this restaurant the last 2 visits & have always had an absolute hoot just the 3 of us being silly & happy.

This time my daughter isn’t happy, can’t find anything to eat & is a misery guts.

Willi & I manage to have fun & enjoy our pizza & drinks.

We get back to Lumbung to find the English men are still at the pool bar, still noisy & even more drunk! Oh God I think but it turns out we can’t really hear them from our room so I giggle thinking how sore their heads will be tomorrow.

Day 5 – Sat 11^th May, 2013

Poor Clops has had a bad night with a nasty cough so ends up in with us! I half sleep, half lay away with knees embedded in my back. Poor girl.

Breakfast time & we head over the short distance to see what it’s like… it’s a good buffet with all things you’d want such as an egg station, hot items, cereal, fruit & PANCAKES! She might eat something today. I make my selections & sit down to tuck in… it’s cold : ( oh well.

The ‘lads’ are all there looking a bit dishevelled – looks like they are golfing today.

The kids go for a swim while I take our laundry just up to the place opposite the driveway of Lumbung. It’s called Cahaya laundry on Jl. Lebak Sari no.1. The lovely lady who has to pick through our smelly cloths is a sweet heart but looks tired & over worked. I feel for her. She is sweet & says she will deliver to the hotel just after 5pm the same day – great I say, thanks so much. It’s 50.200 Rr for 25 items! I grab some water then head back to the pool.

It’s coffee time so we barrel into a cab & head back to try our luck at Sea Circus. Success, lights are on & the place is busy. I have a Mary Poppins watermelon frappe & it’s delicious. Willi ordered a double shot flat white but it’s not strong enough. Clops has a vanilla milkshake. We sit in the cool fan & watch the world go by.

The guy next to us was having the most scrumptious eggs benedict my eyes have ever seen & I had horrible menu envy.

We grab a cab & asked to be taken to the site of the Corner Store please. Taxi drivers says it’s not there anymore. We say we know & that we wanted to have a look at the state of it. It is completely wreaked & being demolished. So sad to see as it was a favourite of ours. Still I hope that what it’s replaced with is even better – no doubt it will be.

We walk back to Ginger Moon for a really fabulous lunch.

 

We did my favourite thing & ordered lots of little dishes – prawn rice paper rolls, corn fritters with guacamole, salt & pepper squid & bubi guling half moon dumplings – delicious & I took my time enjoying every mouth full of this lunch too.

Yes, we had dessert – we had to really with a dish called a caramel volcano!

Back ‘home’ for a lay down & then swim. I opt out early & head back to de-chlorinate my hair & have a Clops break. Phone rings – it’s the laundry!

 

Bunnings Bali style?

Tonight I want to go to Potatohead. It’s not far from Lumbung so we walk. It’s a long driveway before we get to the massive building that it is – very pretty with its old shutter cladding.

We walk around to the entrance where we see a queue of people waiting to get in! Well I’ll be blowed if it isn’t Saturday afternoon and we can’t just walk into a hip & happening club (derrrrr!!). We look at each other & say no way – we are too old to line up at some club! Off we walk back along the driveway : (

We walk past their carports & notice a red Ferrari parked there – Willi is shocked that someone would have that much money to bring such an expensive car to Bali with the roads & traffic as bad as it is! He thinks it’s stupid (jealous much?).

There’s also a very cute Potatohead car!

 

We grab a cab to Motel Mexicola. It’s so fun, the drinks are awesome. We have a Mexicola which is very nice. Then we have a Margarita verde – the girl warns us they’re spicy & she wasn’t wrong – but so good.

We sit a long while waiting for them to open for dinner at 6pm. Finally it’s 6pm & they ask us to settle the bill before moving in – no problems & I give them my 28 degrees Mastercard & turn back to the streetscape to wait. Oh no, there’s a problem, our card has declined – my worst fear. They try again, and again. I even have a try. We try swiping all the time all staff are staring at me like I was a petty criminal. I was rudely asked if I had another card. No I don’t on me. Well pay cash was their answer. Thank God I have just enough cash to pay & we are OUT OF THERE. Such a pity as I would have enjoyed my dinner there but I did not appreciate the way I was treated so I will never grace them with my presence again. I’m still thinking about how I will word my review.

We swing by ‘home’ to grab some more cash & head to Naughty Nuri’s Warung on Batu Belig. We are greeted warmly & given a good seat in the middle of all the action.

The place is pumping. We hear a commotion & watch nervously as 2 waiters start to shout ‘shake, shake, shake’ as they shake some cocktails! Funny & a lot embarrassing for them!

Willi orders a burger, Clops a hot dog but I get the ribs plus some ‘porn corn’. Yum! It’s great as we all enjoy it & the vibrancy of the place. A great night.

Day 6 – Mothers Day – Sunday, 12^th May, 2013

 

Happy Mothers Day Mummy! Such a lovely way to start the day. There are no gifts as this holiday is all I ever wanted.

 Over to breakfast. I have toast (eye roll) but the bread is gorgeous so I have more toast. Yum. I also have cold bacon with chilli sauce – YUM.

It’s Mothers Day so I get to do what I want to do (not unlike the whole holiday really!). And I want to go to Potatohead & be granted entry successfully this time. Off we go in a cab cause my child is whingy. Out we hope & greet security & try to walk in… sorry but we don’t open until 11am. Oh God! Will I ever get into this place?

 

Off we walk down to the Petitenget temple & cut through to the beach. We walk south having a good look at everything we walk by. All the fancy people in their fancy beach side hotels. 

We walk to Ku De Ta & drop in for a …. Cocktail! 2 peach Bellini’s & a milkshake later we are sorted. It’s really enjoyable just sitting & watching the water. There’s a table with 2 loud, American women smoking & hair flicking which we take great pleasure in watching.  It was like one of those Bravo show like “Extreme cosmetic surgery gone wrong”.

Off we go shopping to Indigo & Rose where we by the same dress in 2 sizes – oh God! I make her promise that we will take it in turns to wear each day & never at the same time except at home where we can trick Daddy. Ok she says & she was very good the rest of the holiday.

 

It’s hot so we walk into SoHo for a beverage.

 

I try the Albens cider – it’s not bad. I have it with ice in a glass but think it’s better from the bottle – less watered down.

It’s lunch time & we fell like Mexican! Into a cab & around to Taco Casa which had good great reviews from memory. Cabby didn’t know where it was but I did & I gave him directions – well that felt good knowing a little something about My Seminyak that a local didn’t : ) Clops & I have build your own tacos & Willi has the biggest burrito we have ever seen! We know what he’ll be doing later. Food was great, service was lovely, daughter actually ate something – win/win.

 

Back to the room to watch Skyfall (James Bond). OMG it was a great movie. I really, really enjoyed it very much. We aren’t big movie watchers – apart from kids movies the last movie I saw was the Da Vinci Code when I was pregnant!

Pool time so I go get a 30 min back, shoulders & neck massage at the hotel. It’s 88.800 Rp & was really good. My therapist was an older, wiry, tiny women who somewhere along the line straddled me during the massage! There’s a first time for everything!

   

Tonight’s Mothers Day dinner is at The Slippery Stone along Butu Belig – once again I needed to assist the cabbie with directions : ). I had selected this restaurant based on reviews, location & the fact they welcome children for dinner. Plus the pictures of the place looked really lovely! We had made a reservation & were made very welcome upon arrival.

We are led to the front lounge overlooking the whole place. It’s better than the pictures & I am well pleased.

We order cocktails of course & mine is wonderful. It’s a caramelised apple one & it’s gorgeous. Willi orders one that comes with a personal visit from the wonderful barman which is great. He takes the time to explain that Willi’s might need some sweetening as the passionfruit it’s made with is quite tart – Insert a joke about Willi & a tart : )

I take a walk through the place to check it out & take many a picture. I am getting inspiration for our garden at home & hope Willi can see where I’m coming from. There are several lounge areas all with tropical plants planted in a circle around them leaving only a gap to walk through. They are beautiful & I’m sure I can see me getting one planned at home.

My wonderful husband isn’t feeling very well but bless him he keeps on keeping on for me ‘cause he can see how much I’m enjoying myself.

It’s time to be seated for dinner & we order.

Willi orders a fillet of beef, Clops orders mash & fish fingers (they are real fish, crumbed & perfect!) & I order the famed pork belly.

Willi’s & clops is gorgeous, mine is good in flavour & presentation. The top is beautifully crispy as pork skin should be but the belly isn’t like I’m used to at home – it seems Aussie pork belly has more meat on the belly, Bali pork is a lot more fat & I just can’t eat it & I feel sad.

We need to go as Willi is really at the end of his tether. A taxi is ordered but not before they present me with a yummy pineapple cake with “Happy Mothers Day” piped in chocolate on the plate. What an amazing thing to do for me – I wish we could have stayed & had a coffee.

I would also really like to mention that service her is very slick. From my email reservation dealing to having the manager (Why didn’t I write his name down????) taking special care of us, to the bar & the kitchen with the cake it was just so well done & totally 5 star. I tip that this place will be the next biggest thing & rightly so. Thanks for having us & making it so special Slippery Stone.

Home & to bed for us all especially Willi & his sickness.

Day 7 – Monday 13^th May, 2013

A typical morning of yummy bread toasted for breaky, money changed, laundry checked in & convenience store shopping.

We bump into folk we have made friends with at the pool. They have two babies under 2 – yikes & best of luck! I tip my laundry lady cause it was Mothers Day yesterday & I reckon she’s a mother who’s working really hard & deserves my 50.000 rp – I feel great with her smile.

Pool time then a dvd then lunch…

We are off to Drop. The coffee spot but Mantra next door looks more interesting.

We have gormet (not gourmet) rolls & they are delicious.

Back ‘home’ for a rest as Willi not the best – not Bali Belly, just lethargic & achy.

It 4pm & Clops is having a crazy conniption – something about ‘we are fogging up or something. We ignore her until we realise what she’s panicking about & help her close the doors – Hotel has scheduled insect fogging at 4pm each Monday & Friday – whoops.

Tonight I have to see a Bali sunset over water. With only 5 nights on the west coast I’m so annoyed we haven’t seen one yet. Tonight we go to Mozaic Beach Club & it’s awesome!

Of course we have cocktails & order from the bar menu.

Clops has mac & cheese & it’s better than Daddy’s! He was a Chef for 20 years so that’s really saying something.

We order this tuna & seaweed dish to share while we peruse the rest of the exquisite menu.

The sun is setting but the clouds are there. It’s still very pretty.

 

The tuna is divine so we order another one each along with an amazing lobster dumpling & tempura prawns. Nom, noms.

The best meal in Bali ever! We finish with a glass of Proseco & are ‘home’ by 7.15pm. Oh and our laundry is waiting for us God love her.

Day 8 – Tuesday 14^th May, 2013

Our final full day in SeminyakILoveYou…

Up & over to breakfast where we see the little friend Clops has made sitting alone having her Bfast : ( Come join us Misha so she does & it’s lovely. She’s almost 10 & could talk your ear off but we all enjoy the chat. Her Mum’s taking care of her step Dad who’s very sick.

This morning I finally get my wish of having a walk along Batu Belig & I can’t wait. Took us about 30 mins from Lumbung to find what I was looking for but we found it!

Kevala ceramics (Thx LMB)! Oh I love this shop & enjoyed checking it all out (Willi’s eyes were just as glazed as the pottery I was collecting to buy. It’s not cheap but it’s so good. I collect a pile & the lady tally’s the bill…830.000 Rp. Willi rolls his glazed eyes. I hand over my 28 degrees Mastercard then we hear that dreaded noise they make again!!!! Argh! Ok, I say noting the Matahari machine she has, I will just take the milk jug & sugar bowl & pay cash, sorry. She is lovely & doesn’t make a fuss as she gently wraps my beauties.

We leave the shop happy when I spy Watercress Café across the road. Just in time for some refuelling we go inside.

Coffee, caramel slice & juice later we grab a taxi back for a swim.

Today is our 12pm Biku reservation. We’ve never been before so am very excited. We walk & it doesn’t take long. Pretty cool little place & I fall in love with all the reindeer statues & keep finding bigger & bigger ones. I don’t buy one though which I regret.

The food was a real treat. Willi had English high tea, Clops had kids high tea & I had Asian high tea – we were all really pleased & enjoyed it all.

I had my tarot cards read at 1pm. A lovely lady from Melbourne does it – she’s lived in Bali for 28 years though. She said may interesting things & I enjoyed the whole experience.

Lunch over we say bye bye to Daddy who gets some time to watch sport in his undies.

Girls Spa crawl Afternoon Part 1 – We take off in a cab to Carla’s Spa just near the Junction. It’s fish foot spa time. I have had one each year but still think it’s the weirdest sensation & have to not look at then for the first couple of minutes instead imagining my feet are in a big glass of fizzy Coke. So I plunge my feet in & wait to see what Miss will do.

Those poor fish are teased & teased with tasty little toes being dipped in & out, in & out, in & out until finally she’s brave enough to leave her feet in. Then it’s time to take our feet out – it’s always the way!

Girls Spa crawl Afternoon Part 2 – Into a taxi & around to Bodyworks for a manicure for me & flower polish on her fingers & toes. We are asked to wait for 5 mins then we are taken into the ‘nail hall’.

All the customers sit around the outside of the room looking at each other which is kind of fun. There’s a lot going on with ‘Shalack’ dramas next to us & across the way. Also I try to politely explain why I man would be getting his nails done : )

Why don’t they make you pay first rather than after when your pretty nails can get all banged up like mine did! Only one nail is slightly wreaked.

Girls Spa crawl Afternoon Part 3 – it’s rained really heavily as we are having our nails done so when it’s time to move on to the next spa we have to make a run for it! We race around the corner to the spa next door to have Clops hair braided. Her Dad doesn’t want it done – I think he think it’ll last until we get home & he be all embarrassed. She wants it done so I get it done.

The girl is lovely & it takes about 45 mins & costs 100.000rp but I tip 50.000 rp cause the girl originally wanted 150.000Rp but I haggled her down then I realised how long it took & what a neat job she did & thought that actually I wouldn’t work for 45mins for $10 so she was due $15.

Back ‘home’ to find Daddy pacing around the lobby… maybe we had taken longer than he thought we should have. Anyway the look on his face was priceless. A mix of relief that we hadn’t been sold into slavery & shock/disgust at the bogan child.  She is so happy with it & I keep catching her doing head wobbles to feel the braid move on her shoulders. So sweet.

We have a Bintang on the balcony of our room before walking to the nearest, most boring restaurant we can find for a quick & fuss free dinner. We end up at The Deck & it’s fine for pizza & pasta which makes them happy. I would have been happy with Potatohead : (

The Cycling is even on so Willi doesn’t have to talk to us.

A taxi home & it’s such a short fare I give him 10.000 ($1) & he jumps out of the car & rubs the note on the roof for good luck! It’s was so sweet.

 Day 9 – Wednesday, 15^th May, 2013

The holiday is starting to gain speed now & I am starting to panic. One week done, one week to go! I have tried to savour each & everyday but once the holiday starts it’s going to end just as quick.

 We are checking out today & heading to Ubud. We are staying a fair way out of Ubud proper so I want to change a couple of days of money & grab some supplies so head up the road. Back to the room to finish packing then check out & wait for Dewa the driver I have arranged (hope this one turns up)…

To be continued…

 I ❤ Seminyak! Mono’s Food Lovers Guide to Seminyak restaurant ratings…

Out of the many wonderful places we ate here are my top 4 rated on food, service & ambiance

1. Mozaic Beach Club – Food amazing, great flavours, well presented. Cocktails, very good. Service great, Ambiance amazing

2. Biku – food a real treat, well presented. Service really lovely, ambiance lovely

3. Chandi – Food was really, very, very good. Service good, not too fussy. Ambiance – I wish I had eaten in the main restaurant rather than opting for the coooool ac.

4. Ginger Moon – Food was a real treat, great flavours, looked great. Service was really good & friendly, ambiance was good – would have like to have been there in the evening.

Honourable mention – The Slippery Stone – as above food was really good (not my pork belly but the flavour & presentation were 100%), cocktails amazing, service slick, 5 star, ambiance – oh I wish I were there right now.