Eating in Benoa, Bali

Unfortunately I have only very little time here in Benoa, it is a turn over port for the ship and the whole morning is already booked with loading and I have to see a supplier for some extra and speciality goods, but then I am meeting up with my old friend Dietrich, who is living here for quite a while now and has started his own Recruitment agency, specializing in Hotels and restaurants http://globalexpatrecruiting.com/ We worked together a couple of years ago on the luxury cruise liner "The World" and he decided to call Bali home.

Firstly I had to get used to Bali time, the supplier said that they will be with us at 830 in the morning, but after a couple of calls forth and back they finally appeard at 930.....anyway, it was worth the wait as the shop we went to is just fantastic, an Expat heaven, stunning home made ice cream (I especially loved the mango-chili sorbet). loads of cold meat, lovely butchery section and they have even a local Wagyu beef, very nice, and imported cheeses. Of course one can get the whole range of exotic fruit and then a load of organic salads and leaves. There is a big wine section and I got as well some special Balinese Sea Salt and Peppercorn. The shop is actually a food distributor for the top hotels in Bali, but luckily open to the public. It is called Lotus Distribution and one can find the shop in Jl. Bantas Kangin No 2, Jimbaran Bali. (62-361)701 650. I think especially if one is for a longer time in Bali, it is worth popping in and getting a fix of Western Products.

Then for lunch with Dietrich and his girlfrien Daisy I had the choice of local, around the corner or more upmarket at Kuta Beach. Now being a Foodie, I opted without hesitation for the local option and Dietrich just ordered some of their favorite foods, as you can see they like a lot of food. Especially stunning was the prawns with water spinach or Kang Kong, which came sizzling to the table, then we had whole prawns, onion rings, spicy fried rice with squid, Kang Kong with chicken and noodles (Pad) with chinese cabbage and fried egg. All the food was absolutely delicious and cooked right next to us in the open air kitchen. I have to say the restaurant was very clean and full, apparently even fuller in the evening, which is a good sign.

The restaurant is called Warung Malang and is......somewhere closish to Kuta Beach....actually no idea where it really is, but it is worthwhile to go through the trouble and find it. If someone really wants to go there, I am happy to get the exact address.
After lunch we had a small sight seeing tour through the most important tourist spots, the famous shopping and party avenue were we visited the place were the terrorist attack was on the night club. OK, not really a touristy thing to do, but it just makes one think a bit that not everything in this world is hunky dory.

Then we went off to Kuta Beach and I was warned that they will try to sell me anything there.......which they did try, but Dietrich saved the whole situation with telling them in Indonesian that they won't need to worry, we will be back tomorrow, yes right! Anyway, Kuta beach is a must see for everybody, it is actually a lovely and long beach, beautiful sand and we had this stunning little sea breeze that made the heat a bit less. A lovely cool beer in the shade of the palm trees and we were happy chappies.....for the short while at least we were there as we had to move on, back to the ship.

As for the travel in Bali......Bike, that is all I can say, traffic can be horrendous and one spends far too much time stuck somewhere, so catch a ride on one of the bikes or hire one, they don't cost much