vegan cooking and eating in bali

I just thought I’d share some fabulous vegan eating and cooking experiences I had in Bali in the middle of 2013. Of all the places in the world to dine as a veg*an, Indonesia has to be one of the more friendly. This is the home of tempeh and tofu. Not all the food was expensive. We also ate incredibly well at small local warungs for $1.75 for a main course. At both The Damai and the Oberoi we let them know beforehand that we were vegans and they went all out for us.

So here are some of the wonderful dishes we ate.

The Damai, a small hotel in the hills above Lovina

Quiet, relaxed, nice view, western prices but beautiful food.

Star fruit and pomelo salad, tempeh and tofu salad with green eggplant and greens, grilled jackfruit with a sour onion glaze, nasi goreng, and a jumbo rice paper roll.

I’ll let the pictures speak.

tempeh salad

pomelo and star fruit salad

Rice paper roll

nasi goreng

grilled jackfruit

A cooking class in Pemaron, Singaraja near Lovina

I spent a lovely day at a vegetarian (almost all vegan except one dish) cooking class at a small warung overlooking the rice fields outside Singaraja. We cooked rice in banana leaf with pandanus, corn fitters, potato fritters, banana flower curry, kangkung (water spinach) with spice paste, vegetable stuffed tofu, crispy fried tempeh, beans cooked with spices and grated coconut and a gado gado unlike any other I’ve ever had – very yummy.

Needless to say there was way too much to eat for lunch, so we brought home leftovers in cute containers made from banana leaf!

Ubud – Indus Restaurant, Clear Cafe

We spent a couple of days in Ubud eating so well. I had nasi campur for breakfast both days. This is a dish of steamed red rice with side dishes. Sambal, curry, greens. Yum.

First restaurant stop was a return to the the fantastic upmarket Indus restaurant. It is a toss up between the view and the food as to which is better. It is set on a precipitous cliff overlooking a deep river valley with rice paddies and greenery everywhere.

The food was marvellous. We ate some delicious soy bean crackers to start while we studied the menu. We decided on a number of small dishes to share. Kangkung (water spinach) stir fried with garlic, chilli, shallots and kecap manis, an Indonesian sweet soy. OMG.
Gado gado – raw vegetables with a delicious spicy peanut sauce. Eggplant and tofu with a tomato and chilli sambal. Snake beans cooked with coconut. Followed up with black rice pudding with baked bananas and coconut ice cream. Expensive for Bali but still less than $40 for two of us.

Last lunch before leaving Ubud was the amazing Clear Cafe. It is amazing architecturally and the food is almost all vegetarian or vegan and beautiful. Nasi campur again, (can’t get enough rice)  followed by a raw vegan chocolate coconut pie.

Vegan degustation – Kura Kura Restaurant at The Oberoi, Seminyak

Sorry,  but the photos get blurry in direct proportion to the amount of wine consumed!

cucumber amuse bouche

strawberry and tomato gazpacho – sorry I ate it before the photo!

shaved melon and relish

vegetable carpaccio

green beans with nori

asparagus risotto with basil oil and crispy basil leaves

roasted peppers and tomato with smoked tofu

eggplant three ways

vegetables stuffed with couscous

desserts