KEMIRI AT UMA UBUD

After our fruitful morning exploring Ubud, we stopped by the Como Shambhala Estate’s sister property Uma Ubud for a quiet lunch a deux since there was no one else at the restaurant that day so we had whole place to ourselves.

The open-air restaurant is an all-white bale right beside a large Koi pond and surrounded by a lush tropical garden.  We were offered two menus – an orange one which had typical Continental cuisine and a beige one that offered their healthy Como Shambala cuisine with an emphasis on raw food.  A had their linguine with garlic, fresh herbs and tuna while I chose two starters: the raw tuna, seaweed and noodle salad followed by the gazpacho.

We were served a basket of homemade bread – cheese rolls, crispy crackers and brown bread while we waited for our lunch to be served.  A’s pasta was simple but tasty and the portion was big enough to share.  My tuna salad was delicious and filled with several types of seaweed and cold noodles tossed in a sesame oil-based vinaigrette.  The gazpacho was less successful as it was a tad too spicy (hint of too much Tabasco maybe?) although it was also refreshing on such a hot day.  We opted not to have dessert but were given a small taster anyway which was a nice touch – a pomegranate granita over sliced papaya and some sticky rice pudding at the bottom of the shot glass.  It was a pleasant lunch and one that made me realize that raw food is pretty good.

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Kemiri at Uma Ubud

Jalan Raya Sangginan

Banjar Lungsiakan

Kedewatan, Ubud

Gianyar 80571

Telephone: +62 361 972 448

CAFE SENIMAN

Last week, we went up to Ubud to visit our friends Marcello and Michi at Gaya Ceramics and to have a look at their sale items to add to our growing collection of Gaya plates and platters.  After an hour spent looking through their shelves, we went to have a coffee at Cafe Seniman which I had heard about from friends of Novita who had recommended it as a good place for coffee in Ubud.

Cafe Seniman is off the main street Jalan Raya Ubud and is a tiny two-story cafe with a wooden coffee cart with a few stools right by the entrance and a few more tables further up on the terrace.  The place is simply decorated with the focus on their coffee- organic, made-to-order brew of specialty Indonesian coffee.  On that morning, they had the Sumatra Gayo mountain coffee bean which is their house bean and two others: Sulawesi Toraja Kalossi and the Kintamani from Bali.  I had a Sulawesi espresso macchiato served on a special wooden palette which held a glass of water and a tiny plate of local coconut-encrusted rice cakes.  Service was friendly and the barista clearly knew what he was doing.  It was a good early stop after a morning of retail therapy at Gaya.

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Cafe Seniman

Jalan Sriwedari (near Taman village)

Ubud 80571

Telephone: +62 361 972 085

*Open daily from 10 a.m.

MINAMI

When a new restaurant opens in quiet Sanur, there’s always a buzz as this sleepy part of Bali is filled with restaurants yet very few are worth going to.  Minami in Ubud is where people go for refined Japanese cuisine.  I had never had a chance to visit the Ubud outpost so when I heard that a tiny branch had opened at the newly-renovated Segara village hotel in Sanur, I knew I had to try it.

Minami is an all-white open-air restaurant right on Sanur beach just by the souvenir market.  The menu is limited and not traditionally Japanese but the options are quite creative.  We started off with a few sushi rolls – ebi (prawn) sushi, salmon roll and California roll.  I chose the set lunch which gave me a choice of three items from the selection of Japanese tapas.  I had the fried tofu, tori karaage (fried chicken) and stewed pork belly which came with fried rice and miso soup.  My son had the prawn tempura which was hot and crispy and came with the more Japanese-style salt dip instead of the usual tempura sauce.  The food was good and well-presented but the service was dismal.  We were the only ones there when we arrived around 12:30 and later, two more groups arrived but for some reason, the food came out from the kitchen in spurts and in a haphazard order.  We got the set lunch first, then one sushi roll followed by another and finally the tempura which was almost an hour later then our first course.  Minami has quite a way to go to improve their service before I’ll go back there for another meal.

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Minami

Segara Village Hotel

Jalan Segara Ayu

Sanur

*Open daily for lunch and dinner

*Main Minami at Jalan Sangginan, Ubud (Telephone: +62361 970013)

MOJO’S FLYING BURRITOS

A few months back, we went to pick up our 10-year old from a sleepover in Seminyak and met up with him at Mojo’s Flying Burritos.  It’s down an alley off Petitenget and is really just an open-air shack at the side of the road.  You can’t miss it with it’s brightly painted walls and colorful chairs and tables.

Menu is simple: burritos of course then tacos (both on soft flour or crispy corn tortillas), quesadillas and enchiladas.  We’ve been back a few times since and haven’t been disappointed.  We always enjoy the freshly-made guacamole or salsa with warm corn tortillas and their carne asada tacos which come with rice and a side of black beans.  

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Mojo’s Flying Burritos

Jalan Petitenget, Gang Prana

(watch out for the sign on the side of the road)

Seminyak

Telephone: +62 361 730260

*Open daily from 9:00a.m. to 11:00 p.m.

Other branches in Poppies Lane Kuta and in Ubud on Jalan Raya Ubud

THE BEST OF 2011

My Best of the Year post takes time to complete.  I go through all the meals of the past year and make a short list of the places that really impressed me with an unforgettable meal.  It doesn’t have to be a fancy restaurant, it’s all about the food and the experience.

Since 2011 was a year of travel for me, there were many restaurants to choose from.  New places were discovered – Bangkok and Beijing, some revisited – Sydney and San Francisco, along with the usuals – Singapore, Las Vegas and Manila and of course I explored my island home – Bali – as well.  After much deliberation and elimination, and in no particular order, here are my best gourmet experiences of 2011.

BEST BREAKFAST

No questions about it, my best breakfast this year was at bills in Sydney’s Darlinghurst.  From the fantastic flat whites to the amazing ricotta hot-cakes, the delicious sweet corn cake to the homemade oatmeal, the breakfast was amazing and the service friendly.  How I wish there was a bills near me!

BEST IN THE PHILIPPINES

Since I’m from Manila, I had to include two restaurants that really impressed me back home: Antonio’s and Cafe Juanita.  Antonio’s is a no-brainer and on most foodies best list.  It made the drive up to Tagaytay worth it and their fine dining and Colonial atmosphere is just the right mix of fancy and simple.  Cafe Juanita is a bit off the beaten track but also worth the drive to Pasig for home-cooked Filipino food.  This is the kind of food I crave while living abroad.  It felt like I was back at my lola’s (grandmother’s) house having one of those long leisurely Sunday lunches.

BEST IN SOUTHEAST ASIA

Here in Bali, a restaurant that that’s a favorite for local food is Cafe Degan for classic Javanese cuisine in a classic wooden joglo (wooden house).  Simple food and friendly service.  They also have half their menu dedicated to Thai dishes as the chef used to work in Thailand.  Whether you order from the Thai side of the menu or the Javanese side, you won’t be disappointed.

In Singapore, where I was almost every six weeks, my cousin took me to Ippudo where we had a fantastic noodle lunch – flavorful broth, al dente ramen, chunky pork belly – everything was good.

Two new places we visited this year were Bangkok and Beijing.  In Bangkok, I had my first taste of the real flavors of Thai cuisine.  I tried many types of Thai food and enjoyed most of them but it was chef David Thompson’s fine dining take on classic Thai street food at Nahm that left me with a clear idea of how sophisticated Thai food is.

In Beijing, we had the best Beijing duck (aka Peking duck) I’ve ever tasted at Made in China  – extra crispy non-fatty skin with either sugar for dipping (a novelty!) or the traditional Hoisin-pancake-scallion-cucumber roll.  And it wasn’t just the duck, the other dishes were also outstanding and it was the best Chinese meal I’d had all year.

BEST IN THE AMERICAS

In the Americas, we start down South where we made our usual pilgrimage to Buenos Aires and where surprisingly, we didn’t eat at our favorite El Mirasol as often as we usually do.  Instead, we rediscovered a Recoleta classic – Munich (or as the locals call it – “el munitch”) where we had dinner almost every night and never got tired of their repertoire of classic dishes – a perfectly grilled matambre (pork steak), crispy papas paille (shoestring fries), a simple green salad, the retro Chicken Maryland and Chicken Kiev plus lots of other home-style dishes from the past and the impeccable service from the white-jacketed old-timers just added to the atmosphere.

Finally to North America, first at our usual stop in Las Vegas where we had a superb tapas meal at Jaleo where it felt like we were back in Spain.  It was great to see the quality of Spanish food so lovingly recreated at chef Jose Andres’ hip and happening tapas restaurant.  We also revisited our favorite city – San Francisco – so many lovely memories from past visits and so long since our last encounter in 2004.  Dinner at RN74 was impressive – cool concept, fantastic Burgundy wines, packed with a mixed crowd and best of all, the food was really good – simple classic dishes made of incredible ingredients which is what San Francisco is all about.

Last but not least, we go back to breakfast where I just have to mention the best coffee I’ve had all year (lots of close seconds – Sambalatte in Las Vegas, bills in Sydney and Liberica in Jakarta) but this one topped my list and made my mornings better – Blue Bottle Coffee.  The coffee was prepared with so much love and they took their time getting it right which just goes to show that after all these years, San Francisco’s foodie ways haven’t changed, it’s only gotten better.  And with that I look forward to another year of eating and traveling.  I hope that 2012 will be as food-filled as 2011 was.  Happy Gourmet Travels!

YANK SING

What better way to end a gastronomic weekend in San Francisco than a Sunday yum cha (morning tea) or dim sum brunch at Yank Sing, a Michelin-starred and James Beard awarded dim sum restaurant.  The great thing about dim sum is that the food rolls be in carts so it’s ready, making it a really good place to go in a group with kids or when you’re starving.

We booked an early table and sat down and just watched the carts roll by for a bit then started ordering directly from the carts.  Here’s what we had: fried dumplings filled with ground pork and vegetables, small portions of Peking Duck – just the skin served with the traditional pancakes, scallions, cucumber strips and Hoisin sauce,  vegetable spring rolls scissored in half for us to share, honey walnut prawns in mayonnaise, stir-fried green beans with chili and ground pork and Chinese broccoli in oyster sauce.  From the steam baskets: char siu bao (buns with roast pork), siu mai (ground pork and shrimp dumplings), har gau (prawn dumplings) and the popular xia long bao (soup-filled dumpling).  The food was good and the service exceptional.  Yank Sing is traditional yum cha in a refined setting without the usual noise and clutter of a typical dim sum restaurant but still with delicious dim sum.

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Yank Sing

49 Stevenson Street

San Francisco CA

Telephone: +1 415 541 4949

*Open Mondays to Fridays from 11a.m. to 3 p.m.

*Open Saturdays, Sundays and Holidays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

*Another branch in Rincon Center at 101 Spear St. (Telephone +1 415 781 1111)

RN74

My penultimate post on San Francisco was our last dinner in the city before I headed back home to Bali and the rest of the family went back home to Las Vegas.  On that Saturday evening, we booked a table at Michael Mina’s RN74.  The name is the acronym for Route Nationale 74, the road that runs through the vineyards of Burgundy in France starting at Dijon and ending in Beaune.

The restaurant is a long room with cozy half-moon booths lining one side and a traditional long banquette (leather covered bench) on the window side.  Polished cement floors, wooden shutters covering the windows and hanging red glass lamps make the place cozy.  There are also two long tables running down the middle of the restaurant which can serve larger groups.  The back room is lit up with a large board similar to the ones seen in train stations with the most-sold wines featured on the board instead of the usual train timetable so it flicks and changes all through the night.

When we arrived, our table wasn’t ready yet so we sat at the adjacent bar which was packed with several diners having just cocktails and some food from the bar menu.  There are several more bar tables in the back for those who just want to have a drink and something simple to eat.  R and I shared a glass of Californian Tatomer Riseling while C had a 16-year old reserve bourbon from AH Hirsch with some Parmesan crackers to snack on while we waited.

About half an hour later, we were led to our table – a very cozy table right behind the hostess stand.  At this point, the second round of diners for the evening were being seated as well and the restaurant stayed full all throughout our meal.  After having a look at the dinner menu and the extensive wine list, we made our choices.

From the Plates to Share, we chose a starter for the three of us – the herb-roasted marrow bones along with a celebratory Burgundy of course, my favorite Chambolle Musigny premier cru from the 2008 vintage of Ghislaine Barthod.  The bone marrow was one large piece split in half and sprinkled with parsley and served with grilled bread and sticky bacon marmalade.  The crispy bread slathered with bacon jam and topped with chunks of melting hot bone marrow was incredible.  A burst of salty rich in every bite and an excellent start to our dinner.

Next came the appetizers: R had the Burgundian escargots, a sharing plate of nine bubbling snails, half of which were covered with the classic garlic butter and the other half with a paprika butter.  From the First section of the menu, C had the hamachi crudo - slices of raw yellow tail fish with pomelo, trout roe and drizzled with olio nuovo and I had the autumn salad of fall fruits and vegetables – chestnuts, shaved fennel and carrots and pumpkin with greens tossed in a Banyuls (fortified French wine served either as an aperitif or for dessert) vinaigrette.

Main courses followed:  another starter for R, the Mendocino sea urchin and potato mousseline which came served in a very prickly sea urchin shell.  The creamy rich soup was flavored with pine nuts, Douglas fir (actual rosemary-like leaves in the soup) and black trumpet mushrooms.  C had the Snake River Farms Wagyu flatiron steak seared medium rare and served with potato and artichoke gratin, black truffle and gremolata and I had the Liberty Farm duck breast a l’orange, which actually came with duck breasts and the bonus addition of chunks of crispy duck confit, delicious Savoy cabbage, roasted salsify, braised chestnuts and rich foie gras.  It was delicious but I couldn’t get through the whole plate and gave several slices to both R and C to help me finish my plate.

I was stuffed after my three courses and the wine so we all skipped the cheese and they ordered one dessert to share and another one, beignets, to take home to my niece.  The milk chocolate pot de creme came in a tumbler and with it’s chunks of salted toffee, devil’s food cake and cocoa nib, it made a perfect bittersweet ending to our delicious dinner.  Hands down, the best meal I had on this Thanksgiving trip to the U.S., and probably in all of 2011 was at RN74.

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RN74

301 Mission Street

(between Fremont and Beale)

San Francisco CA 94105

Telephone: +1 415 543 7474

*Open for lunch, Mondays to Fridays from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. and daily for dinner from 5:30 p.m.

*Wine bar open Mondays to Fridays from 11:30 a.m. till late and on Saturdays and Sundays from 5:30 p.m. till late