#justindonesia

Treat yoself with four thick white toasts buttered and slabbed generously with chocoro sauce and corn flakes. All I could say was right up my alley when my middle name is “outrightly” bread. While this might not be the cheapest in indo terms, it’s a good portion to share if you are ordering it as a snack.

Ex-colleague who is Indonesian swears by the kopi and kopi kenangan (Indonesian beans with milk and brown sugar); I would like to second that and swear by the roti served here too, cheap and great - nothing artisan fancy, but reliable and possibly a weekly routine.

Dinner, after a heavy late lunch, kind of place for my travel companion and I.
I enjoyed my bbq flat bread with an unevenly distributed mix of garlic, herb and ricotta; and the well seasoned smoked fish dip that had almost minimal trace of a fishy aftertaste.
Yet our fish tacos had good fried fish fillets with a unpalatable healthy tasting soft wheat-like taco that could only be salvaged when masked in sauce, otherwise better left alone.

Livingstone was the kind of F&B cafes I always dream of. Upon entering you’d be greeted by an alluring display of their balibestcroissant (also the wifi password here *protip*) and other bakes.
Sadly on our second visit our pancakes could be parked under the category “no mediocre pancakes maple syrup can’t solve (ie make tasty)”
I’d gladly stick to their bakes, croissants and maybe other items the next time I’m here 😬

A more relaxed and casual place to watch the sunset at Batu Bolong beach- cue Old Man’s. With a standard price of 60k for sides our nachos came out generous and fresh enough for 2 hungry souls. You might snag 1 for 1 drinks here in the early hours of the evening, with mid range drinks from 30k (beer) to ~100k for cocktails.

Besides food the Slow has in-house made bottled drinks that will raise eye brows for example my charcoal coconut water with black particles settling when left seated; the drink was refreshing alright. The butterfly flower with kombucha we liked too especially with the recent craze of the fermented tea.

Excellent sourdough that didn’t come cheap; only onto my second bite did it register that bread from starter lab was the same starter lab that has been all over social media- so I was very pleased to be now be able to claim that I’ve tried starter lab 😬

The other small plates we had contained nice attention to detail for example fried sushi rice blocks below the slightly seared tuna sashimi; a potted like arrangement of vegetables on the smoked fish dip; smoked ricotta on our well fried, battered broccoli. While the freshness of the fish dip and tuna were questionable this was nonetheless a great place for generally well executed small plate at generous portions.

Ventured right from Batu Bolong beach and found ourselves ready for a drink and also a lazy spot to watch the sun set; the nice beige bean bags and well designed menu saw ourselves with the above order. But little did I know what a fantasy of a restaurant-bar was La Brisa to be till I had to use the loo 😂 the forest white along a beach theme only poor describes quite spectacle architecture that went into the establishment; 2 pools are available within the establishment to laze around but I reckoned any use of the interior space requires a reservation and probably a minimum spend.
As for my travel companion and I, we were simply happy with our slightly pricey booze, good thick cut fries and the gorgeous sunset from our bean bags.

The cold brew at Cafe Vida are sourced from bootstrap- a brand you might even find at selected convenient stores; while the hot coffees have 2 blends one for black and the other for milk coffees. The latter was too acidic for my liking with my choices flat white. At least it had a cute art as reaffirmed by my Cousin barista as I sent an IG story mention @ him 😂

Mornings in Bali #1:
Hello gluten free croissant that was very dense and well layered; yet had a singular repetitive taste which would have been made better if jam of sorts was served along. Also the croissant was buttery enough and I saw no need for any accompanying butter (asiangirl problems? 😬🙊)

The onslaught of Bali backlog brews but first and foremost comes Livingstone - the kind of F&B cafes I always dream of.
You’d be greeted by an alluring display of their balibestcroissant (also the wifi password here *protip*) and other bakes.
My choice above was a hybrid between criossant and brioche like bread with generous chocolate chips ribboning the layers - very good by my bread loving standards.
The croissants here are indeed their signature as well; they come in plain, indulgent sweet or savoury versions (i.e. almond, tuna and cheese etc) or the ultimate variant- the breakfast croissants with good eggs and bacon. The croissants are light and airy yet not skimping on the delectable butttery layers- quite a neat work✨

For the coffee drinkers, another thing you should not leave without is one of their blends that are nicely explained in the menu; there lies a blend for everyone in terms of body and acidity.

Did not fancy the small portioned, commercialized food