Cafe Love: Cafe Bali, Seminyak

 

Its been a few months now since our visit to Bali, but gastronomic memories come flooding back regularly when I see our holiday snaps. You see, I had expected to eat pretty well at very decent prices but I was blown away at the cosmopolitan cafe and restaurant culture. I guess I had naively thought it would be a lot of Nasi Goreng (Indonesian fried rice) served in casual, outdoor eateries or warungs so I was surprised and delighted that there were so many foodie experiences to be had in Seminyak where we were staying. There were places with exceptional food, top service and delightful settings - my holy trinity of the eating out experience - although not always all three at once.

 

 

The place that tops my list of interiors is Cafe Bali located on Jalan Oberoi (also known as Jalan Laksmana) in Seminyak. After recommendations from my sister-in-law and a friend, I should visited earlier, but I left it until quite late in our trip so only had the chance to go once. 

 

The colonial style interior with plantation shutters and high whitewashed ceilings had me excited from the entrance and it didn't disappoint inside. We ate on the front verandah where the tables were covered in bright pink, yellow and teal floral tablecloths and decorated with bowls of floating flower petals. Large white light coverings made for a relaxed yet festive vibe.

Inside the cafe proper, the large floor area is made even more spacious with soaring ceilings lined with exposed beams.

Several styles of chairs add to the shabby chic vibe. With unique displays in every area, I could easily pass a few hours here.

I love the eclectic display of antique mirrors providing sparkling reflections along one wall. 

A wander to the bathroom was surprisingly full of delights at every turn!

Stepping out the back of Cafe Bali, a little oasis awaits in the form of a pool nestled against the back wall painted with Moroccan-influenced floral motifs. Calming teal (of the water) is again paired with pinks and yellows, carrying on the colours used inside.

Turning to the stair alcove, a hand-painted balustrade cheers the climb to the facilities.

The charming black and white bathroom at the top of the stairs is one of my favourites of our ten day holiday. Is that strange? To have a favourite bathroom?!

Checkered tiles, a chandelier, wallpaper, pops of pink petals and a healthy dose of charcoal - what's not to love?

Back to reality at my table, time to get my head out of the gutter and eat some food. The menu here is diverse with soup, sushi, pasta, steak and asian dishes.

To start we shared the siomai or shrimp and chicken dumplings for 28000 rupiah (approx $AUD3). These were not as light and flavoursome as I had hoped and the meat appeared highly processed but they were ok.

The smoked salmon blinis with capers (55000 Rp.) made for a nice, simple lunch in the afternoon heat. Nothing particularly special about these but enjoyable all the same.

The Mister had Indian chicken curry served with saffron rice, lentil dahl and naan (59000 Rp).

As my comments indicate, the interior overshadows the food at Cafe Bali. The menu appears to be trying to include a bit of everything with no obvious specialties. The prices are really reasonable and the atmosphere is lovely, so even without standout food, I would come back here in a heartbeat just to inhale the design and fitout. I'd highly recommend a visit for anyone visiting Seminyak. It's a little French, a little Moroccan and a whole lotta modern, relaxed Balinese chic!

Cafe Bali

Jalan Oberoi (also known as Jalan Laksmana)
Seminyak, Bali, Indonesia

Cafe Bali page on Trip Advisor 

Treasures from Bali

Wow, we've nearly been back from our holiday a week and I haven't managed to write about any of my little finds yet, but here I am now. Bali surprised me in so many ways, some good, some less so. The best surprises were the cosmopolitan restaurants and the classy homewares stores. In hindsight, I should have spent a little more time doing nothing but there was so much to see and do. Not to mention a very beautiful wedding to attend and a bride to admire. I'm still kicking myself for getting all emotional and raspy during my reading :(

First trinkets to show off are the silver leaf dish above and the yellow beaded bracelets and necklace. The leaf dish came from a silver shop at the Seminyak end of Jl Raya Kerobokan, opposite the Geneva Handicraft Centre (less than AU$10 from memory). Beads from the Ubud markets for their lovely colour! I've worn them once so they might have a purpose other than adding some colour to our monotone living space.

This confused giraffe is my other find from the Ubud market and plays happily next to the TV when he's not pretending to be a zebra. The lady at the market told me he is a baby's toy, but I'm not letting that stop me. Big kids need toys too. He was AU$5-6. Note: new TV unit found on eBay just before we left. Yay, the hunt is over! Now need to convert some drawers to doors with hidden hinges so the DVD player etc can live inside.

I mentioned the Geneva Handicraft Centre before and this is where I found this carved, wooden tray stained black for 44,600 rupiah (just over $4.50 in Australian dollars). Located at Jl Raya Kerobokan No 100, this shop is basically a supermarket of everything you'd find at the markets in Kuta, Seminyak and Ubud. There is a lot of junk but it's nice to see price tags after days of bartering and it was very quiet (no crowds or atmospheric cries for your attention).

I'm using the tray to hold remote controls on our ottoman (painting of white legs in progress...see the masking tape?!). The zebra print coasters were found at Carrefour, a cheap French department store on Sunset Road, Kuta for 5000 rupiah each.

Next up is a piece of hand-woken ikat, the result of an extensive search. I had my heart set on yellow but I was twice told no-one in Bali likes yellow! So pink it is but I know there are lovers of sunny hues over there. All my inspiration pictures had one bright colour and white but in Bali this was impossible to find. The threads were always dyed in complimentary colours. I found this at a tiny factory on the way to Ubud - our kind driver worked very hard to find it for me:
Perusahaan Tenun Ikat Bali
"Wisnu Murti"
Jln. Pura Selukat Keramas, Gianyar

Like many things in Bali, it was hard to say whether this was a steal at 500,000 rupiah for 2.25 metres or we got taken for a ride. In any case, it was lovely to see where it was made by women toiling away on their wooden looms and it seems to be a genuine piece of quality ikat. Thinking of making some cushions with it for some colour on the couch, like so...

There were so many foodie and home finds that I didn't bother to look for clothes in Bali, but I did find a few little souvenirs of the personal variety. Some onyx earrings (a nod to the royal wedding that took place while we were away) from Seluk on the way to Ubud (300,000)...

And a bag from the Discovery Mall (299,000 approx). The obligatory fake sunnies from a nondescript stall in Seminyak (35,000 each).

Everything was so, so cheap that it made us feel bad at times. We realised how lucky we are to earn reasonable livings and call Australia home. I do love having little mementos of our holidays around the place though and I hope these remind me to be thankful for all that we have. Do you like to collect things from your travels? Is it a collection of a certain thing or something significant to that place? Or perhaps, like me, just anything that will work with your decor or wardrobe at home?

At a later date, I plan to post on some of the restaurants and housewares stores in Bali that really made my heart sing.