Bali: Warung Mira (Khas Buleleng)

Bali: Warung Mira (Khas Buleleng)

by | Mar 9, 2021 | Warungs

Warung Mira
(Khas Buleleng)

Warungs SERIES | BALI

Serving Singaraja-style food, this is one of my favourite warungs in Denpasar. An ice-cold es daluman as soon I sit down at Warung Mira hits the spot. The wobbly forest-green drink is a refreshing mash up of daluman leaf jelly (the leaves are soaked in water and then squeezed, the liquid setting overnight from the natural gelatin) and palm sugar with coconut milk.

  A ‘greatest hits’ of some of Bali’s best regional dishes

A belly filler to soak up the chill that’s to come is a good idea, so the tipat cantok is first up. A Balinese take on gado-gado, the green beans, mung bean sprouts, freshly made tofu, crispy fried garlic and ketupat (soft rice cakes cooked in banana leaf parcels to shape them) are all gently mixed with light peanut sauce. It’s a little sweet, spicy and sour all at once. Just like it should be.

Other accompaniments include a super fresh urap with cassava leaf, green beans and fresh grated coconut, and two types of sates , one being soft, unctuous pork belly, the other being babi lilit, with minced pork. The crispy crackling here is generous and just as crunchy as it should be.

OPEN 8.00AM-6.00PM
Jl. Katrangan No.23, Sumerta, Kec. Denpasar Tim., Kota Denpasar, Bali 80239
+62361251040

Jukut undis (black bean soup) is simple and earthy, the broth having a depth and flavour that is usually saved up for its culinary cousin and Indonesia’s soup star, rawon. Scooping the small red-hued beans from the bottle of the bowl and savouring the grittiness of fresh grated coconut in my mouth, it doesn’t take long to disappear.

The rujak is also a winner. Like a savoury and super spicy fruit salad, rough-cut slices of raw green mango, pineapple, cassava, cucumber and sweet potato are all tossed together in a light dressing of shrimp paste, palm sugar, tamarind and chilli. Bali’s much more rustic take on its more famous and only distantly related Thai cousin, som tum.

Other dishes you should definitely try include the serapah babi of pork belly, served with crunchy crackers, and the perfectly executed soto ayam (chicken soup).

The menu is a veritable ‘greatest hits’ of some of Bali’s best regional dishes, so you can’t really go wrong. Try whatever sounds good and see what your favourites are!

Bali: Babi Guling Grenceng (Bali Tulen)

Bali: Babi Guling Grenceng (Bali Tulen)

by | Mar 8, 2021 | Warungs

Babi Guling Grenceng
(Bali Tulen)

Warungs SERIES | BALI

Another great option for lunch is Babi Guling Gerenceng (just a few metres up the road from Tahu Tipat Gerenceng).

  ‘Lesehan’ style seating on rattan floor mats.

The babi guling is good and offers quite a variety of accompaniments to the traditional slow-roasted pork. The paper-lined basket offers up lots of flavours, with young coconut braised in bumbu gede sitting alongside sausage and fried curly intestines (which I quietly pass on).

Other accompaniments include a super fresh urap with cassava leaf, green beans and fresh grated coconut, and two types of sates , one being soft, unctuous pork belly, the other being babi lilit, with minced pork. The crispy crackling here is generous and just as crunchy as it should be.

OPEN 8.00AM-6.00PM
Jl. Sutomo, Pemecutan Kaja, Kec. Denpasar Utara, Kota Denpasar, Bali 80231

The lawar is served two ways: one with fresh pig’s blood to stain it that tell-tale hue of pink, one without (for hygiene reasons). A little too carnivorous for me, I always get it without, and luckily it’s just as delicious that way.

The peak hours are 11:00am-1:00pm when the lunch rush is on, so come early to avoid disappointment. It’s not the same without that crackling!

Bandung: Mie Kocok Pak Eman Putra

Bandung: Mie Kocok Pak Eman Putra

by | Mar 8, 2021 | Warungs

Mie Kocok
Pak Eman Putra

Warungs SERIES | BANDUNG | JAVA

Located in Jalan Terusan Buah Batu No. 119, Bandung, West Java, knocks out the best bowl of it in the area, so join the locals and make a beeline for their version, which comes in mismatched china bowls and served up with big smiles.

  Bandung: the “Paris of Java” and a foodie capital

I love Bandung it’s like a second home for me as my wife’s family lives there, and mie kocok is like honey to bee for my wife she love the stuff. So over time I have had to love as well,
(unconditionally ) one of the thing that has rubbed of on me is her love for bandung street food some between Chinese and local Sundanese cuisines have merged together and there you have Bandung street food.

Mie kocok is traditional with egg noodle beef skin small amount of beef trimmings from the beef bones that have slowly been simmering in pot for 5hrs to produce this amazing clearing shiny broth with lots of bean sprouts and Asian celery.

OPEN 9.00AM-9.00PM
Jl. Terusan Buah Batu No.119, Kujangsari, Kec. Bandung Kidul, Kota Bandung, Jawa Barat 40287

+6282120491922

Bandung: Iga Bakar Si Jangkung

Bandung: Iga Bakar Si Jangkung

by | Mar 8, 2021 | Warungs

Iga Bakar Si Jangkung

Warungs SERIES | BANDUNG | JAVA

One of the busiest place in town, addressed in Jl. Cipaganti No. 75B, Bandung, West Java.

Pak Jangkung is the man behind the meat here. He’s someone that personifies the spirit of Sunda.

  The ribs disappear in minutes.

Beginning his career in the hotel industry in Bali, he started out with the ripper of recipe for ribs, but it was more Jogja-style than Sundanese. He juiced it up a little and it was so good that a warung in Bandung was born off the back of it. Soon you couldn’t get a seat, let alone a table, at his little rib shack, so he did what anyone with a sell-out winning dish might do: he opened a second warung. And then third. Thousands of plates later, he’s now at the helm of his own mini-rib empire in Bandung.

The place is a little dark, there’s not a spare seat in sight. But if the locals will brave a monsoonal downpour to eat the food, you know you’re in the right place. The best part is that the air is filled with one of favourite smells: the heady scent of barbequing meat.

OPEN 12.00PM-8.00PM
Jl. Cipaganti No.75G, Pasteur, Kec. Sukajadi, Kota Bandung, Jawa Barat 40161

+628112205513

THE SCENT OF BARBECUE

FRESH INGREDIENTS

FINGER-LICKING GOOD

Served in big clay bowls, the iga bakar (braised short ribs) arrives sizzling hot, sauce spitting. It’s falling-off-the-bone, finger-licking good. The ribs are dark and caramelised, with the cumin-spiked sweet soy sauce providing the perfect sticky foil to the white pepper and chilli kick. The happy silence of eating something so good that conversation is forgotten in favour of the food. The ribs disappear in minutes.

Bali: Tahu Tipat Gerenceng

Bali: Tahu Tipat Gerenceng

by | Feb 17, 2021 | Warungs

Tahu Tipat Gerenceng

Warungs SERIES | BALI

Street-side eating here is all about one thing only – tahu tipat. Originally from East Java but hugely popular here in Bali, tahu tipat consists of freshly made tofu pieces that are pan fried so that they become slightly golden and warm, before being mixed with bean sprouts, lontong (soft rice cakes shaped in plaited banana leaf parcels) and spicy peanut sauce.

  One plate of tahu tipat will cost you an easy 8.000 Rp

A big prawn cracker on top is the perfect way to dip and crunch your way through the bowl. Wholesome, spicy and filling, it’s the perfect quick lunch.

OPEN 9.00AM-8.00PM
Jl. Imam Bonjol No.304, Pemecutan Klod, Kec. Denpasar Bar., Kota Denpasar, Bali 80119

+6282114011490

THE 2012 VERSION

THE 2020 VERSION

A BUSY PLACE

  A sneak video preview on my YouTube channel

Bali: Babi Guling Bu Mangku

Bali: Babi Guling Bu Mangku

by | Nov 27, 2012 | Warungs

Babi Guling Bu Mangku

Warungs SERIES | BALI

Ibu Mangku had a tiny little warung serving up Bali’s favourite kind of local worker’s breakfast – babi guling.

  She sells up to 9000 small sates per day

When I got here at 9:15am, she’d already almost sold out. All that was left were a few remnants of the suckling pig she is famous for. Luckily there was enough for us, so we did get to try a taste anyway.

While I was eating, Ibu Mangku is bundling up 100 bungkus (triangular shaped paper takeaway parcels) for delivery that morning.

The “bungkus”

They are on their way to the airport for staff catering at the canteen there. I find out that she sells up to 300 bungkus – and makes up to 9000 small sates – per day. Shocked, I realize that this humble holy man’s wife is a real culinary entrepreneur, giving new meaning to the term ‘quiet achiever’.

WARUNG IBU MANGKU

A THRIVING BUSINESS

SNACK TEMPTATION

The Balinese can create thriving little businesses like this for much less of an investment and effort than Westerners do. Even high-end restaurants can learn a thing or two from this kind of enterprising side to their main gig. There is definitely something to be said for doing takeaway!