Bali - Island of Dreams

Why Read?

Food

Activities

Accomidation

Travel

Wrap-Up

For anyone contemplating their next adventure, Bali is an amazing option.

1. The people are kind and a pleasure to talk to

2. The food and activities are varied and hugely enjoyable

3. The sights will open your eyes to the world's beauty

For 2 weeks in August, I made the nearly day-long trip to Indonesia to be reunited with one of my best mates (who had gone travelling in Australia - big up @demetridoes) and to experience what would become one of the most amazing places I’ve ever been to, if not my favourite.  

Here are some of the restaurants, activities, and accommodations that we enjoyed:

Food

Canggu

Brunch Club

This was the first place we headed to after arriving the previous day; the brunch I went for included:

Pineapple, lemon, mint and carrot juice - a refreshing, sweet and healthy drink to bring balance against the remaining items. 

“Porncakes” - Sticky toffee pudding flavour, with popcorn, ice cream, almonds - these pancakes were a soft and fluffy thick stack of 2, unlike any I’ve had before in both taste and texture (in a good way). They weren’t overbearingly sweet either, and were more like a soufflé.

Waffle with double-fried chicken (230g) - The chicken was cooked perfectly; it was thick in size yet still tender, and the crispy coating paired with the maple syrup and waffles was a treat. 

Total inc. tip = 250,000 IDR / £11.26  (I had heard food in Bali was low-cost, and this proved the point straight away).

LUSA by suka

This European bistro-style restaurant had a dark, classy aesthetic, and live music too - I had:

Shared starter of Burrata and tomatoes, with basil, sourdough crumb, and a balsamic glaze and pesto (rp 125k) 

We were sharing this among a few of us, but I could have easily eaten more myself; the flavours all worked well together.

Wagyu burger with crispy bacon, cheddar, caramelised onion, lettuce, tomato, wholegrain aioli, and potato fries (rp 130k)

The fries were super crispy, and although I’d never tried wagyu until this point, it became one of the best burgers I’ve ever had, probably due to the mix of ingredients included.

Sunset spritz cocktail

Total inc. service = 300,300 IDR / £13.48

Ji Terrace by the sea (Japanese)

I don’t often eat Japanese food, but this was a great restaurant and I really enjoyed the food here:

Toriniku (maki karaage rolls) - The crispy chicken, rice, red cabbage, and mayo all complemented each other well (although I took the mango bits off), good portion size too. 

Sticky Asian Chicken with rice and pickled vegetables

This had a kick of spice which wasn’t overbearing. The chicken was spiced nicely, and the vegetables complemented the dish well with freshness and slight zestiness.

Total inc. service = 319,000.00 IDR / £14.54

Honourable mention by my friend Jack, who had the ‘Dragon of Ji’ - very well presented, around 10 pieces, probably the best prawn sushi I’ve ever had (tempura prawn) lovely and crispy, really nice mayo - £6.88 inc service charge 16%.

Uluwatu

Lola’s Cantina Mexicana

I loved the look of the restaurant; it had a cool vibe to it, but the food didn’t hit all of the right notes:

Sizzling Grilled Chicken Fajitas

The fajitas weren’t as good as I’d have hoped, as they were pretty mild; I felt like the flavours and spices should have been stronger in the chicken, although the onion and pepper that came with helped boost the flavour - they also didn’t come out sizzling, but maybe that’s me being fussy…

Birria Pulled Chicken Tacos

The tacos were better and had more taste, a good amount of melted cheese inside too 

- Coke - 30k 

Jalapeno poppers

The poppers were well-sized, crunchy, and actually had whole jalapeño peppers inside. 

Lava cake and churros

The cake was melty inside and chocolatey, and the churros were pretty good but not amazing.

- Total inc. service = 440.8k IDR / £20.07

Warang Lalapan Aura Jaya - Pecatu

One night we decided to order food to the villa, so I chose Indonesian. I bought 2 meals from here, and as you’ll see, this was the cheapest meal I paid for;

Smashed Fried Chicken with Rice

I did think the meat would be boneless, but nonetheless the chicken was tasty and the portion was large, and showed how much value for money you can get for Indonesian food, although the spice levels were very high on this, so be cautious…

Tofu, Tempeh, Eggplant, Rice

This was essentially another main dish, which I had as a side; the tempeh was new for m,e which I enjoyed, but I wasn’t so much a fan of the tofu. 

Total = 62,000 IDR / around £2.76

Ulu Resto

The first truly authentic Indonesian restaurant I’d been to, one that was delivering on both affordability and good food:

Starter of Mixed Uluwatu Snack (6 pcs Chicken Vegetable Mini Spring Rolls & 3 pcs deep fried wonton with sweet & sour sauce

These were crispy and a great size for a starter, which can be too small for my liking sometimes.

Kari Ayam Special

Chicken breast with mixed veg in coconut curry and steam rice = 65k - the sauce was thin but had a mild, enjoyable taste, and a large portion which I always appreciate. 

Kerupuk (prawn crackers) 

Paradise juice (pineapple, apple, ginger, lime)

Total inc. service = 168,200 IDR / £7.54

Teja

This restaurant was my highlight out of all the restaurants in Bali; even though it wasn’t traditional Indonesian food, it had a real fine-dining feel and aesthetic, in both the dishes and location:

Starter: Tempura zucchini flowers with truffle tapenade, ricotta, nutritional yeast

Usually, I’m not a fan of ricotta, but it was smooth and tasted lovely. The batter was light and crisp, and the condiments brought a great contrast of flavour and heightened the subtle zucchini. 

Australian Black Angus 300g Striploin (medium) with king oyster mushrooms, mushroom ketchup, truffled jus;

Sides of Broccoli with fermented chilli brittle and eggplant, Duck Fat Potatoes with aioli and lemon

The steak was cooked well, and the fat melted away from the meat easily; I’d never tried mushroom ketchup before, and it surprisingly brought a sweetness which worked really well with the steak and contrasted with the mushrooms. The broccoli was good, but needed something more vibrant on the plate to make the flavours pop more, as the sauce was too bland, but the chilli brittle provided little bursts of flavour, and the crunchy potatoes were also a good accompaniment. 

Honourable mention: Charcoal Chicken with smoked pimento yoghurt, ras el hanout, brown butter

Although I didn’t order this, my sister did (but wasn’t a huge fan); however, I found the chicken very tender, and the sauce had a lovely Harissa-y taste. The portion size was also very good!

Island Raspberry Parfait, with house sorbet, strawberry, gel

The presentation alone was stunning, and the vanilla ice cream had a Madagascan taste (which I love), and the little dried fruit sprinkles added nice bursts of flavour.

Total inc. service = 885,460 IDR / £40.25

Note: If a sunset dinner experience is on your bucket list, the outdoor terrace is essential (make sure you time it well).

Kynd 

This vegan brunch spot was a bright, trendy location for healthy food - I had:

Berry Tropical Smoothie bowl; Dragon fruit blended with banana, mango, mixed berries, coconut water, topped with house-made granola, strawberries & banana

The bowl was well presented, filled with loads of fruit, and made for a tasty, filling breakfast.

Iced Caramel Latte (Decaf)

Total = 198.9k / £8.29 

Nostimo

This was a Greek restaurant we found, bringing a taste of the Mediterranean to Bali:

Spanakopita

I was sharing this, so the portion size felt a little small, but it was still good.

Kolokithokeftedes (Zucchini fritters)

After the zucchini from Teja, I was hoping for something similar here which wasn’t the case, but that’s not to say these weren’t nice - these had the feel of a real Greek dish, with the flavouring of mint inside and a good size.

Dips Meze

This came with freshly baked bread, which we could see being made fresh in the kitchen. I was a bit apprehensive about the feta dip as I’m not big on it usually, but it was unique and delicious, as were the tzatziki and hummus. 

Chicken souvlaki platter

I had 3 skewers of chicken all cooked nicely, the chips were tasty and well seasoned too, and accompanied by a lovely side salad, bread, and tzatziki.

Galaktoboureko

This is probably my favourite Greek pastry, which I’ll eat at home on a rare occasion - although not as amply filled with custard as I’m used to, the flavours were still good.  

Soft drink

Total = 341,000 IDR / £15.18

Pizzeria Monello

Continuing on with the European theme, we went for an Italian next;

Bruschetta

This was good, but just needed a few little tweaks, like a sprinkle of salt on the tomatoes, and more garlicky/oily bread.

Americana Pepperoni Pizza with spinach, olives, and mushrooms

I customised this with the extra veg; the toppings were good and there was nothing to dislike about the pizza itself, although it did taste like the spinach

was actually kale, but I may have been mistaken… 

Tiramisu

One of my favourite desserts generally, it had coffee-soaked soft sponge, lovely cream, and did the job for me.

2 soft drinks

Total inc. service = 397,880 IDR / £17.72

Activities

 Canggu

Finns Beach Club

I really enjoy a day club, and this was a really cool venue; open from 11am-midnight, it’s a huge venue compared to places like O Beach in Ibiza, and has lovely views of the beach and sea. 

The food was tasty and had plenty of cuisines to choose from, including Mexican, Italian, and more, and the drinks package we got for 7 people was good value for money with a huge party cocktail jug to share and alco-lollies. 

Entry is free if you don’t want to pay for a bed or seating

booth, but we pre-booked an area which cost around 3,200,00 IDR / £145.00 when booking online (discounted from 5,000,000 IDR / £226.00), and either way, you have access to 3 pools, 11 bars, and 7.

Ring making @Big Tree Jewellery Class

This was a great experience and took around 2/2.5 hours total, but didn’t feel like a long time, which was a testament to the overall experience. It gave us a chance to go through the whole process of ring making, starting with picking a ring design from a large selection of options, melting down our silver, flattening it out, engraving/filing down the silver, and polishing it off to finish.

7 grams of silver are included per person for 450,000 IDR / around £20.00, and you also have the option to upgrade the amount of silver for a fee - you’re not limited to

rings either, as necklaces are also possible. The staff were also lovely to work with, very helpful, and patiently allowed us the time we needed for our intricate designs.

 Ubud

ATV Quad Biking and White Water Rafting

This excursion came as a package deal for £44.95, and we started with quad biking for around 1-1.5 hours. Taking the roads down to the off-road courses, things started relatively calm until we got into some rough-and-ready arenas to really play with the bikes. 

As we’d had quite a lot of rain, the courses were basically drowned in muddy water, making it all the more enjoyable as we attempted to drench each other in mud. They were also very rocky, rough courses, so revving the engines was essential.

Building up speed and sharply turning corners also meant a few teetering vehicles at times. Still, thankfully, there were no casualties - just a lot of purposely dousing each other with mud, and cruising around like Dominic Toretto, “for family”...

Next, we had the rafting - we were transported to the location in an open-top truck with around 12 of us. Once we arrived and got prepared in our protective gear, there were around 700 steps down the forest path before we reached the rafts, and began setting off down the river.

The natural whirlpools were amazing, and the excitement of crashing through the rapids was fantastic. The surrounding areas were beautiful, with so much greenery and forest surrounding us (it felt like travelling through Jurassic Park, but with significantly less danger).

Once both activities were finished, we were given a late lunch buffet, which was included within the total experience cost of around £44.95 each; overall, this was a really enjoyable and adventurous day.

Tegalalang Rice Terrace

A huge terrace with layers upon layers of greenery; the views were beautiful here. It only cost £6 for entry, and they had a range of activities on offer, but only the egg basket/love heart-shaped baskets (for photos) and the single/double swings were available at the time, which dangle you high above the terrace - perfect for anyone who hates heights.

It’s also possible to walk amongst the terrace, but we didn’t get a chance to, unfortunately, as it was getting dark at the time. This is a lovely, low-cost experience to enjoy some of the natural beauty of Bali, and also get some romantic pictures with loved ones.

 Uluwatu

Snorkelling

I’d never done an experience like this before (my eyesight is terrible, so luckily water didn’t get into my goggles to disrupt my contact lenses), but I can safely say it was fantastic.

It was amazing to see so many fish under the surface, some of which were unusual and very unique, and I even saw Nemo and Dory playing and swimming happily together.

Our guides running the excursion were very friendly, and they also had fish food for us to attract the fish, which meant we were surrounded by large amounts most of the time. It was strange getting used to breathing with the tube, and it was difficult not to inhale some of the extremely salty waters, but it’s a small price to pay for the experience.

The experience we booked cost us £26.48 each, and included a return transfer from our villa in a private taxi, and lunch at a restaurant, but the downside was that we had to travel for around 2 hours each way, which wasn’t advertised when we booked through Trip Advisor.

Overall, we all had a really good time and would recommend! 

Uluwatu Temple

Sitting on a cliffside, this Hindu site of worship has stunning views of the coastline, and a fair few cheeky monkeys running around or sitting/sleeping around the site.

It’s always advisable to keep loose items/valuables hidden away and out of reach, as the monkeys can and do steal from people (someone did have their phone taken), but seeing them amongst the trees and pathways is an exciting sight.

This only cost around 50,000 IDR / £2.26, but there are also options to watch the Kecak dance performances in the evenings for 150,000 IDR / £6.78.

Padang Padang Beach

The route to this beach was via a crevice in the cliffs, and once on the beach, the views were stunning, as can be expected. The turquoise waters and golden sands were packed full of people, but we managed to get some space to sit on the beach. 

Garuda Wisnu Kencana Cultural Park

This park offers multiple impressive sights to see, with 3 large statues around the site, 1 of which is the head of Garuda (a mythical creature in Hindu mythology), another of Wisnu, the Hindu god, but the most notable is the titular statue that the park is named after. 

Combining the image of Wisnu and the Garuda bird, this statue and the platform it sits on are 121 metres tall —higher than Big Ben (96 metres), for context —and are visible from other parts of southern Bali. 

It’s a truly amazing sight, and the sheer width of it begs the question of how it was ever built and intricately designed. 

With steps leading down from the Garuda statue to a huge, open valley/plaza surrounded by large rectangular stones, this is a beautiful part of the park. 

Costing around 150,000 IDR / £6.78, this is a low-cost excursion and a chance to enjoy some spectacular feats of architecture.

Accomidation

Canggu: Villa Como

Our first villa was an all-in-one house, hugely spacious inside, and located down a side road from one of the main roads - easily accessible by car, thankfully. Bedrooms and bathrooms were all large and modern, and we had air conditioning throughout. 

Uluwatu: Villa Teku

Probably my favourite of the 3 villas; with all of the rooms separated, there are 3 large bedrooms (one with 2 double bunk-beds), the pool was a decent size, and had a small bridge leading to one of the bedrooms. There was also an outdoor projector, a nice addition if wanting to chill in the evening and watch a film. The outdoor shower for the shared bedroom was different and a cool change, but the heat of the water would run low with a few of us using it.

Ubud: Villa Mastaleth

This was the trickiest villa to access; the roads were single-file and surrounded by rice fields, and it was a tight squeeze for taxis to access parts of the road due to surrounding buildings, but the villa itself was beautiful. 

It came with a large T-shaped pool in the centre, surrounded by 3 separated bedrooms (some with outdoor showers), living room and kitchen, an outdoor seating area pit, and a pair of outdoor swings too.

It was also made all the more special as it was the location where my sister was proposed to by her boyfriend!

Travel

Getting around the island is easy, with 2 apps in particular that we used that are the equivalent of Uber/Bolt:

GOJEK

GRAB

Using both of these apps is super easy, and will enable you to travel for less than 50p at times (if using the moped rides), and taxi rides are super affordable too (I paid around £4.52 for a nearly 5-mile journey). When you sign up, you may find that you're given discounted rates on rides for a limited time too.

You can also utilise these apps for food deliveries from takeaways or supermarkets, so definitely worth having.

Wrap-Up

Although it can be expensive for flights (depending on what time of year you go) and there are vaccines that you should get before travelling (look up the mandatory and advised ones on the NHS website), it's low-cost once you're there, and you'll find value for money in the food and activities.

I personally could've stayed here for longer than 2 weeks, and there is still plenty of the island to see outside of the 3 areas we stayed in - why not choose Bali as your next destination?