vaniaputri's: Food is A Good Distraction

I often find myself eating whenever I get upset. It's harmless that alcohol, I suppose. And it gives you a temporary warm in your tummy, which located so close to the weakest organ in human body: The Ever Emotional Tiny Little Heart. Well, that's a fitting description about mine.

Let's talk about something more interesting than myself. Last month when I was visiting Ubud, I got to try some of their best cafes and restos. I did ever mention this before, in my UWRF post on 2014, that food at Ubud is considered pretty pricey for me. For comparison, in Surabaya I can get a nice big lunch only with $1. In Ubud, I have to spend about over than $7 for a meal. That is, my friend, a big margin. Well, I believe somewhere in Ubud serves a delish meal with good price, just like Surabaya. I just haven't found it yet. Look at it again, I was a college student when I came to Ubud for the first time. I didn't have much money. Now that I earn my own, I feel like it's okay to spend more on food (and make up and skincare and fancy laptop hehe).

Since I'm now a better traveller, I did some research before the trip. First on my list, caffeine. There are several interesting place to have coffee at Ubud. The nearest from my guest house is Daily Baguette. It's not a coffee shop actually. It's a bakery which has heavenly smell. The coffee is not bad, probably because I had it with warm buns. A simple joy <3 p="">

I only had one coffee shop on my list to visit during my stay at Ubud: Seniman Coffee. Now, the reasons why I was so so excited about this place. Um, firstly, it's nothing like coffee shop at Surabaya. Second, the place is cute. A porch faces the street, rocking plastic chair (super super love it!), breezy place cause it has big windows that they open widely during the day. It's a comfy place to spend hours day dreaming or snapchatting yourself. It's also pretty quite, considering a lot of people going in and out of that place. If I ever get a chance to live at Ubud, Seniman will be my favorite spot to have me time. Oh oooh! One thing that makes me feel so at home is the smell of freshly brew coffee. So fragrant, so calming.

Okay next. The third reason is the coffee suits my taste. Let me make it clear that I have this special feeling for coffee in my heart, but I am no coffee master. All I know is either the taste suits me or not. Of course knowing how to brew a good coffee, which bean makes a certain taste etc are fun to learn. But I am more a drinker that a thinker. I can be careless about what method you use to make a cup of coffee. For all I know, kopi tubruk tastes heavenly even thou you practically just pouring hot water over grinded coffee beans. Stir until everything perfectly blend together. Enjoy your cup with banana fritter. Perfect.

Other than caffeine, my favorite part of the day is breakfast. For the first 2 days, I had breakfast at the guest house. The host cooks a killer banana pancake which I am so so addicted with! Oh, the sweet and faintly burnt taste drive me craaayyy. Once it's in your mouth, the sweet banana will melt all your shits away, away, away. Don't forget the savory taste of grated coconut on top. It's a party in my mouth! So rich in flavor, so moist, so good.

Other favorite breakfast place is Le Molin. I only discovered it on my last day at Ubud. A good friend of mine, who share the same tongue for food, told me this France cafe located right beside Taco Casa! I mean, I went to Taco Casa gazillion times and I didn't realise there's a good cafe around! Geez! Le Molin serves the best crepes I've ever tasted in my life. Oh my God, I wish you could taste how good it is just by reading this post. Okay. Let's try to put it into words. OUT OF THIS WORLD. If all cafes at France can cook something like that, I will consider moving in. What I ordered first was bacon and cheese. The crepes is paper thin with crispy edge and super moist on the other part. It tastes and smells buttery, in a good way. The filling is enough, it fills all the spaces inside the wrapping, up until the very edge. I am glad they didn't overdo the filling. It is indeed never too much bacon we have in our live, but the right amount of filling let me enjoy the crepes and the filling as a compliment to each other, neither one overpowering the other. That's a very good harmony you can find in a dish.

So, I got curious about how the sweet crepes taste like, since the savory one snatched my heart in the first bite. I ordered Walnut and Maple Syrup Crepes (I'm not sure about the name, but it is a walnut topped by maple syrup crepes). Oh my oh my. Just go back to the previous paragraph, re-read it three times cause it is that good! Imagine, a paper thin crepes cooked perfectly in all part collides with crunchy walnut and tied in a sweet ending by maple syrup. To my surprise, it's not as sweet as I imagine it would be. It was perfect, as perfect as Taylor Swift's hair after gym.

God, I get tired just by describing how good my eating experiences at Ubud. I can almost taste them in my tongue as I type every single word hahaha.

Other mandatory places to grab lunch or dinner are Taco Casa (duh, of course), Pizza Bagus (I can't get over how good their signature pizza is), Indus Restaurant (a fancy Nasi Bali, worth the price), Umah Pizza (super affordable with delicious food!). Hmm what else? Ah, Warung Ijo, if you are looking for a good-food-good-price-place. Warung Ijo serves Indonesian and Chinese food such as nasi goreng and kwetiaw goreng. A lot of backpackers and locals go there since its food is super affordable ($1,5-$3) and the place is pretty clean. Sometimes it's so crowded that they sold out before 8 p.m. The place is pretty small, you have to really open your eyes or you miss it. If you want to go there, it's located beside Bread Life. Just find green wall diner and you are in the right place.

I don't recommend a Chinese near Betelnut thou. I'm so sorry I forgot the name. It's probably Borneo 88 or something like that. I just think that with pretty expensive price ($5-$8) for a meal, they serve no better than Warung Ijo. Better throw your money at Betelnut or other diner along the street of Bisma. It's a lot better there. Btw, if you want to try any of places I mentioned above, try to click the name of the restos or cafes cause I'll be linking maps or IG acc to make you find them easier ;)

Last but not least, a cake shop. Kakiang Bakery has a dear place in my heart for its famous Japanesse strawberry short cake. Fluffy cake, soft cream and sweet and sour strawberry, all in one bite. I feel as if I'm a princess whenever I have Kakiang's cake. It's delicate and super super yum I want to cry with tears of happiness. The perfect sweetness and the freshly baked cake win my heart thousand times. Other favorite at Kakiang is their choux pastry with fruit filling. It's as good as the strawberry short cake! Kakiang also has palm sugar cookies that taste so so addictive! Holly molly, everything tastes good at Kakiang's.