At this point in our Indonesia travelogue, I think we’ve established that we, almost completely, ate our way around the country. (The rest of our Indonesia stories includes the capital, Jakarta; Yogyakarta in Central Java; Seminyak in Bali; and Canggu.) Every meal was simply incredible and seemingly better than the last! However, — and at the risk of sounding even more gluttonous, — none of the restaurants we had dined at, thus far, was the highlight of our trip. No, this honor came a couple of days later when we treated ourselves to a meal of a lifetime in Ubud.
While Bali itself is a pretty large island, it only makes up 0.3% of the entire country’s total land area (Indonesia is huge!). Yet, in Bali, nestled up in the north lies the little town of Ubud, full of cultural treasures and home to what is The Best Restaurant in Indonesia according to The World’s 50 Best Restaurants: Locavore.
Being the hungry detectives we were born to be, my friends and I reserved a table for our party via Locavore’s website. Reconfirmation and further amendments to our booking were done via WhatsApp — a very convenient means, especially if emails don’t work too well for you while traveling!
We practically carved out an entire day just for this meal and, suffice it to say, we were super excited! Since the restaurant didn’t open until noon, we worked up an appetite by dropping by the Bali Swing at Tegallalang first!
At the restaurant, we were informed they offered two options for their “wet season” tasting menu, one that was to run for four months: the locavore menu that included animal protein and an herbivore menu. The need to change the menu along with the country’s seasons is a result of the restaurant’s push to source all of its ingredients locally, across Indonesia.
Locavore’s guests can anticipate an unforgettable culinary adventure. Led by classically trained chefs Ray and Eelke, the passionate and dedicated kitchen team create unique, contemporary European fare from the finest of locally sourced seasonal ingredients. Artfully presented, meticulously prepared and utterly delicious, the cuisine of Locavore promises an exhilarating fine dining experience.
locavore
For the sake of variety, I opted for the vegetarian option while the rest of the table selected the non-vegetarian menu. Our menu cards arrived and I was beyond stunned to see 19 rows of goodness to be served! The first eight items were the same for both the veg and non-veg options and were meant to “ease” guests into the experience.
When we were informed of the freshness of dishes at Locavore, I personally did not anticipate just how fresh — I was in for a colorful treat when the first plate on the table was Canang Sari, a traditional arrangement of flowers and leaves meant to serve as a daily offering by Balinese Hindus to their god. The taste of fresh flowers dipped in ginger emulsion was definitely new and quite indescribable! Our flower-food exploration didn’t quite end there, too, as the second and third dishes involved fresh plants, fried frangipani (as in the Hawaiian Lei flower), honey, and seeds.
The fourth dish was a favorite of mine among the starting eight: black rice blini with smoked egg emulsion, topped with crispy black rice. Yum!
The next two platters struck close to my Filipino roots: yam fries with banana ketchup, and rambutan. The former, banana ketchup, was a staple in our pantry growing up — and before you question it, yes, it is an actual thing made from mashed bananas! Plate number six was rambutan fruit, which is pretty much the South Asian version of lychees.
Plate number seven was the tomato dish version of Katy Perry’s “Hot n Cold” while plate number eight reminded me of the Arabic bread, khubooz, except this time, it was made with various root vegetables. Also, instead of having hummus or moutabal to dip the bread into, the condiments were some kind of “leftovers” — tastiest leftovers in my opinion!
While I enjoyed my veg plate of seaweed garnished with flowers for plate number nine, the rest of the table with their non-veg menu had a similar serving of shrimp instead of algae. Dishes 10 and 11 each took a fruitier turn with a serving of mango, ginger and some chili powder, and watermelon with wasabi, duck egg and cashew cheese, respectively. Like most, I’ve always only had fruit for dessert, but who would have thought you could create main dishes out of them? Truly inventive and refreshing!
Well, speaking of desserts, my next dish — we’re at plate 12 of 19 if you’ve lost track! — was potato baked in coffee cacao butter with coffee mayonnaise. Again, I was completely clueless such a dish was even possible; I think it’s safe to say that the culinary team’s imagination is out of this world! For this round, the rest of the table enjoyed sea urchin foam (sprayed by the chef himself), pickled seaweed, and aromatic rice — an equally flavorsome dish.
I usually struggle with eating porridge, but dish 13 was, surprisingly (or not, at this point!), no struggle at all to devour: three-grain porridge with confit egg yolk. The meat-eaters had a serving of barbecued lobster with sambal and pickled heart of palm.
The “breadfruit garlic emulsion, 17 tasty condiments” was next up for me as plate number 14 and it was, legitimately, divine — a highly flavorsome and scrumptious course! Also, all credit to the team for artfully topping all the condiments. The Locavore menu offered its diners braised beef tongue with coconut mashed plantain — a tender treat, I was told.
The end was almost in sight with dish 15. Everyone received a generous serving of Chinese cabbage roasted in peanut oil. It was probiotics-friendly, too, with servings of kimchi vinaigrette and smoked mushroom tempeh!
Plate 16 kicked off the sweet end to our amazing foodventure with some durian-flavored sorbet — I personally enjoyed my refreshing scoop of this controversial and misunderstood fruit! Gelato lovers would likely be more enthusiastic with (dessert) plate 17: cacao butter gelato and white fruit. What a luscious serving! Friends at the table savored a blood berry tart and sorbet, sweetly adorned with a coconut egg white cream on the side.
The veg and non-veg menus converged once more for the sweet endings at plates 18 and 19. Here we had a Bali chocolate gelato with cacao butter cake and warm chocolate foam (I seriously could have had three servings of this!) and a tray of sweets. Seeing the tray reminded me so much of my childhood when I used to play Sungka with cowrie shells! (Sungka is the Filipino version, Congka in Indonesia, and mancala everywhere else.) Frankly speaking, I absolutely didn’t mind this version, too, as the tray was filled with mouthwatering sweets such as ganache, caramel onde-onde, and a rice cookie with coffee. Delicious!
It’s one thing to know that the food you’re being served with has been procured through sustainable and ethical means, but it’s a whole different level to realize the passion and thought placed into the craftmanship of each dish — more than a just a meal, it becomes an experience. Bearing this mind, and the number of experiments undertaken by the inventive minds behind Locavore, it’s easy to see how the restaurant has earned the award of Best Restaurant in Indonesia and Best 50 Restaurants in Asia. Terima kasih, Locavore!
Lots of love and travel miles,
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