Subha Aluth Avuruddhak Wewa

Did you make any new year's resolutions this year? Planned to reduce your macaron intake? Wean yourself off Gossip Girl? Combat the Tight Pants Fairy's evil work? And did your good plans disappear as quickly as that box of macarons and the sight of your toes?

Well fear not, because the new year has only just begun! The Sri Lankan New Year begins on either 13th or 14th of April each year, with the exact time and date dependent on the time when the sun moves from Meena (Pisces) into Mesha (Aries). The recent new year began on the 14th of April (at 6:58am to be precise), and I was lucky enough to join in the Sri Lankan Cultural Society of Western Australia new year celebrations on Sunday the 18th of April.

It was held at Centenary Park in Wilson on a beautiful sunny Autumn day. I was enjoying the warmth of the sun in a singlet (and shorts, I might add) which turned out to be a clever idea as friends were able to find our group by spotting my blindingly white skin amongst the more melanin blessed crowd.

I was barely there for two seconds before food was being thrust upon me. I got the feeling I was going to enjoy celebrating the Sinhalese and Tamil New Year.

We decided to load up on foods and find some grass to relax on so there would be no injuries should we go into simultaneous food comas. The foods on sale were written up on a whiteboard, and I was glad to have my own personal translator, my friend Lil deVious, to explain the dishes. Fish Roti and Buriyani were fairly obvious to someone who is familiar with Indian food, but I was a little confused by the Cutlets, Chinese Rolls and Wadai under the Shorties part of the menu (though not quite as confused as I was by the chips, fish & chips and hot dogs on offer).

While we were lining up, I was a little alarmed by the apparent popularity of the chips and hot dogs, but I guess if you make your own yellow rice and curries at home every day, it might be nice to treat yourself with a bucket of chips on a Sunday. 

Chinese Roll (2 for $3.50) and Cutlet (3 for $2.50) - thanks to lovely hand model Lil deVious for giving some added authenticity to my photos

The Chinese Roll and Cutlet are somewhat similar, both containing a spicy fishy filling which tasted like a spicy, aromatic version of my Mum's tuna patties. I love my Mum's tuna patties and I loved these. The Cutlets are round crumb-coated balls of the fish mixture, while the Chinese Rolls are like a spring roll that has been crumbed before frying.

Wadai (3 for $2.50)

The next tasty fried shorties were wadai, spicy fried lentil patties. The outer layer was perfectly crispy and I loved the amount of heat contained within each naughty morsel. These would be perfect with a cold beer.

Rice and curry ($7.50); yellow rice ($8)

The "rice and curry" came with "fish, potato, beans, dhal", while the yellow rice came with "chicken, potato, eggplant", and both had a dollop of spicy spicy chilli. Both were aromatic, well spiced, filling meals. I would have liked a bit more of a kick to it, but was able to achieve this easily by adding the chilli to my forkfuls. I can understand that they couldn't exactly have every component knocking your socks off with the heat, as they were cooking for a large crowd and even with a mostly Sri Lankan crowd you sadly cannot assume everyone is a chilli fiend. 

Hot chips ($3)

One of the other non-Sri Lankans in our group got these chips. He's a Kiwi. I like to think he got them purely to entertain us with his pronunciation of "chips". They looked nice and crunchy but I was not willing to spare a single chip worth of stomach space.

The Hopper Man, working his magic

This was my first Sri Lankan hopper experience and it will not be my last. Oh no, as the magical Hopper Man is my witness, I will never go hopper hungry again! Hoppers are basically thin pancakes made in quite concave pans. There are many varieties of hoppers, but on this day we had a stack of plain hoppers finished off with an egg hopper on top. The egg was perfectly cooked such that there was no "snot" on the white (thanks Dad for giving me such a classy vocabulary) but the yolk was gooey and begging to be dipped into with pieces of hopper. The accompanying chicken drumstick was tender and spicy and the coconut sambol was heaven in a hopper scoop.

A plate of hopper joy

Goopy goopy googy egg

In addition to the good eating, there were a number of games being played throughout the day. I'm not sure what they are called in Sinhalese or Tamil, but I would call them hitting a claypot piñata, pillow fighting, and of course a good old game of cricket.

Watching a talented piñata smasher bust open the clay pot was amazing. All of the children that had been impatiently waiting around the sidelines rushed in faster than I could capture with my camera, eagerly grabbing at the freed treats while the triumphant stick-wielder pumped his fists in the air. I felt a little sorry for him - to pause for your success to be captured on film, or to make sure some of those liberated lollies make it into your pockets? A tough choice.

The pillow fighting went on for hours, with many heats leading up to the finals. Watching the men's finals was something else, these guys really meant business. I think they had been training in their backyards. The ultimately triumphant pillowman had a winning technique of absorbing all the force of his opponent's whacks in the side of his head before making his move with one or two hits to throw his opponent off balance and send him tumbling off the log.

I didn't watch much of the cricket, but I did manage to capture a little mini Muttiah Muralitharan deliver a killer doosra all of about 2 metres, forcing the batsman to run forward more than half the length of the pitch to reach the ball.

I didn't want the celebrations to end, and luckily they continued the following night when Lil deVious invited me around to her place for dinner. The place smelled so good when I arrived I could have just walked around chomping the air and almost have been satisfied. Almost. Fortunately for my bundy (stomach) we got to eat the source of the smells, and the kiribath (milk rice), chicken curry and seeni sambol were right on the rupee. Bohoma sthuthi, Lil deVious, your cooking is truly rasai. I'm worried my bundy is going it pack its bags and migrate to Sri Lanka without me.  

Seeni sambol, chicken curry and kiribath (milk rice)

Rasai dins, round 1

Gently rapping at the pantry door

 Can you spot the teddies discussing which one of them is going to make a dash for the almond croissants?

Playing host to the annual Vincent Cappucino Festival since 2008, Angove Street has turned into quite the bustling cafe strip over the past few years. Its still has a lot to offer if your house is overrun with giant pests, your Swedish car has broken down or you're in need of a cold beer and some local music, but it now also offers quite a few good food choices should the giant pest fighting have stirred your appetite. It was a friend's birthday last week and so we battled the bustle, considering milkd or Il Circolo before deciding to visit The Pantry Door for the first time.

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Melbourne: Flavours of Grand the Sams

As I'm sure my regular readers and friends are well aware, given that I have not been able to contain my excitement and bragging, my sister and I were recently in Melbourne for our very first Australian Open experience. It was a week of awesomeness and our thoughts are already turning to next year's trip.

As amazing as it was to have two massively solid days of tennis action, it was also a little painful to be forced to eat event food while in Melbourne. Luckily for me I'm used to buying food at Subiaco Oval when watching sport, so the options at Melbourne Park seemed quite good in comparison. At a footy match last year at Subi Oval I had a hankering for a stuffed spud (it is possible that I was needing to drown my sorrows in midstrength beer and soft carby goodness, I'll admit it), so did the trek around to where the spud stuffers were hidden, only to be met with an incredulous look and told "they always sell out by half time" by a particularly surly lady that looked like she had eaten all the potatoes herself.

 Food stalls around Garden Square, before the rush of hungry punters

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Happy 80th Nanna!

I enjoy entertaining friends. Feeding them when they come around, I mean, not tripping down the stairs in front of them or having a perfect bite of food fall off my fork just before getting to my mouth when out for a nice meal together. Having said this, when my Nanna turned 80 last month it was just a little too soon after Mum's birthday extravaganza for me to think about cooking for more than a handful of people without breaking into a cold sweat and getting anticipatory aching feet. I was therefore very happy to hear that Nanna's birthday was going to be held at the Northampton District Bowling Club for a number of reasons - we would not have to prepare and clean a house for the event; we could enjoy bowling club prices for drinks; there might be some homemade jams and conserves on sale; and all the catering would be taken care of by the lovely old dears.

It had been quite a few years between mock chicken sandwiches and freshly made scones for me, so I skipped lunch in order to take full advantage of the bowling club fare on offer during the afternoon party. Skipping lunch would normally be an impossible task for me, but I was actually driving up to Geraldton through lunch time, had only packed some fresh fruit for the journey and didn't fancy a roadhouse cheese sausage or bag of chicken wing dings (I can't see a roadhouse 'treat' filled paper bag without hearing "if the paper turns clear, it's your window to weight gain!" in my head), so it was remarkably easy to pull off.

Just as well, as the old dears clearly knew how to put on a good old fashioned bowling club spread. I was also quite impressed with the restraint they showed with use of parsley garnishes, only going all out with it on the plates of assorted finger sandwiches. Even greater restraint was demonstrated on the doily front - I did not spy a single one!

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Ho ho ho and a bottle of champers

I kept putting off this post as I've been feeling a bit lazy of late, and been somewhat busy eating, catching up with family and friends, getting heatstroke playing tennis, driving, braving the city for some bargain hunting and constructing an anti-sunlight device for my bedroom consisting of sheets sewn together in a umm.. rustic manner. As you might possibly be aware, today is New Year's Eve, so I thought I should get this written up before the new year is upon me and I'm nursing a hangover and hair of the dog on top of being busy and lazy.

I hadn't spent Christmas with my family for a few years, as Christmas 2007 was spent with my (now ex) boyfriend's family, and Christmas 2008 was spent driving between Montreal and New York city (we did manage to pull over on the side of the road for some delicious goat cheese and turkey sandwiches for lunch), so it was really nice to spend it with them and get some stocking action after two years of missing out. This was also our first Christmas with a baby in our immediate family, and my nephew's involvement seems to validate our continued stocking tradition. Do other people still do stockings? Will I ever outgrow it?

After spending Christmas eve building a gingerbread house and catching up with family, it was soon time for the traditional Christmas Eve seafood gorging extravaganza. This year did not disappoint, with some fine dishes on offer - South Australian oysters with Cointreau, coriander and sweet chilli, smoked salmon, smoked albacore, mango & spinach salad, prawns, crays (ok, technically they're Western Rock Lobsters but we're on a nickname basis), herb crumbed fish and scallop & chorizo rosemary skewers.

Christmas Eve deliciousness, with Dad's hand making the large prawns and cray slices looking like teeny tiny little things

My first plate.. seconds and thirds were enjoyed soon after

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The Cabin

One of the new small bars to open up in the Perth area this year, The Cabin Winebar and Bistro was recently awarded the best contemporary bar at the Australian Hotels Association Awards For Excellence (sharing the prize with The George in the city). I was meant to have dinner at The Cabin a few months ago with a group of friends, but that was during my period of perpetual illness and I didn't quite make it. I did however finally find some time to get there a couple of weeks ago for a relaxing long lunch with a friend on a very warm summer's day.

The Cabin is located on Scarborough Beach Road in Mount Hawthorn, and after parking my car at the nearby Mezz shopping centre I discovered that they have a carpark out the back. This is good to know, as I really don't need the temptation of parking anywhere near Liquorice Gourmet Foods (located within the Mezz, and also at Claremont Quarter). It is IMPOSSIBLE to walk within 100 metres of that shop and not somehow find yourself carrying a shopping bag filled with all manner of chocolate coated things.


For want of far better English than I am currently capable, The Cabin is decked out in a decidedly cabinny manner - rustic wooden tables, taxidermy-filled exposed brick walls - but the overall finish is very polished. Although we admired the interior, they were absolutely blasting the air conditioning so we quickly escaped outside and looked for a spot in the shade. Shady spots were actually few and far between, as the black umbrellas you can see in the photograph can't actually be used due to the wind, but luckily some girls were finishing up at the one shady table so we pounced on that and set up shop for a couple of hours.


The first menu perusal was of the drinks, and there is an excellent selection on offer. I was particularly smitten by a few of the cocktails but decided to have a non boozy lunch, whilst my friend went for a rosé, if my memory is not mistaken. Sadly my memory doesn't stretch to actually recall which wine it was, but apparently it was nice enough to have a second glass!

Next task was to try and decide on what to eat. The menu is split into two sections - "Small to share" and "Big to share" - although I am sure you could happily eat one of the big dishes, possibly accompanied by the side of a small dish, as a meal for one.

It's always a little awkward when you go out for a meal with a group you're not entirely familiar with, and there is that moment of trying to figure out if it will be a sharing meal or not. This is second only to the then-inevitable moments if you do decide to share, when there is only one or two of some things left on plates or if there is not enough for everyone in the first place. My Dad, he whom I inherit my impressive buffet consumption skills from, always brought me and my siblings up to not ever be foolish enough to ask if someone wants the last piece of something if you actually want it. Whilst this tactic works well in my family I tend not to employ it while out with others for fear of my gluttony being all too apparent. I'm sure I'm not kidding anyone however, particularly those who know me well, which is obvious when I eat out with C for instance when she defers all extra food to me.

This day my friend and I were in immediate agreement that it would be a sharing occasion, and we finally settled on two of the small dishes - "Broad bean, garden pears, goats curd" ($14.00), "Amelia Park lamb cutlets, spicy roast pumpkin" ($16.00), and one of the big dishes - "Whole baked Pemberton trout, celery, horseradish, cider" ($30.00).

Broad bean, garden peas, goats curd ($14)

The beans and peas were obviously fresh, and popped deliciously in your mouth. The goats curd was just sharp enough, and so creamy, and I was happy to discover a surprise addition of some slow roasted onion in there as well. A delicious, fresh dish.

Amelia Park lamb cutlets, spicy roast pumpkin ($16.00)

This was one of those dishes that made me sound like an idiot as I kept exclaiming how tasty it was. The lamb was juicy and tender, with a nicely seared finish. The pumpkin was so incredibly rich with flavour I wish I could have just eaten a bowl of it. I also wish my palate were more intelligent so that I could figure out just exactly what the spices were, but I just kept eating it and exclaiming again how tasty it was and not being able to figure anything out except that I liked it and wished I would shut up.

Whole baked Pemberton trout, celery, horseradish, cider ($30.00)

The trout dish was a great mixture of textures. The salad was fresh and crunchy, with an interesting edge provided by the horseradish, whilst the fish was a combination of juicy and soft flesh with a beautifully crunchy skin. We picked out the little tiny cheeks, having one each, before splitting the rest of the fish between us. Mr Trout kept looking at me with his little eyes, but I told myself he had gone to a better place.

After digesting for a while and finishing our drinks, we decided to have another look at the menu. We were momentarily tempted by the "warm chocolate fondant with pistachio ice cream" ($14.00), then decided not to get anything else, and then somehow found ourselves ordering more of the small dishes - "Green asparagus, egg chutney, salmon roe" ($12.00) and "Tin of Ortiz anchovies, toast" ($19.00). This friend and I are a terrible influence on each other... one time we went out for a light dinner and ended up doing a three hour degustation. I'm surprised we didn't end up trying every dish on this menu.

Green asparagus, egg chutney, salmon roe ($12)

Egg chutney, salmon roe

I was intrigued by the thought of egg chutney, and found to my pleasure that I really liked it although I'm not really sure it could be called a chutney as such. It was a soft mixture of chopped egg white in a yellow liquid that I assume was some combination of yolk and vinegar, with finely chopped chives and bright orange roe. A great accompaniment to the asparagus, which was perhaps ever so slightly overcooked but quite enjoyable nonetheless.

Tin of Ortiz anchovies, toast ($19.00)

I'm a sucker for salty fishy goodness, and these anchovies hit the spot with the fresh, crisp bread, a squeeze of lemon and a sprinkling of dried chilli. Simple and delicious. Also very expensive, which I somehow didn't realise at the time but I suspect I may still have ordered it.

I clearly really enjoyed my meal at The Cabin, finding all of the dishes hit the mark in terms of taste, texture and freshness. The only downside that was apparent were the prices, which are a little steep, so if for some reason you have a horde of hungry men to feed I'd recommend first taking them down the road to the Paddo to fill up on beer and wedges before bringing them here.

The Cabin was very quiet when we were there, with only two other tables being occupied, but I've been told by friends that it can get incredibly loud inside when it is full of people, so perhaps it's not the place to go for intimate conversation on a busy night unless your dining partner is a bore and you are in need of distraction. Probably a good place to go if your dining partner is a boar too, they might find a long lost relative hanging on the wall.

Make sure to say goodbye to Mr Owl on the way out..


(I discovered later in the day that I was not actually sitting entirely in the shade during this meal, and ended up with a lovely red patch on my thigh that must have been in the sun while the rest of me wasn't. I clearly haven't developed my summer skin yet, but luckily the patch has now disappeared. I need to get my white arse to the beach.)


The Cabin Winebar and Bistro
Upstairs, 174 Scarborough Beach Road, Mount Hawthorn
Phone: 08 9444 6214
Website: The Cabin
Email: [email protected]

Bali Day 3 - Febri's Spa, The Samaya, Warung Eropa

Another day in Bali, another buffet breakfast. This was my favourite so far, with lots of sautéed veges, chunks of baked fish and thin noodles. I also got some bacon, some sort of potato thing with pork floss and a piece of french toast with I tasted but found dry and bland so I left most of it so that I had room for more veges and fish.

I also had a nice plate of fruit with each breakfast, enjoying such treats as mangosteen and snakefruit which I am not able to get back home in Perth (I don't think I can, anyway... please correct me if I'm wrong!).

I find it completely impossible to only have one plate of food at a buffet, and indeed have been known to go back for more food five or six times at the buffet breakfast at the Fairmont Chateau Laurier in Ottawa. I had to ask for more cutlery during this particularly impressive breakfast, as they cleared mine away while I was up on one of my trips (I assume they were thinking I couldn't possibly eat any more food). In my defence I like to try a little bit of everything, and then go back for more of the good stuff. I also like to start off with the more continental foods (yoghurts, fruits, cereals) before moving onto the hot stuff, so it's not like I'm piling my plate up with everything on every trip. Still, I do feel a bit embarrassed by the third time I'm up getting more food. It really isn't my fault though, after all I am my Father's daughter. He is a buffet maestro, and I pity anyone foolish enough to offer lashings of seafood at a buffet that my Dad might happen to be loitering near.

Breakfast Day 3

After breakfast we headed out to the lobby where our lift was waiting to take us into Kuta for 5 hours of dayspa luxury at Febri's Spa. Well, it turned out to be 5 hours of dayspa luxury for me, but C was not quite so lucky. She managed to get a therapist who was the wonderful combination of indifferent and brutal, and apparently thought that a full body exfoliation is meant to include your lips. Weird. By the end of the experience I was feeling refreshed and had some pretty flowered-up fingernails, and poor C was feeling battered and bruised with toenails that looked quite nice but ended up chipping later due to some rough emery board use. I felt terrible as I'd chosen this particular place, but I guess it goes to show that it depends entirely on which therapist you get, no matter where you go. If only I'd been the one to get the lip exfoliator! Poor C!

Lunch at Febri's - pumpkin soup, basil & cheese filled chicken with mashed potato and orange, frozen cream with strawberries

Included in our spa package was a three course lunch, which we ate out in the regular restaurant of Febri's (it's a hotel as well as a spa). It was certainly a western meal, with a first course of pumpkin soup. Exactly what you need on a stinking hot day! The heat, combined with the overly sweet and incredibly gingery tasty meant that we left most of the soup untouched.

The main course was much nicer, and I finished my plate. The crumbed chicken was nicely cooked, with a fresh basil and cheese centre, served with coarsely mashed potato rolled in banana leaves and a zesty orange sauce. Sadly this was not C's day, as she's not a fan of basil so hers remained largely uneaten.

Dessert was the opposite, with mine still staring at me at the end but C's mostly eaten. It was a massive bowl of cream, dotted with strawberries, that had been stuck in the freezer to make the strawberries frozen and kinda crunchy and the cream cold and a bit icy. It was kind of like how I imagine a child would try and make strawberry ice cream. I picked out the crunchy strawberries to eat, and C regretted eating most of hers as hot hot heat + cream-filled belly is not a winning combination.

After lunch we ambled up to the Discovery Mall for some shopping, and later in the afternoon got some sustenance in the form of chicken satay from one of the many food places in the mall. It's funny what foods become totally acceptable as snacks when you're on holiday. I'm not sure I've ever had a massive plate of fried chicken for afternoon tea on a usual day back home. I am sure this is for the best.

Afternoon tea of chicken satay

Dropping our purchases back at the villa, we then headed out for a celebratory birthday/hens champagne at the Breeze bar at The Samaya in Seminyak, then eventually headed out for a late dinner at Warung Eropa in the Petitenget area. We left Ch to order for the table, and she did a fine job choosing Ikan Gurami Bakar Special (grilled fish with special sauce) (48 000 Rp), Ayam goreng (fried chicken) (18 000 Rp), Mie Goreng Ayam (fried noodle with chicken) (27 000 Rp), Cah Kangkung (stir fried water spinach) (19 500 Rp), Nasi Putih (white rice) (7 500 Rp), Sambal Jawa (Javanese sambal) (7 000 Rp) and Telur Asin (salty egg) (7 500 Rp).

The Samaya, Seminyak

The ikan gurami bakar special was a standout dish for me. Beautifully cooked fish, with a crisp, saucy skin and soft flaky centre. I'm not sure what the "special sauce" was, and I can't remember exactly what it tasted like, but it was bloody tasty.

Ikan Gurami Bakar Special (grilled fish with special sauce) (48 000 Rp)

The ayam goreng was tasty, and had some delightfully crispy bits, but unsurprisingly was also a bit dry. Not sure about you, but I'm willing to put up with a bit of dryness for some extra crunchy goodness, although I probably wouldn't order this again given the chance.

Ayam goreng (fried chicken) (18 000 Rp)

The mie goreng ayam was a tasty table winner that everyone enjoyed.

Mie Goreng Ayam (fried noodle with chicken) (27 000 Rp)

I really enjoyed the cah kangkung and possibly ate more than my fair share! I'm a sucker for leafy greens, with the amount I eat it's a wonder I don't start photosynthesising on my own. I particularly enjoy the break these types of dishes offer from heavy or fried dishes, such as when I get the greens with oyster sauce during dim sum feasts.

Cah Kangkung (stir fried water spinach) (19 500 Rp)

One of the nasi putih plates came with this side of beans, bean sprouts and fried onion. Cold and refreshing with a good bite!

Nasi Putih (white rice) with beans and bean sprouts (7 500 Rp)

Mmmmmm chilli goodness. Well worth the sweat and runny nose. C didn't have any of the sambal, which is probably just as well given the earlier lip exfoliation experience.

Sambal Jawa (Javanese sambal) (7 000 Rp)

This was my first time eating salty egg, and it pretty much tasted like it sounds. Salty and eggy. Who'd have thought? Could this be my entry into trying strange egg products? Might I possibly be almost ready to try some century egg?

Telur Asin (salty egg) (7 500 Rp)

This tasty spread was all washed down with a Bintang or two, and after we'd stuffed ourselves to our respective brims we left to continue our night of continued hens' weekend celebration...

Bali Day 1 - La Lucciola, bcco, Ku De Ta and Made's Warung

Oh Bali. Was I really there last week, or was it just a lovely warm dream? If I really was there, why did I come home? If I really wasn't there, why didn't someone wake me up if I was sleeping for 5 days?

Last Wednesday night my soon-to-be-married friend C and I jetted our way to Bali, leaving behind everything we'd been stressing over for the last few weeks and months and letting out a sigh of relief as we stepped out into the balmy Bali night awaiting us. It was after midnight by the time we arrived at our villa and had checked ourselves in, and luckily we're very good friends because (of course) they had stuffed up the booking and given us a romantic queen size bed instead of the two beds we'd requested. Too late in the night to fix the mistake, we tucked ourselves in and rested up for the fun we knew was ahead in the next few days.

The birthday girl holding her cake (I feel like I should mention that the original photo does in fact show her face... I'm not so food-centric that I would only photograph the cake)

The following day was C's birthday, and after sitting down at breakfast she was greeted with a rendition of 'Happy Birthday' and a mini chocolate mud cake which looked quite nice but then proceeded to slowly melt into the plate as we ate our breakfast. Although it is perfectly acceptable and indeed encouraged to eat cake for breakfast on your birthday, it was wrapped up and taken to the cool safety of our villa's fridge for consumption later that night.

Breakfast was slightly different each day, and this was part of what I had on my plate this morning...

Day 1 breakfast plate one - passionfruit, pawpaw, fried tomato, fried chicken, fried rice, roast potatoes and wholemeal bread.

Later in the morning we were picked up by C's friend Ch who took us to La Lucciola, Seminyak, for a relaxing birthday lunch. The setting here is beautiful, overlooking the beach, and the service couldn't be faulted. The menu offers modern Italian dishes, with daily specials, and C ordered the entrée dish of "fried zucchini flowers field (perhaps they mean "filled") with roast pumpkin, gorgonzola and pinenuts" (62 000 Rp), Ch chose the entree dish of "toasted panini of goats cheese, marinated eggplant, cherry tomatoes and almond pesto" (75 000 Rp) and I chose the main dish of "angel hair pasta with baby octopus, calamari, cherry tomatoes and pinot grigio" (96 000 Rp). Ch then ordered a lychee and lime juice (30 000 Rp), and after hearing that both C and I couldn't help but copy her.

La Lucciola, Seminyak

Lunch at La Lucciola

I was lucky enough to taste all dishes, and enjoyed them all. The zucchini flowers tasted really fresh, having obviously been fried in very clean oil. The panini was nice and crunchy on the outside with a soft centre. My pasta was cooked very well, had a generous amount of seafood, and the sauce was nice and light. The juices were also super fresh and exactly what we needed to help acclimatise!

Bali Catering Company (bcco)

Next stop on our journey was Bali Catering Company (bcco) where we needed to pick up two pumpkin pies that had been ordered by Ch. She used to live in Bali, and remembers these pies so fondly that she had to share the magic with us. You're probably thinking what I was thinking - "pumpkin pie? In Bali?" but I really need no excuse to enjoy pie, and Thursday was Thanksgiving after all. I was far less sceptical about the promised quality of this pie once we arrived at bcco, and I got to have a nosy around. They had macarons! And cannelés! And Illy coffee! And beef sausage buns!

Beef sausage buns aside, the pumpkin pie was as good as promised. Beautiful short pastry and a rich gingery pumpkin filling. Perfect to enjoy after a leisurely swim in the pool.

Happy Thanksgiving! Pumpkin pie from bcco

After a lazy afternoon we headed up to Ku De Ta in Seminyak, which was ranked #9 in the Miele Guide of Asia's Finest Restaurants, and really is a cool place to hang out. It spans two levels, with plenty of barstools, sofas and daybeds to recline on and watch the ocean while enjoying a cocktail or some food. We certainly enjoyed a cocktail or two (the passionfruit and vanilla mojito was divine) and found ourselves a comfortable spot to watch the sun go down. The perfect way to farewell our first sunny day in Bali.

Ku De Ta, Seminyak

After eyeing off other people's food at Ku De Ta, we were starting to get hungry, and Ch and her friend E took us to Made's Warung, Seminyak. As they explain on their website, "Made's Warung was established in 1969 and has become social eating and meeting venue for locals, expats and tourists alike. It has grown from traditional roadside warung into a cosmopolitan restaurant serving a variety of local and international food in Bali". It's a large, busy, vibrant place filled with hungry punters, and we were lucky that E had booked us a table.

Made's Warung top floor, and the front page of their menu

After checking out the front page of their menu, I could see that they really did cater for everyone. Be you a greasy drug dealer, a brainy doctor, a debonair dandy, trapped in the 80s, Paul Hogan, a very short woman or a hairy-chested computer geek, you will be welcomed with open arms. We left the ordering to Ch, and all ended up with various versions of Nasi Campur Special (55 000 Rp).

Nasi Campur Special (no beef)

This was my favourite meal of the whole trip, and was an adventure on a plate. Nasi Campur means "mixed rice" and is basically a serve of steamed white rice and lots of tasty stuff (such as sambals, tuna, chicken, curries, tempeh, tofu, cucumber, beans). I actually couldn't tell you what all the components of this particular version of Nasi Campur Special were, but I can say that it was incredibly, wonderfully flavoursome. The hot sambal (sitting on some cucumber in the top left) was really spicy, even for this chilli lover, and was about the only thing that I couldn't completely finish on the plate as by the time I'd made my way to it I didn't have enough non-spicy components left to cut through the mouth singeing heat. Luckily I had a delicious fresh pineapple and banana juice handy to put out the fire.

After getting back to our villa, C was kind enough to share her little birthday cake with me, and thus we concluded our first day in Bali how I intended to continue - with a big smile and a full belly.

Pork and fennel are BFF

So, I had a nice big hairy fennel bulb sitting in the fridge, waiting to meet that special someone. This particular fennel bulb was pretty special, having been brought all the way to me from my friend's garden far, far away, so I wouldn't be happy with it settling for just anyone. Luckily I had some nice pork loin steaks sitting in the freezer just waiting to come out and play. I'm not a huge fan of aniseed, thus I didn't want the fennel to take over the relationship so I decided to throw a few other ingredients into the mix to keep the fennel on its toes. It's hairy toes.

The result was a beautiful open romance of a really delicious dinner that I shall be making again for sure!


Warm Pork and Fennel Pasta Salad

Serves 2-3

Ingredients
2 pork loin steaks
1 fennel bulb, sliced thinly
1/4 small red cabbage, sliced thinly
Good handful of baby spinach leaves (sliced in half if big ones)
1 small red onion, sliced thinly
1/2 red capsicum
1 orange
Handful of shelled broad beans
Few capers
Good handful of bowtie pasta
30 mL orange juice
1 tsp olive oil
1/2 Tb wholegrain mustard
salt and pepper

Method
1. Roast the red capsicum, remove the skin, slice into strips and set aside.
2. Segment the orange, set aside.
3. Cook the pasta until al dente, refresh under cold water and set aside.
4. Fry the pork steaks until done to your liking, then allow to rest before slicing into strips.
5. Make the dressing by combining the orange juice, olive oil, mustard and some salt and pepper to taste in a small bowl.
6. Add some olive oil to a hot frying pan, and sauté the red onion until soft. Add the fennel and broad beans. Once all softened, add the red cabbage. Saute all until done to your liking. I like to have my cabbage softened a little, and some colour to everything else. If you want, add the pasta and pork back into the pan to warm them back up a little.
7. In a large bowl, combine the pork, fennel, onion, cabbage, spinach leaves, capsicum slices, orange segments, pasta and capers. Toss gently.
8. Add your dressing to the bowl, or serve the salad and then drizzle the dressing over the top. Garnish with a few little fennel hairs.