I have never been that keen on South East Asian cuisine. That include, Thai, Malay, Singapore and Indonesia. I have a feeling when I go to China I would not like real Chinese food either. Something about the unique way they combine their spices that does not agree with me. As a result when I am in this part of the world I have to be really careful not to hurt the feelings of my hosts that their cuisine does not agree with me. I try my best to direct them to a restaurant where I know the cuisine would agree with me – and that would be either popular American cuisine or Indian. When I am in Singapore the eatery of my choice is this Indian restaurant called Maharajah North Indian Restaurant, right by the hotel of my choice Holiday Inn Parkview. Typically I would have at least one meal – either the lunch or dinner there. However when I’d go out with Cedric, Lisa or their friends they would take me to some of the newer and popular restaurants in town. I always enjoy those outings. Typically they are overlooking either the ocean or the bay or some body of water, outdoor location. All the elements of ambience I enjoy. The food is always is a hit and miss proposition. After I came back from Bali, I was in Singapore for one day before I left for home. That evening Cedric wanted to take me to experience something very special treat – Lobster porridge. I was very skeptical. But could not express that to Cedric. So I went along. WE met Charlie one of Cedric’s good friends that I had gotten to know and like. Charlie and I have played golf a number of times over the years. I was glad to meet Charlie. We had a great time in this golf club bar until it was time to go down to the restaurant to experience Lobster Porridge. I asked Cedric what’s lobster porridge, and from the description I figured I have to bring out my best diplomatic skill to get through this dining experience without hurting Cedric’s feelings. Without going into the details I did manage make through the evening without partaking the lobster porridge and hopefully without offending and hurting Cedric’s feelings. Cedric has been to my place twice, has stayed with me and has experienced both Indian food at my home as well as a number of restaurants when he has visited me but I have not been able to train him fully about my likes and dislikes in food.
Food in Bali was no different from food in Singapore; similar challenge. However, I was able to easily navigate through the challenge with Mah-day. My sense was that Mah-day does not eat out as much as a result did not have many restaurants that he felt is a must for me to experience. As a result I was able to navigate to the “Right” kind of restaurants without too much trouble. One restaurant I really enjoyed was right at the heart of the Kuta Beach area called Ocean Beach Club. The menu was decidedly popular American Cuisine, almost like a Cheesecake Factory type menu. After I had a my pedicure and manicure done by the five women on Kuta Beach, we decided to get a bite to eat at the Ocean Beach Club. The food was very good – I had popcorn shrimp and French fries. It was well done. As good as any restaurant I would eat something similar in LA. It has been my experience in South East Asia, including Singapore, that they try really hard to emulate their American and especially California counterparts abut they almost always come up short. I would say that they come close to 85% successful. But somehow something always seems to be missing. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the Ocean Beach Club food was as good as any in LA. What I really liked about Ocean Beach Club though its open air, overlooking the ocean ambience. For the location and all around it was absolutely a great place to hang out with your friends. I liked the experience so much that we came back a couple days later when I took Yuli and Mah-day out to dinner a couple of days later.
My hotel charge included breakfast buffet for two. So the first morning in Bali, before we headed out to explore the island, Mah-day and I had breakfast at my hotel. The experience was very ordinary. So I decided I will treat Mah-day to a nicer breakfast experience next day. So when Mah-day arrived the next morning ready for breakfast I told him we are going to the Four Seasons for breakfast. As I had expected Mah-day was all excited to try out Four Seasons breakfast. Four Seasons was about 45 minute drive from Sanur, the location of my hotel. On the way to Four Seasons I got a text message from Robin that he and Manuel was at the house trying to prepare for Costco some samples and if I was available to talk. I had bought for 10,000 Rupiah (less than $1.00) a SIM card for my Bali stay. So I texted back to him with my Bali number and we talked for about 15 minutes to go over what they had to do. I loved the whole experience. May be someday I can run Basu’s Homestyle from remote corners of the world with a capable team on the ground in Calabasas, just the way now Omnikron runs. Four Seasons is beautiful resort. We sat down for breakfast in their bistro-type restaurant, overlooking the Jimboran Bay. Gorgeous view, great ambience. Food was good as expected but that was almost secondary. Price was comparable to what I normally pay for a similar breakfast at the Santa Barbara Four Seasons, may be a just a little less. Over all it was a great experience. I also enjoyed watching Mah-day really enjoying the experience. On the last day of my Bali trip we went for lunch at the Bali Hyatt at Sanur. It is also a very lovely hotel right on the beach. I had chicken satay, one of the very few things I like in SE Asia. It is available in most of the parts of SE Asia, it is their version of chicken skewer (Chicken Shik kabab) but I like the marinate they use and I also like the peanut sauce that comes with it. It is one of the few safe harbors for me with local food around this part of the world.
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