Bali High - Battle of the Hotel Breakfasts in Bali

I figure that I would start with breakfast. Breakfast, really? Well, it is the most important meal of the day! :) You'll see why breakfast was one of our favorite parts of our trip.

Both of our wonderful hotels, Komaneka Bisma in Ubud and The Samaya in Seminyak offered breakfast as part of the cost of our accommodations. Just 'cause it's included doesn't mean that it wasn't good! So who will win the battle of the all-included, tropical fruit laden breakfast?

First up, our first hotel, Komaneka Bisma in Ubud. Each of the breakfasts here was almost its own multi-course set meal. The first thing you get to choose are these wide array of freshly made tropical juices.

Watermelon juice, light refreshing and actually full of nutrients. Oh yeah, that's Husband J in the background.

First out was a tropical fruit salad with everything from watermelon, papaya, pineapple, lychees, etc. (it changed each day) along with the Komaneka's own version of muesli, a pre-mixed concoction of yogurt and granola.

I have not admit I wasn't always a huge fan of the muesli because it created this whole soupy, milky mess. I guess sometimes I have texture issues?

Warm banana bread, not too sweet with even more fruit (and dollop of yogurt)!

One day Husband J chose the Egg Ricotta, which is sort of an odd way of describing what is essentially quiche. There's also some grilled tomato, their version of some sort of hashbrown and small amount of spinach and sauteed mushrooms. Also don't forget the bacon!

I actually had this a day later and while I think the Balinese do well with roasting pig (more on that another time), I don't think their strenghts lie in bacon. I like my bacon somewhat crispy, but this was a bit overcooked and had lost the bacony good stuff in the cooking process. The mushrooms were down right awesome,and I wished there were more on the plate. The quiche itself was light, and the eggs didn't overpower many of the other ingredients in the quiche (although I did want to taste some more cheese!)

Another dish both Husband J and I had at the Komaneka was the poached eggs with smoked salmon. Props to the restaurant staff for even asking if I wanted mine poached soft, medium or hard. Yes, I know that there are diehards out there who think poaching an egg too hard is killing the dish but sometimes too runny eggs give me the heebeegeebees. More latent texture issues?

Finally an omelette with similar accompaniments as the Egg Ricotta (quiche or whatever you want to call it!)

Overall, the Komaneka's breakfast were tasty and filling, and I loved having a little feast each morning to look forward to. This is from a person whose breakfast is usually yogurt and fruit or maybe a whole grain waffle so I am not starving at noon. I could get used to this hotel breakfast spread thing, and, boy, did it get better!

Enter the Samaya. I really liked the food here, really. Honestly, it was some of the best food that we had in Bali. In addition to daily breakfasts there (also included), we had a dinner there that I will let you know about later. Anyway, here were some of the highlights from our breakfasts.

I am currently missing the fruit juice. Sigh...papaya juice (which tasted like some lime might be in there somewhere!). Husband J declared that he really likes papaya, so I made a mental note.

Also check the bread, y'all! Wooo..those croissants were bangin'. Warm and crusty on the outside but moist and chewy on the inside as they should be.

Okay, banana juice. Really? Can you really get JUICE from a banana? I'm going to call this a banana "drink" 'cause this was waay too good, and I could swear I tasted a hint of coconut in it, but I could be wrong. I want one of these today. Like right now.

The frittata with baby potatoes, mushrooms, feta cheese, with roasted cherry tomatoes and crisp basil for garnish. Nice! I love when you can taste each ingredient in a frittata, and it's not just one baked egg taste, know what I mean?

Loving the fruit plate, which like the Komaneka's, was a little different each day. No milky soup from the muesli! How did they get the pineapple to look like that? (See it on the left?) Don't try that home! Although I would be impressed if someone e-mailed me your attempt at that. :)

Wait! This doesn't look like breakfast, but it is! The Komaneka did offer their own version of an Indonesian breakfast, but I have to admit that I was a little intimidated by it. Too many choices maybe? The Samaya's was a simple choice between nasi goreng (Indonesian friend rice) and mie goreng (fried noodles). Yes, those are two pieces of beef satay, by the way. I loved this so much that I had it twice. The Samaya version included tender pieces of shrimp, baby squid, cabbage, and a big 'ol egg on top with shrimp crackers. Plus pickled veggies and sambal (Indonesian hot sauce which I think was modified for the tourist palate)

I loved the light spice, and since I am very much a salt person, this satisfied my savory early morning cravings. Besides, I'm not getting this at IHOP or any other brunch menu here in the US, so why not?

Finally, smoked Tasmanian salmon (their words, not mine) and scrambled eggs on ciabatta with creme fraiche and chives and a little salmon roe on the side. Doesn't it just look pretty? It tasted pretty darn good too! Again, I love my salt in the morning, and the scrambled eggs weren't too runny but cooked to a nice consistency (more bordering on hard than soft). The smoke salmon wasn't a wimpy sliver but a nice thick, fresh cut. Salmon roe in the morning? A'ight with me.

The winner? I'm going to have to go with the Samaya, although their restaurant is highly regarded so that probably isn't a fair fight, right? I am ready to go back to Bali just so I can have breakfasts like these.

I would love to hear about any great hotel or B &B breakfasts you've had.