Bali High/Friday Food Porn - Lunch at Chandi, in Seminyak

The Pity Party is Over...Back to Business!

I haven't really talked about our time in Seminyak, the beach area where we spent some time after being in the center of Bali in Ubud. Beach pictures to come.....BUT we did have some great food in Seminyak, and I believe the food there was the best of the trip.

I'd read a lot about Chandi while doing research for the trip, but chose to book other restaurants for our evenings out. I was pretty amped when we noticed that Chandi is pretty close to our hotel in the Seminyak, the Samaya (aka Heaven, but that's for another post). I liked it so much that we went to eat there twice. If I can describe the food here, I would say that it's a modern take on Indonesian food.

Lunch #1

Chandi's take on Balinese crispy duck with tumeric rice and water spinach

The duck was awesome. I could have eaten just the skin. The meat was moist and well-seasoned, and the skin was crunchy as it ought to be. This was actually Husband J's dish. Lucky guy!

Chandi's Seafood (Queen Prawn and Squid) Nasi Goreng with Egg a Cheval

What a difference from the Cafe Wayan's huh? This was perfect for lunch because it was so light and filling. The seafood bits were tender, juicy not overcooked and well-seasoned. I added some sambal (chili sauce) though 'cause you know I like my spice.

Lunch #2

A modern Indonesian rijsttafel

Close ups

Counterclockwise: Mixed seafood satay (shrimp, scallops, etc.); Roast pumpkin with chili peppers; Beef Rendang (shredded beef slow-cooked in coconut milk and spices such as ginger, tumeric, lemongrass and chili)

On the left starting from the back: Pecel (an Indonesian sauce made with peanut sauce and vegetables, in this instance, bean sprouts), Boiled Spiced Egg, Anchovy with peanuts and coconut (I loved this; Husband J not so much.)

On the right starting from the back: green beans, Chicken Sisit Bumbu Bali (not sure what's in this, but it was good), Tempe Manis (a crunchy tempe made with peanuts and dried fish that resembles peanut brittle in consistency..seriously.)

Nasi kuning (rice cooked with tumeric)

A very, very sticky sweet coconut rice (Husband J and I fought over this 'cause it was so good)

So what is a rijsttafel? Well, it's a name that is a holdover from the Dutch colonial era meaning "rice table" and traditionally was eaten for very special occasions. A rijsttafel can include up to 40 (not a typo) individual small plates. Many rijsttafels include both savory and sweet dishes. Now more common in many restaurants in Bali, I knew that I wanted to try one before we left. I was glad that we had one, even if it wasn't the more traditional kind.

My favorite of all of these was the satay (the best I think we had while in Bali) and the pecel. I kept munching on the anchovies though. It was like crispy fish skin mixed with sweet roasted peanuts. I even ate a fair amount of the tempe, which I usually don't like. If I could find it made in this style, which is common in Bali, maybe I'd eat more of it. :)

Thanks to Chandi for getting us away from the beach to eat well.