Background
Four ladies set off on a girls only shopping trip staying at the Kuta Townhouses. Breakfast was included and we averaged ten dollars a day on food and drink. We skipped lunch and usually only had a fresh fruit juice. We had our second meal at night. These are some thoughts about the restaurants we ate at.
Basil Leaves is a Thai restaurant between Poppies 1 and Poppies 2. This was a BTF recommendation. Main meals were 15 - 20 000. Entrée, main course and drink and tip were less than $6. Tom Yum soup was lovely and less than 10 000. Mussaman curry was good as well. Here we met an ex pat who deals in timeshare . We were very embarrassed by his behaviour as he tried to get out of paying for his takeaway bill. He claimed he had paid some, kept ordering more scotch while paying little bits of the bill but not all. When the prices are rock bottom, I imagine the profit margin is not great, yet he was trying to confuse the waiter.
Bamboo Corner on Poppies Lane 1 was always busy and was a BTF recommendation. We had to wait for a table which was not long. We all ordered seafood which came out in good size quantities but well overcooked and dry. Seafood platter was 50 000 but some of it was inedible as the flesh was almost as hard as the shell of the crab. I would try this place again as it was always busy so they must doing something right - just not the seafood.
La Lucciola We have had dinner here and loved the food as well as the setting. Price was reasonable compared to Australian prices. Having heard so much about the breakfasts on BTF, we decided to forgo our included breakfast and treat ourselves to Sunday breakfast. Three ordered a set breakfast and one ordered a la carte. My croissant with the tropical jam ( can't quite remember the exact flavour) was delightful. Somebody ordered the corn fritter style breakfast with avocado salsa and that looked yummy. We ordered the famous hash browns as a side serve. Having heard so much about them we just had to try them. Two people liked them and two ( me included) were really disappointed. I could not see what all the fuss was about - it was grated potato with some chives in it, deep fried so it was extremely crunchy - it tasted like the French Fries style of potato chips. Would definitely have breakfast there again but not order the hash brown.
Mades Warung We tried the one on our walk to Matahari from Poppies 1. Another BTF recommendation. We had a lovely meal here. We ordered satay and the fish which was cooked to perfection. A busy place and worth a visit.
Rumours This was on Jalan Laksmana and it was good to have a break from Asian style food. Prices were reasonable and had a nice atmosphere. Worth a visit.
Vincents is Candi Dasa and we stopped here on our way back from the Water Palaces and a visit to our driver's village. This was probably our best meal. . Ambience was lovely and it was enjoyed by all. Quality food at a reasonable price.
Final thoughts
1. Take as little as possible -clothing wise and buy the rest in Bali. You will be helping the economy and saving money at the same time.
2. With all the space, fill with donations of clothing, linen, books and pencils. My friends can hardly wait for me to go to Bali as this is the time they clean out the kids wardrobes and linen cupboards.
3. Avoid using plastic bags. We buy or take a cloth bag and say no to plastic. A trip to the country side will show the depth of the plastic bag problem. Bali does not have the infrastructure to cope with rubbish disposal. Despite this we were still embarrassed at the amount of rubbish we created eg plastic water bottles and removal of excess packing so we could fit it all in our cases.
4. Barter but not to the point of being ruthless. That one dollar you save may be rice for two days for the family.
5. Enjoy Bali.