Ubud, Indonesia – Turkanz

The Elephant Vegetarian Restaurant and Bar, Ubud – Bali

I discovered The Elephant during the last week of my stay in Ubud because we moved hotels for my friend’s yoga retreat. It was just down the road basically. One day I popped in to have pad thai and on one of the nights we, as a group, had dinner there.

The whole restaurant with its bar on one wall seem like it is a wide balcony overlooking a lush ravine with a river and a rice field in the vicinity. The view is spectacular.

Everything on the menu is either vegan or vegetarian although most of the vegetarian dishes can be made vegan if you ask. The style of food is somewhat international, including vegetarian versions of some local Indonesian dishes.

I personally picked Ottolenghi’s Sweet Potato Fritters which was served with a yoghurt sauce and mango and radicchio slaw. Yes, the name caught my eye. It was nice and I passed down the information to one of Yotam Ottolenghi’s waiters at his Islington restaurant in London that a vegetarian restaurant in Bali has Ottolenghi’s dish on their menu. Small world, right?

The service is slow but not too slow and everything is fresh so you don’t mind waiting a bit. The staff is incredibly polite even if you have someone rude in your group like we did. I must say, they handled it really well and I am not friends with that person anymore for many other reasons.

The Elephant has its website and related accounts like Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. However, their Instagram account is the owner’s personal account and is sometimes full of personal stuff like the photo of his pregnant wife wearing a bikini. I personally think that it is not professional and totally irrelevant. Especially when most of the food photos –which is supposed to be their main focus—are blurry.

The Elephant can be found at this address:
Hotel Taman Indrakila
Jalan Raya Sanggingan
Ubud
Bali, Indonesia
Website

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Kafe, Ubud

Kafe is located on Hanoman Street and is a very popular meeting point for visitors as well as expats. Also, sister café of The Garden Kafe of The Yoga Barn. Every day from 8 till 11 they serve healthy food with vegan and vegetarian options.

They are big on environment: they encourage people to use less plastic bags and sell items made out of recycled material at their very own shop called Kafe Kares along with organic food, Kafe mugs and health products. Certain percentage of Kafe Kares’ profit goes to charity across Indonesia. Even the furniture here and fittings made from recycled wood! These people are dead serious when it comes to environment: they even have their Kafe Environmental Policy.

This lively café, just like many others, has Wi-Fi although it is available all day on the second floor and only until 5pm downstairs.

Back to food business Peoples. I have had many meals at Kafe but this is my favourite:

Tempeh Cashew Nut Curry (as seen below). It comes with red rice and the price is 41.000 RP.

Kafe delivers too! Their kafe-delivery-menu can be found here.

Kafe
Address: 44B Jln Hanoman, Ubud-Bali
Phone: +62 361 780 3802
www.balispirit.com/Kafe

Down to Earth Cafe, Ubud – Bali

Down to Earth Café is one of the famous cafes in Ubud. It has a feeling of expansion over the years as there is a health shop downstairs, an ice cream and desert shop next to the health shop. Right after those, another shop where they sell bags, clothes and gifts. The restaurant itself is upstairs. Balcony is particularly nice especially if you have your mosquito repellent on.

Here’s what I had:
Seitan Kebab 75 000 Rp
Moroccan style seitan, baked on a skewer, served with crunchy salad with seeds, baked pumpkin with rosemary. It was supposed to be served with either brown rice or potato fries but I had some mushrooms, tomatoes and cucumber instead. You never get what’s written on the menu here. I must admit, seitan was dry and quite poor in taste department, too.

Down to Earth Café
Jalan Goutama Selatan
Ubud – Bali
Ph: 0361 976546/7835545

The Garden Kafe at The Yoga Barn, Ubud – Bali

The Garden Kafe at The Yoga Barn is another great place to eat in Ubud. Although their menu is not completely vegan or vegetarian, there is a huge variety of delicious options. The garden-kafe-menu can be viewed here. The Garden Kafe is also part of The Yoga Barn which is the ultimate Mecca of yogis.

I have been to The Garden Kafe a few times so far however, what you see below was my first meal there.

Cashew Ginger Tofu 43 Rp
Tofu, greens sautéed in aromatic spices and it comes with red rice.

Meg’s Big Bowl 53 Rp
Greens, veggies, roasted seeds, avocado, tofu and tempeh crunch

Watermelon Hydrate 31 Rp
Watermelon, lime, mint

Raw Mixed Berry Cheese Cake 37 RP

The Yoga Barn
Address: Jalan Raya Pengosekan Ubud, Ubud, Bali 80571, Indonesia
Website: www.theyogabarn.com
Phone:+62 361 971236
Hours: 6:00 am – 9:00 pm

Soma Kafe, Ubud – Bali

I loved Soma Kafe so much the first time, I had to go back there again. It’s not just great food with lots of vegan and vegetarian options that makes me want to go back but also the atmosphere. They have beanbag cushions on the floor. You sit there, do some work on your computer (connection is good) and talk to the owner, Johnny, who is incredibly friendly. Yesterday, for example, I asked where I could buy the same plates and bowls and he immediately drew me a map and introduced me to his daughter (she designs them and an Aussie guy makes them).

This is Soma’s courtyard and those green thingies on the floor are young coconuts.

OK Peoples, here’s what we had yesterday:

Tower of Power 47 Rp
Stack of grilled jicama, mashed purple sweet potatoes, grilled pineapple, ginger mashed pumpkin topped with grilled onion and served with local greens with sprinkled sesame seeds on top.

IMG_2054 (1024x768) Ruby Moon 52 Rp
Sweet potato beetroot mash with steamed greens, grilled tempeh, shitake mushrooms and cashew cheese.