Well, we’re back. Actually we’ve been back for a little while now. A quick follow up trip to Nagano, the start of work, and the fact that I took about 1,200 photos means it’s taken a little while to guest-feature some Indonesian fare on Tokyofoodcast. First stop–Bali.

Although our destination was North Sulawesi, we stopped off for a couple of days in Bali. It seemed like a good idea to break up all of the flights, walk on the beach, visit Sate Bali, a restaurant that we missed last time, and just ease the adjustment from big, hot, busy Tokyo to the cooler, quieter, greener hills and islets of the Celebes.

We stayed at a small hotel in Seminyak, not far from the beach. A good place for morning walks along the waves and watching the surfers, but less so for swimming.

One of our first stops was the seafood market and beachfront BBQ restaurants along Jimbaran Beach. Two years ago we had some excellent seafood on Mangsit Beach, just down the coast from Senggigi Beach on Lombok. It was so good that we went back again and again. They told us that the style: simple grilled seafood by weight with plenty of side dishes was a big hit in Jimbaran, so I wanted to go to the source. Of course, Et-chan can’t resist the lure of a fish market, so we piled into old Daihatsu and headed down past Kuta.

The day was winding down, but there was still plenty of tasty ocean life on offer.

As hunger grew, we stepped from the market directly onto the beach. The jumbled working fishing boats and tourists are side-by-side here.

The fishermen relax and smoke kreteks as they watch the consumers wander around. Et-chan returned their curiosity by getting a close-up of some of the boats.

We kept on walking down the beach past the continuous row of restaurants. They are all about the same. We checked a few in detail and saw that the fare, preparation, and price was pretty much the same all down the row. Touts will offer discounts, but make sure they honor them at the end. At AMC, our promised “20% off everything” magically became 20% off fish only at the checkout, not the grossly overpriced beer and side dishes. A firm refusal to pay extra worked just fine. The main thing is to get a good table for the view and not too close to any really blaring pop music.

As the sun came down we got a great big heaping platter of grilled squid for myself and nicely grilled grouper for Et-chan. The side dishes of potatoes, greens, and rice ranged from unremarkable to poor. Half a small potato per person is just a tease. Jimbaran may be the home of this style, but the quality an prices were far better on Lombok. But, people come to enjoy the sunset and fresh fish. We did both. Washed down with plenty of icy Bintang, this dinner came in at 300,000 Rp, or just over 30 USD, which put it pretty high on our budget for dinners this trip, but I’m really glad we did it.