In Reply to: excellent food in Ubud!! posted by balifreak on Sunday, 30. November 2003 at 14:38 Bali Time:
...and also inexpensive. The "Darimana" French Restaurant, about hundred meters from the Monkey Forest is highly recommended. This is a REAL French restaurant, serving REAL French cuisine, but not the usual "high-browed" type encountered in more "high class" establishments. More like what one would expect in a "mom-and-pop" restaurant in France.
The owners, Catherine and Kadek, have many French friends, and there seems to always be one of them who just happened to have returned from France. In his/her luggage, he/she brings special, original ingredients which go toward preparing the real authentic French dishes on the menu.
The kitchen, partly opened to the dinning area, is spotless: Catherine has trained her personel well.
The menu is surprisingly extensive for such a small restaurant, but each items offered is cooked on the spot, not resurrected from the freezer. And then, there is the "Specials du Jour," which are really "specials" dishes for the day.
From the menu, I often eat the "bavette aux echalottes," (Rp35,000, including REAL French fries, not chips, made with the right kind of potatoes), or the "steak au poivre". I can assure you that one cannot find more delicious, tender steak in all of Ubud, at any price. Another favorite is the "poulet a l'estragon," or the "poulet forestiere".
The desserts are simple: tartes, creme caramel, mousse au chocolat, all of them delicious. If you are lucky, there will be an "isle flottante" offered on the "special," not to be missed.
Being a French restaurant, there are no nasi goreng, nasi campur, sate, etc, but then nobody comes to Darimana for Indonesian food...
This is one of the most pleasant dinning experience you can have in Ubud, and it surely wont break the bank.