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Since we've been in Sanur we haven't had a full dinner at a restaurant. We've only had some appetizers here and there.
We're leaving for Bangkok soon so last night we wanted to have an actual dinner on the beach at our favorite spot where we had the best appetizers once. This place is very cool and has a ton of vegan options. It's called the Genius cafe.
When we left to go to the restaurant, it was surprisingly a little dark. We hadn't paid attention to the time and thought it was much earlier then it was.
It had been raining on and off this week and even when it's not raining the air feels hot and damp. We weren't going to let this stop us from heading out.
On the way we stopped to admire a strange beautiful junkyard of banana trees void of bananas. I think the leaves are beautiful anyway.
Passing by the many many shops with clothes, shoes and souvenirs, I wonder how long these things have been in these stores. There aren't many people shopping at all. I wonder if some of these things are stocked from years ago.
There are taxi drivers along the way hoping to give someone a lift. We haven't accepted a ride yet and I haven't seen anyone else hop in a taxi the whole time I am here.
After you say "no thanks" they always respond with "tomorrow?" It's kind of cute but I feel sad for them. How are they surviving?
Any one who has been to Bali will have seen the black and white checkered clothes wrapped around trees and statues. They're called Saput Poleng. It represents balance. The Balinese will wrap it around trees and statues where they believe a spirit dwells. If you are in Bali you will often hear vehicles honking randomly. It's not random at all. They honk to pay tribute to the spirit.
If I were blind folded and taken to a surprise tropical place, then saw these checkered cloths, I would know right away that I was in Bali.
Part of the walkway goes behind a bunch of restaurants that appear to be the more casual spots along the way.
Since we've been here we rarely see more than two or three tables occupied at these really nice beach side restaurants. I don't know if this is because of low season or because the town just isn't popular.
What amazes me is that many restaurants have live entertainment even when there is barely an audience. The bands put in full effort and are quite entertaining but receive very mild applause if any.
There's always something going on at certain places where the nicer resorts are. It's more costly at these places but if you can afford it the atmosphere is quite nice.
As we near our destination, the sun is in a hurry to disappear. We notice lanterns lit up suddenly.
After walking for a while we see the Genius cafe and it's full. The seats by the beach are all taken and there are only a couple of small tables left. This restaurant is always full.
It took a long time for someone to notice us but we didn't blame them because of how incredibly busy they were. It was absolutely bustling. The kitchen was just pumping out one dish after another. We were really impressed with how hard the kitchen staff worked. We worked as cooks in Montreal and we could have used some of these kind of workers. The wait staff were running back and forth. They really had their hands full.
Even though they were very busy, when they got to the table they were very friendly.
When we got the menu we had the most difficult time choosing what to order. There were so many vegan options that sounded amazing.
The prices here are a little more than some of the other restaurants along the way but still reasonable for the taste and quality of the food.
Each time Marc and I go to a restaurant, we each order a dish but we always share no matter what.
We finally made a decision and if I had been more hungry I would have ordered more. We chose a curry and a vegan pizza.
The curry was called Genius curry and I kid you not, the name is fitting because whoever came up with this dish is a genius.
This particular curry was warned as a little spicy but I asked for extra spice. Usually in Canada when I order more spice, I get a bottle of hot sauce. Last night they brought chopped up hot chilies and wow did they do the job.
In Ubud I had a couple of dishes that were in a peanut sauce but it was always rather chunky. This particular curry was sort of like a peanut sauce but it was smooth and the flavors were balanced perfectly for my taste. I also added extra tempeh.
This truly was one of the most delicious dishes I have had here in Asia.
The pizza was a vegetarian pizza which had a vegan cheese option. I usually don't care for vegan cheese and opt for no cheese but last night I was curious what it would be like.
It was more like a vegan cheese sauce. In fact it resembled the one at the restaurant that I worked for in Montreal which was delicious.
This sauce was also delicious and the pizza was seriously the best vegan pizza I have ever had.
I really got full quickly so we packed up half the pizza. We saved enough room to share a desert.
We chose a raw tart made of beet root, cocao, chia, dates and other raw ingredients. This desert was the healthiest part of the meal. It was the perfect desert for us because we normally don't have a sweet tooth.
We left with a lovely paper bag containing half of a delicious pizza to have for a snack later. I was too full when Marc ate it all. I was disappointed when I was finally ready for more.
We are leaving tomorrow and must pack. We came from Canada with only carry on but most of the weight is electronics. Im going to throw away some of the two dollar dresses that I bought in Thailand. I'll get more when I'm there.
I think that if last night would have been our first night in Bali we may have had a different feeling about Bali.
I love Genius Cafe so much that I almost want to come back to Bali just to have dinner there.
Tomorrow we'll be eating in Bangkok.
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