Nasi Campur @ Warung Aja

I was walking down Monkey Forest Road one day and I saw this little place set back from the road in a nice garden setting.  It was closed at the time, but I had a good feeling about it. 

The next day I took Wade with me to find it again.  I was so glad I did, because I think it might be my new favourite place in Ubud (for Indo food, anyway).  I’m starting to sway towards the cute little local warungs rather than the bigger, more elaborate (and often expensive) places.

We’d been for a walk, so we needed refreshment.  I ordered an “es campur”, which translates as “mixed ice”.  My understanding was that it would be like a mixed fruit juice poured over shaved ice, but instead, this is what I got:

It was more like a desert, but it was really tasty and very refreshing.  It had sweet milk (not condensed milk, but maybe sweetened evaporated milk or maybe just sweetened normal milk) poured over the top.  Once the ice started to melt it did become a bit more like a drink.  But the coldness of the fruit made it a fantastic snack on a hot day.

For lunch I ordered nasi campur (lit: “mixed rice”), which is another of my staples in Indonesia. 



Food doesn’t come much prettier than that, does it?  Going clockwise, starting at 1 o’clock, there was sweet, crunchy tempeh with peanuts, at 3 o’clock: some sort of shredded chicken, 5 o’clock: a little tuna, onion and chilli sambal, at 6 o’clock there is an omelette, 7 o’clock: shredded, roasted coconut salad (maybe with dried fish), and at 10 o’clock: mixed vegetables and tofu curry (this was more of a dry curry, but the tofu had a good soaking in coconut milk).  Mixed all together with the rice and chilli sambal on the side, and I quickly found myself in heaven.

Wade had a beer and a satay tempeh dish with peanut sauce and vegetables (can’t remember the name now):

If you’re in Ubud, it is worth seeking out this cute little place.  It's about half way down Monkey Forest Road on the right hand side (heading towards the Monkey Forest).  There is a sign at road level, but the restaurant itself is set back a bit.