Same Warung, Different Day

It's all completely reversed.

In 2004, when I moved to Bali and took up residence in our compound, I had the idea that I would live off local resources. I imagined that there would be some great places for food within a few blocks of the house and perhaps a grocery store I could walk or quickly ride to.

Only there wasn't.

I discovered there were mostly some cheap local warungs (food stalls/cafes) down the road – too far to walk to in the midday heat, at least for me. Although the prices — 40 to 50 cents a meal – suited my very lean budget, the lack of variety and ultra simplicity of the food didn't suit my palate.

Before moving into the house, I spent a month in the center of Ubud surrounded by fantastic cafes and restaurants that threw creativity and flare into even the traditional dishes. They also geared flavors, portions and of course, ambiance to travelers. Meals in town cost five times as much on average, but they were still $2.50 and that still didn't seem like too much for my budget.

After a couple of weeks of Nengah, the housekeeper, going to a local hole-in-the-wall grocery and coming back with lame ingredients like processed cheese food and margarine for making breakfast, I started to get the picture that for both take out and groceries, I needed to get used to the 20 minute ride to Ubud.

Over the following two years, money got better and I routinely had my lunches in town and brought home higher quality ingredients for breakfasts and dinners from the expat grocery store. Real cheese, French butter, green tea, boneless chicken breast (Nengah never quite figured out how to properly fillet a chicken himself), bakery bread….all the niceties that weren't – and still aren't – in the areas near the house.

The better the cash flow, the more I wanted nice meals with great views. Over time and as the novelty wore off, I went from eating only Indonesian food to eating at fusion places or the ones that make fantastic brunches and sandwiches.

So, when Emily and I arrived here, I was keen to show her Ubud's culinary best. We have been to cafes and restaurants up and down Ubud's length and from one side to the other. In my mind, I can map out the streets of town and the sequence of shops and restaurants. We've worked or dined at almost everyplace that has a "Free WiFi" sign in front and a few that don't.

But as time has worn on and we've eaten many, many great meals with our recent guests, something about working at home and not going too far for lunch has become increasingly appealing.

At first, we made padang runs. The selection of various pre-cooked items on rice, covered with Sumatran coconut curry and a load of very hot peppers delighted Emily's tastes. The out-the-door price of about $2.70 delighted her imagination as she contemplated all the shopping she could do with the money we saved.

However, there's not a padang warung near the house. It's still a 10-15 drive to the nearest padang. True convenience required us to visit the local Balinese warung. Back to where I started in 2004.

To both of our surprise, the food is actually pretty good. It's cheaper than padang and less heavy (which I like a lot). Our options are limited, but they can churn out a pretty good nasi goreng (Indonesian fried rice) that rivals anyone's in town – only at a much better price.

The surprise of surprises has been Emily's recent addiction to the bakso ayam – the chicken meatball soup only found at food carts and bakso warungs. Given that my wife has a strange aversion to chicken and turkey despite eating every other meat known to man – her love of bakso ayam is almost feverish. She dumps the warung's own Balinese hot sauce into her soup and lights her mouth on fire as she so loves to do.

Over the past two weeks, whenever we haven't had guests or other activities that have taken us into town, Emily and I have stayed at the house and worked in quiet and comfort. Out midday food run to the local warung has become a pleasant little break.

The simple, but fresh and nicely seasoned food has become – to my amazement – a treat. It's lighter and less exciting than anything in town. For some reason, the lady at the local warung also takes longer to prepare it. We haven't yet figured out why. But it's good – and we can take it to go and enjoy it while working in the cool and quiet of our compound and house.

Today I unpackaged the 50 cent nasi goreng and the aroma came up to meet my nose, I thought how it's all come full circle. Now that I can afford to eat anywhere in town anytime I want, I'm back to eating warung food. Only now I enjoy it and the freedom and convenience it represents, instead of the constraints and limitations it did before. The rice is the same, it's me who's changed.

Same thing, different day, a world away. Yum.

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