1. PHOTOS SALLY MAY MILLS
ALREADY RENOWNED
FOR ITS WELLNESS AND
YOGA RETREATS, UBUD,
NESTLED IN BALI’S
CENTRAL HIGHLANDS,
HAS NOW BLOSSOMED
INTO THE ISLAND’S
HEALTH-FOOD CAPITAL
WORDS SAMANTHA COOMBER
NEW HEALTH-FOOD
BALI’S
HUB
on page 44). It’s also ground zero for the growing
local food movement (a culinary trend using locally
sourced produce in contemporary cuisine). This
could be down to the twice-weekly organic market
(ubudorganicmarket.com) or the annual BaliSpirit
Festival (balispiritfestival.com), a celebration of yoga,
dance and music that attracts a bevy of yoga teachers
and other clean-eating aficionados. Whatever the
reason, it’s good to balance out all the babi guling
(suckling pig) and Bintang beer.
Here are four Ubud restaurants as delicious as
they are healthy – no shortage of super
smoothies or raw vegan treats here!
T
he Island of the Gods has long been
considered a leading Asian wellness
destination, but the highland town of
Ubud is now the shining star of Bali’s
holistic health scene. World-class spas,
yoga centres and retreats have moved in among the
rice terraces and rainforests, making it a hub for
yoga, detoxing and alternative healing.
While there are now many health-conscious
outlets across the island, Ubud has become
Bali’s poster child for wholesome organic dining,
as well as its living and raw-food movements
(read more in the ‘healthy dining dictionary’
2015
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2. An Ubud pioneer of living raw food and
healing cuisine, Garden Kafe is ensconced
within the grounds of The Yoga Barn, Bali’s
foremost yoga centre.
Launched in 2009 when it was originally
conceived as a raw-food eatery, this open-air café
now offers a delicious all-day menu incorporating
vegetarian and vegan cuisine, raw and lightly cooked
food, as well as fresh juices. Dishes are made from
locally sourced and sustainably grown organic
produce whenever possible. You can expect the likes
of veggie burgers, IDR47,000 (S$5) and basil
sunflower chilli pesto pasta, IDR39,000 (S$4), and
don’t miss the Sunday buffet lunch, IDR65,000 (S$6)
or The Yoga Barn’s all-new dedicated juice bar,
serving slow, cold-pressed, organically inspired
juices and smoothies.
With a Californian-style vibe, Alchemy is
committed to its eco-friendly and sustainable
ethos. The mainly raw vegan meals, with a few
lightly cooked dishes, are made with organic
produce sourced from neighbouring farms or its
own garden, and they’re bursting with flavour.
At the four-metre-long raw and vegan salad bar,
diners can fill a huge bowl with their choice of the
freshest leafy greens and zingy dressings, IDR47,000,
(S$5). The breakfast bar follows a similar buffet-style
format (and is the same price), with a designated
smorgasbord of super-healthy breakfast goodies,
while the raw juice and smoothie bar offers an
impressive list of fresh, cold-pressed, raw, organic
juices, elixirs and green smoothies. Daily blackboard
menu specials cover healthy options that are less
hardcore, such as nachos, IDR49,000 (S$5).
Must try
Super Anti-Oxidant Shake, IDR39,000 (S$4),
with raw organic cashew, cacao, honey,
flax, banana and hand-pressed soy milk
Must try
Chocolate truffles, IDR22,000 (S$2) per
truffle, handmade with top-quality organic
cacao from the raw chocolaterie
Garden Kafe at
The Yoga Barn
Jalan Raya Pengosekan,
+62 361 971 236;
theyogabarn.com
Alchemy
Jalan Penestanan Klod,
+62 361 971 981;
alchemybali.com
GARDEN KAFE ALCHEMY
THE WHOLE
PACKAGE
Open from 7.30am
to 7pm, Garden
Kafe opts for a
relaxed, nature-
inspired theme to
complement its
healthy menu
ALL IN ONE
Alchemy is a
100% raw vegan
cafe and juice bar.
There’s also a raw
chocolaterie and
organic health-food
store on site
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3. Nestled in lush gardens alongside Ubud’s
Ayung River, the award-winning Fivelements is
a luxurious, eco-conscious wellness retreat. A
pioneer of Asia’s raw food movement, Fivelements’
Sakti Dining Room is in an open-air architectural
wonder of undulating bamboo.
German executive chef Felix Schoener has trained
with the world’s leading living raw-food nutrition
experts, and his acclaimed menu focuses on
plant-based and vegan fine dining. Dishes, mostly
raw, but also featuring some lightly cooked varieties,
are tasty and infused with East-West influences.
Standouts are the Spicy Beetroot Gazpacho,
IDR80,000 (S$8) and Black Rice Risotto, IDR135,000
(S$13). The beverage list is just as impressive,
including elixir shots, nut milks and superfood
smoothies.
Sprawled across a private estate above a
jungle-covered gorge, the award-winning
COMO Shambhala Estate is a world-class holistic
health retreat. The luxury hotel emphasises healthy
cuisine with its resident nutritionist and all-day
dining restaurant Glow. Once you’ve finished taking
in the eatery’s dramatic view of Ayung River, your
eye will wander over to Glow’s mega-healthy menu,
a well-balanced mix of raw living foods and lightly
cooked premium meat, fish and vegetables. Dishes
are international (think Moroccan, Greek, Japanese,
Italian, Indonesian and Malay), scrumptious and
sophisticated, and the informal Sunday Brunch,
IDR550,000 (S$54) may well be one of the most
diverse you will ever have – not to mention the most
entertaining; it features performances by Balinese
dancers and a gamelan orchestra.
Must try
Zucchini Tomato Lasagne, IDR165,000
(S$16), with tomato-ginger marinara,
cashew-nut ricotta, Asian herb pesto,
shiitake and raw chilli sambal, as well
as the Himalayan goji smoothie,
IDR85,000 (S$8), with goji berries,
coconut milk, vanilla, banana, ginger,
bee pollen and turmeric
Must try
Pepes Ikan, IDR250,000 (S$24) – grilled
kingfish, tomatoes and mushrooms cooked
in banana-leaf parcels with Balinese
spices, lemon basil and lime leaf
Sakti
Dining Room
Fivelements, Puri Ahimsa,
Banjar Baturning, Mambal,
+62 361 469 206;
fivelements.org
Glow
COMO Shambhala Estate,
Banjar Begawan, Desa
Melinggih Kelod, Payangan,
+62 361 978 888;
comohotels.com/
comoshambhalaestate
SAKTI DINING ROOM GLOW
LAP OF LUXURY
Surrounded by lush
tropical gardens
beside the Ayung
River, Sakti Dining
Room is renowned for
offering a fine-dining
experience in an
eco-luxurious setting
INTERAC TIVE
EXPERIENCE
Glow features an
open kitchen where
guests can watch
their meals being
prepared
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4. Cold-pressed juice
A method of extraction in which the
fruit or vegetable is first crushed, then
pressed for the highest juice yield.
Much less heat is produced in this
process (compared to ordinary
juicers), so the nutrients of the fresh
ingredients are better preserved.
Eat like a locavore
The local-food movement aims to
reduce ‘food miles’, the distance food
travels from farm to plate. Locavores
eat food that’s usually grown within
a 160km radius. Eating local also
means you’re connecting with the
people that grow your food.
Organic food
Produce grown using organic farming
methods. There’s a growing organic
movement around Ubud among
farmers, artisans and cooperatives.
Standards vary among organic
certifications, but each delivers an
overall benefit to the environment and
livestock. Organic farmers are not
HEALTHY
DINING
DICTIONARY
allowed to use pesticides or genetically
modified crops.
Macrobiotic
A dietary regimen consisting of grains
as a staple food, supplemented with
other foods such as local vegetables.
People following the macrobiotic diet
avoid highly processed, refined foods
and most animal products.
Vegan
A vegan diet is different from a
vegetarian one. Vegans do not eat
or use any animal-derived product,
including honey and many sauces that
contain animal by-products. Vegans
also avoid leather, silk and wool.
Raw and living foods
These are foods that, in order to
maintain nutritional value, are not
processed, cooked or heated.
Followers of the raw-food movement
believe when you cook food, the heat
destroys most of its nutrients –
enzymes, vitamins and minerals that
assist digestion and absorption by the
body. They eat fruits, vegetables,
sprouts, nuts, seeds, grains, and other
unprocessed foods. Living foods have
more enzymes than raw foods. The
enzymes in raw foods are considered
dormant until activated. To activate
them, raw food, like peanuts,
must be soaked in water.
When sprouting occurs,
the enzymes are
‘awakened’.
Why go raw?
Followers of the raw-food
movement swear health benefits
include improved detoxification and
digestion, greater energy and mental
clarity, weight loss, reduced risk of heart disease
and cancer, and effective treatment of allergies,
high cholesterol and improved immune systems.
Some even go so far as to claim it improves
emotional wellbeing, beauty and longevity.
Raw what?
We explain the
latest foodie terms
Travel Info
Jetstar flies twice daily from Singapore to Bali.
Visit jetstar.com to book
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H E A L T H - F O O D C A P I T A LInsight