Rainy or Not, Here I Come!

Foodies Notes: Hujan Locale Ubud - Dine & Wine Bali

For foodies, long distance for a taste buds’ treat isn’t an obstacle but more like a pilgrim. We could travel miles to visit a new restaurant or taste the latest creations of a Chef. So we went! Direction Ubud, for the day, to (re)discover, the now classic, but lately revamped, Hujan Locale.


Chef Will Meyrick

All gastronomes in Bali know very well the man behind this venture. The very first Chef to attack Asian street food delicacies with a modern and creative approach. Will Meyrick, the man behind Sarong Group, passion for Asian cuisine is well known and highly appreciated. At Hujan Locale, Chef Will reinterprets some of the Archipelago classics and local favourites, to an extend never reached before.



1st Floor Lounge



Vintage Style Bar Counter

Located in a small street, few steps away from Ubud Palace, Hujan Locale is an intimate restaurant on two-storey. On the first floor, at street level, you’ll find the freshly renovated fine-looking bar with its chic bar counter, cracked mirror wall, few coffee tables and sofas subtly laid on antique-looking green tiles, toning perfectly the interior. Time to sip some of the innovative cocktails we heard about!



Cocktails crafted at your table, from a vintage wooden trolley



The Summer Land Cocktail

Crafted at your table, from a vintage wooden trolley with all the necessary bottles and ingredients, the bartender shakes your thirst-quencher with elegance and a big smile. Between the Signatures Cocktails, Aged Cocktails, Masa Ke Masa and so on, one can barely choose. Following the manager recommendation, we picked the Summer Land made of Gin, Pimm’s, Campari, Lemon, Mint, Sugar Syrup & Ginger Ale, the Passionfruit Pomelo Daiquiri with Aging Rum, Aperol, Pomelo Liqueur, Lemon Juice, Vanilla Syrup, topped with Passionfruit Foam and the Butterfly Pea Martini of Infuse Gin, Citrus, Elderflower Syrup with Egg White. Jubilant!



Left: Passionfruit Pomelo Daiquiri | Right: Butterfly Pea Martini

No to start drinking on an empty stomach, a tapas style menu is available or a few starters can be shared such as Kampung Pizza, a crispy dough with chicken liver parfait and bumbu genep or Dutch Indonesian Salted Cod Kroket with Chili Mayonnaise and Chili Sambal.

And oh, the Happy Hour, from 5.30pm to 7pm, is 2-4-1 on every cocktail listed. You better drink fast, or come every day, is you want to try many of the superb mixologist creations.

After those well-balanced cocktails, to visit the main room and start our meal, a ride to the timber stairs, crowned by an old-fashioned glass chandelier, was calling. The rectangle space surrounded by large windows on both side, overlooking a Balinese temple on one side and the street on the other, is breathing a Parisian café décor with allure and unpretentiousness. No table cloth or crystal glass and silverware needed. Simple, efficient, classy.



The Dining Room

The former bar, at the far end of the room, has been newly appointed to wine, and wine only, featuring a bottle wall that would have made Bacchus envious. With a capacity of over 30 seats, the restaurant is designed for everyone to enjoy some intimacy. For a larger group of 8 to 12 diners, an elongated table is set right in the middle of the room, promising nothing but a good time with good friends.

We started with the Tuna Betel Leaf with Lemongrass, Green Tomato, Sambal Matah and Bumbu Pasih, an exciting version of a traditional Balinese combination. A fresh and light tartare alike raw tuna, dressed with bumbu be pasih (a paste of herbs & spices generally used with fish) and sambal matah, served on betel leaf. Juicy, tasty, perfectly balanced. We could not help but to order the other starter using tuna, to see the difference between the two.



Tuna Betel Leaf



Manadonese Tuna Gohu

The Manadonese Tuna Gohu with Cracked Coconut Cream, Beetroot Sorbet, Ginger Flower, Crushed Peanuts, Wild Flowers, Torched Ginger Lime Foam and Lemon Basil. This ordinarily pickled or lime cured version of northern Sulawesi and the island of Maluku uses Indonesian tuna, rather than Skip Jack, cured by beetroot sorbet instead of the original, generates a blast of flavors and textures. Both dishes have distinctive tang, consistence and presentation.




For main, we chose the Batak inspired version of Slow Cooked Pork Belly Saksang Style with Andaliman Pork Liver and Kidu Kidu Blood Sausage. Saksang is a Batak tribe cuisine, traditionally using pork and blood as one of the main spice. Cooked as a stew, the pork belly in its sauce was divine, fatless, with a nice spicy finish, while the sausage stuffed with Andaliman spices, chopped liver and pork belly perfectly elevated the seasonings and essences of the dish. To complement this ethnic recipe, the classic Nasi Kuning (by the way, the best I ever had in Bali!) was the perfect side, along with the Green Papaya Salad with Carrot, Dried Shrimp, Tomato and Chili Lime Dressing. Oh my, oh my! Such a delicacy.



Slow Cooked Pork Belly Saksang Style

Side Dish: Nasi Kuning and Green Papaya Salad

The unavoidable is undoubtedly the Selat Solo Braised Soy Beef Cheek with Baby Organic Vegetables, Cos Lettuce, Potato, Mayonnaise. This Western cooking technique brought by Europeans during the Dutch colonization has been adopted by Javanese nobles, merging their own methods with it, to create a unique and nowadays traditional dish. Hat off to the kitchen team for cooking beef cheek that tender, melting in the mouth like butter on hot bread. The finesse of the beef with the softness of the egg, raised by the vigorous and sleek homemade mayonnaise, is extraordinary. A joy that runs through the whole body, from the tongue to the heart, rising up to your face, leaving you with nothing but a big smile and contentment.



Selat Solo Braised Soy Beef Cheek

Vegetarians aren’t pushed aside as Hujan Locale offers a variation on many items with minor change to accommodate the green lovers. For instance, the Tuna Betel Leaf turns into Hujan Betel Leaf with Fern Tip Long Bean Lemon Basil and Charred Shredded Coconut. Furthermore, a wide choice of gluten free and nut free dishes, for everyone to benefit an outstanding meal.

If you are a sweet addict or simply need to “cuci mulut”, go for the newly added and revisited Martabak served atop white chocolate sauce covered with a salty caramel. Astounding!



The Revisited Martabak

As you might have understood, the wine list deserves a special attention. Generous enough to find the flacon that suits your taste and wallet. From Sparkling to Dessert wine, local to a new world, being presented by “cépages”, the listing offers a numerous selection by the glass.

Simple, creative, Indonesian cuisine transformed into beautiful works of art!

Experienced June 2017