Locavore - Ubud | Simply the best.

Locavore - Ubud (Image by Sue Hellyer)

So with all the great food we eat in Perth and Australia in general, the Blonde and I are always only one step away from reminiscing about the stunning, first class food we have had in Bali.

Now before you roll your eyes and go back to browsing for kitten videos, hear me out.

We're not talking a greasy "Aussie burger" at the Hard Rock Cafe in tired old Kuta - I'm talking refined, locally sourced, sustainable Balinese inspired menus.

In the hills an hour, if you are lucky, inland from the beach sits our food heaven - Ubud.

What Ubud lacks - bogans in singlets, hawkers in Bintang shirts, navigable footpaths, bottle shops and street lighting - it makes up for in brilliant food and dining experiences. There's even a Michelin starred resto there. I know right!

There are also some of the most beautiful hotel rooms that we have ever inhabited anywhere on the planet, more on that in another post.

Now Ubud has nothing to offer the usual beach bound, well there's no beach to start with, tourist but is famous for its various arts festivals - Writers and Readers, Food, Spirit, Vegan, Jazz and others. So its BoHo - Indonesian style.

We have been visiting Ubud for many years and we are always keen to go back and explore new food ventures. We also have a few faves we go back to where we know the wine and food are exceptional.

Spice for instance has always been top of our ultra-casual dining list.

A tiny, glass-fronted bar surrounded by about ten tables all looking out onto a frantic Jalan Raya Ubud, Spice is modern Indonesian food at its best.

And its not a wallet breaker with the average dish around IDR95k (AUD$9.50). Tuna, Beef Carpaccio and a bunch of local mainly vegetarian offerings make it a great place to while away an afternoon.

Hujan Locale is another go to dining experience - though quite noisy. The focus here is more traditional Indonesian Archipelago food with wordy dishes like "Sate buntel”, minced lamb wrapped in caul and served with a goat bone tengkleng". Yep me too!

Its a place well worth a visit if only for the Carrot Mai Tai cocktail....

But way at the top of our list is easily Ubud's, and probably Indonesia's, most inventive, unique and complete dining experiences - Locavore.

Renowned by chefs world wide, Locavores head chef, Dutch born and Michellin trained, Eelke Plasmeijer and Jakarta native, Ray Adriansyah as head Sous, have made a conscious decision to present locally sourced, sustainable and traditional Indonesian food in a modern European setting.

Sitting back from the busy throng that is Jalan Dewisita, smack bang in Ubuds food belt, Locavore's unimposing frontage hides an elegant, quiet and beautiful dining space.

The menu, as mentioned, is completely seasonal and runs about 4 months.

There are two dining options: Locavore Menu featuring animal protein and Herbivore, obviously purely vegetables. Courses of six or nine dishes can be chosen in each menu.

We have dined there many times and no two experiences or menus are the ever the same. At one sitting, an ornament on the table became part of the desert. Stunning, inventive cooking.

Locavore and its sister restaurant across the road, Nusantara are worthy of a visit. You won't forget it...