Re-visiting Locavore Restaurant Ubud

Locavore Restaurant Ubud

Re-visiting this award-winning gem on the island of Bali.

Locavore is always at the top of my list whenever someone asks me for a restaurant recommendation in Bali.

I first visited the Ubud based restaurant in 2015 and I haven’t stopped talking about it since. In 2016, the restaurant was ranked number 49 in Asia’s 5o Best Restaurant Awards, as well as taking first place in Indonesia, so I feel my recommend is safely backed.

Late 2016 I was in Bali again and I reserved a table at Locavore right after booking my flight (book at least 3-4 weeks before you plan to go to be on the safe side). This time I brought my partner with me, who is very much a skeptic when it comes to finer or experimental dining and to my surprise he enjoyed it. Like my first review in 2015 about Locavore, the experience was unchanged, and in a good way. Some of the dishes had obviously shifted due to the season, but the essence remained – delicate, thoughtful and sometimes complicated ingredients artfully combined and plated.

The highlight for me is the general experience which is held together by the incredible, sometimes unthinkable flavour pairings of the food. Locavore use almost 100% local and fresh seasonal produce (hence their name), in turn supporting local farmers and communities.

Guests can choose from two menu options: the herbivore (for vegetarians) and the locavore (for non-vegetarians), the dishes for each menu are printed and presented to diners in the form of a double sided bookmark so you can excitedly see what dish will be served to you next. You can choose from five or seven dishes, with or without drink pairing.

Despite the fixed menu printed on the bookmark that you can refer to while you eat, the devil at Locavore is in the details. The keen and relaxed attention of the staff, the fact that the components of each dish are explained to you by a chef or waiter, and that the culinary experience is punctuated with extra morsels beyond the menu.

Here are a few images of our most recent meal at Locavore and I cannot wait for the next one!

JC x

Beef – amino liquid, miso crème, watermelon radish, fresh long pepper leaves, yeast flakes, cucumber, shiitake.

Eel in the Green – Angak, sweet corn, chicken, seasonal herbs and honey vinegar

Into the Sawah – Hi-grade rice, snails and garlic, 64 degrees duck egg, catfish anon, fern tips, wild flowers

Burned Monsieur – fermented garlic, crotin de batur, tomato bacon, charcoal, sumbawa honey

Off the menu – an example of ‘extras’ gifted to you throughout your meal. These morsels were served after our coconut porridge dessert and included honey cake, lime tart and chocolate. We were even treated to a pre-dessert sampling of jackfruit mousse with raspberry and condensed milk.