What I Did In Bali & The Best Vegan Food in Sanur

The abundance of good vegan food, being able to immerse myself in the language and the laid back vibes is why I keep coming back to Bali. As someone with a strong intention and interest to learn about Indonesia, Bali is like the perfect balance between home comforts and Indonesian culture. It was also so good to be able to practise speaking a lot more too in everyday situations.

Visiting Gramedia

This time around… I was excited for something a bit random, which was visiting an Indonesian bookstore called Gramedia which is the only major bookstore I’m aware of that sells novels in Indonesian. So visiting this shop was one of the first things I did. Reading is one of my favourite methods to study the language, and every time I would go to a café, I would bring one of the books I bought and get into the zone to study by annotating it and translating new words. I ended up buying a couple of books for myself, one of them being a non-fiction children’s book and the other one more of a self development one, and a couple of novels for Yayan.

Gramedia is a major bookstore that sells a wide range of books translated in Indonesian and by Indonesian authors

Motorbike Lessons

It was my 5th time in Bali and I still wasn’t confident enough to ride a motorbike around on my own (nor have I ever tried). So I decided to be brave and booked some lessons with Bali Bike School! I did 3 lessons in total that were 2 hours long each and it was around $100 AU altogether. Both of my instructors, Gito and Iqbal were so calm and reassuring which was exactly what I needed. A key takeaway I gained from the lessons was how important it is to have calm and loose arms while riding and to keep the front straight and stable, no matter how much my instinct tells me to tilt left and right when I am tense. The next step now is to go for a ride on my own, without the support of someone guiding me.

Vegan Cooking Class At Moksa, Ubud

I also went to Ubud for a day to check out a vegan cooking class at a café called Moksa, run by Chef Made. He spoke about his experience eating raw food and how positive adding more raw food into your diet can be. We learned about making a vegan omelette, tempeh ribs, beetroot hummus, mozzarella, green curry and a Caesar salad.

You can see here how I completely failed to flip an omelette, and ended up losing most of it in the fire…

Where To Find Good Vegan Food In Sanur

I really wanted to venture to a different area in Bali to see what other areas have some good vegan options. I thought that I have never really hung around Sanur before, so that’s exactly what I did. A couple of great places I’ve stayed in for an abundance of vegan food include Canggu and Ubud.

Veganlicious

Safe to say I went here several times, because a smoothie bowl is exactly what I crave in the relentless heat and humidity. There’s one in Kuta, as well as Sanur. The vibes were a bit better in Kuta as it felt like a bit more of an established café but the smoothie bowls and good coffees were really what I was there for. Unfortunately on my walk back from the café back to my accommodation, I was blocked by two barking dogs from two separate roads, and felt like I had no other option but to Gojek back to my accommodation which was less than 1km away. The fear was real…

KooD – Kolaborasi Untuk Desa

I went here on my last day and I was wondering why I hadn’t visited earlier! This place popped off with the locals, with vegan gelato, soft pretzels and savoury meals. They ask you to tidy up your own table by putting your dishes in the allocated tubs, and the prices are ridiculously cheap compared to other cafes. A really big bonus was that there is a musholla at the back, which is perfect for Muslims who want to stay at the cafe a bit longer and not needing to worry about heading somewhere else to pray. So for that one day, I did Gojek back and forth primarily for the musholla.

O Baba Vegan

This is a really cute spot and basically next door to KooD. I walked to this café on the day was waiting to check into my Sanur accommodation, and it’s a very compact and small café but very tasty food. I ordered the chickpea omelette with mushroom and cheeze filling with a Bali coffee. I had to return again so I spent my last dinner with Lani having pancakes and french toast, and no regrets at all!

Sauce Tree

Another one you can find in Kuta, which is for those of you who simply crave a burger, fries and dessert! The burgers are tasty but occasionally are a bit on the bland side but not a complete dealbreaker. It’s one of those trusty places that you know will satisfy the western food craving in Bali. They also do pasta which I’m a fan of as well!

Jhoii Local Eats

Going here for dinner was actually a vibe. The ambience inside is really nice, clean and soothing. It was Friday night and it also happened to be a pasta night so there were several different pastas to choose from. The creamy mushroom fettuccini was my pick and it was full of umami goodness. It was a good thing that I saved some for Yayan who was flying in late that night as well and I couldn’t imagine something else better to dig into after a long flight.

Waroeng Bagoes

Finding the perfect fusion between a warung and a vegan café is what I’m here for! This place recently opened so they were still setting up and getting themselves organised. We ordered, noodles, samosas and rice paper rolls, all with a homemade vibe.

Bali Sabi

This is a poke bowl place that has tofu, vegan chicken and tempeh as some great protein options. You can customise your bowl and the vegan sauces and other ingredients are clearly labelled. The cookies here are also vegan and one was just like a soft and fudgy brownie!