When I think Bali, I think food.

I just got back from eating my wat across Bali and have compiled my guide to eating real food in Bali! There is nowhere else in the world that offers 5 star food, service and atmosphere for under $20.

Every foodie has somewhere their motivation kicks into overdrive – and for me that is unequivocally this slice of heaven.

People have their views on Bali, I’ve heard it all. But my spiel doesn’t change and goes along the lines of: OH BUT YOU REALLY MUST GO.

My more specific spiel is as follows:

My friend and I only had a week in Bali this time, so armed ourselves with a full schedule of restaurants to try every lunch and dinner. Just in case we might miss something.

As hard as it is to capture the tastes, smells and experience of these meals – here is a list of my top moments from June 2015:

Can you tell I’m in my happy place?

Our holiday started in Seminyak, the food capital. Anyone who has been to Bali will know “Eat Street” as the tourist food hub.

Motel Mexicola With all the hype of Motel Mexicola, I have to say it lived up to my expectations. Just around the corner from Bodyworks, the décor here is amazing and the Sydney owners have gone bonkers to make you feel as if you’ve landed straight in Mexico. Costs about $15 a head, and we left feeling a little happier than normal after the waiter started dancing on the table, pouring tequila shots into everyone’s mouths!

Highlights of our feast were

Fresh guacamole with corn chips (best guac I’ve ever tasted!!)

Slow roasted pork Empanadas chillies, fried banana, coriander and onion pickles

Special mention goes out to the slow roasted pork Tostaditas … omg.

We finished our meal with tempura prawn, chilli-mayo, pineapple and coriander and Tempura fish tacos. We'll be back.

Another new restaurant that has recently opened is Ginger Moon situated on Eat Street just a little further down from Café Bali. Ginger Moon is the baby of the old owners of Living Room. It is Modern Asian cuisine and has one of those menus where you want to try everything!

I tried their Babi Guling bao - yes they too have embraced the bao craze as well. I guess you could describe bao as a Chinese version of a taco.

Next we moved onto Bali nachos.. a dish I'll be trying to recreate for the rest of my life!

Side note: The Crazy Ivan cocktails are CRAZY good! Do not go past these.

Sea Circus is another popular café with both ex pats and tourists. We had the prawn and fish tacos with mango salsa which were amazing. The bathrooms here are very, very cool. I think I went three times just to keep checking out the wash basin. A great, cheap, clean lunch spot. One thing I would say about this place though is the customer service could be improved.

For all the vegetarians and health food lovers, Earth Café is the place to go to for fresh, organic, wholesome food. They do amazing juices... you can almost feel the goodness spreading through you as you drink them. I had the marinated tofu with brown rice and veggies which was SO TASTEY. They also offer a range of clean, raw desserts that are unbelievable. Why don't we have something like this in Melbourne?!

If you’re in the mood to treat yourself, I highly recommend The Fat Turtle Café. Not only is the décor reminiscent of a high end Melbourne café, they serve cold pressed juices, delicious food and good coffee! Service here is great. We spoilt ourselves with their famous red velvet pancakes with chocolate soil, cream cheese, honeycomb, caramel and ice cream, #cleaneating.

Canggu - home of the surfie ex-pats

My new secret foodie go-to-spot. This quiet town is mostly home to ex-pats, and attracts both hippies and surfers due to the close proximity to Eco Beach. Coming to Canggu from Seminyak is like taking a big deep breath of fresh air. There's a focus on health everywhere you go, its a LOT quieter, prettier and more authentic. You get to see the 'real bali', in all it's raw beauty.

I’m OBSESSED, with Betelnut Café. As anyone who is my stomach or mouth knows, I can’t resist desserts. This place is famous for it’s delicious clean foods and desserts, so really, you can piss any guilt right off. #winnamate

Sitting upstairs, overlooking the rice paddies, the view is amazing. There are so many menu options, we ate here so many times just to try the top 5 per cent of meals we HAD to try! All the food is healthy, raw and delicious. Prices are super reasonable, about $5 for a meal. This was by far our favourite place in Canguu.

I popped my betelnut cherry with the Nasi Gila, this red rice nasi goreng had crispy tempe, long bean coconut, bali bumbu egg, pickled vegetables, sambal, krupuk and crispy shallots.

5 stars goes to the vegetable curry - the flavour was simply delicious. It had broccoli, cauliflower, long beans, carrot, eggplant nd tofu in a fragrant yellow curry served with coconut red rice, pickled vegetables, sambal and krupuk. In the background are the tido tacos :).

Above is the raw gado gado. What's not shown is the home made peanut sauce on the side that's mixed in - YUM!

THIS was my personal fav. For $5.50 I got the big betelnut salad - a mixture of 4 of their salads. Not only is it good for you, it's delicious.

Across the road from Betlnut is Deus, the newest child of the Australian company Deus ex Machina, started by a group of dedicated surfers. We ordered sweet potato falafel, raw zucchini pesto pasta and veggie skewers. After dinner we wondered out the back were we were treated to a live show with a glass of wine. The vibe was so chilled, we'll definitely be back!

Ubud

THIS was my favourite. I dream of going back there. If I could have a cafe, this would be it.

The menu consists of organic & local raw vegan food. They were the first 100% RAW VEGAN café in Bali. Everything is prepared fresh in their kitchen and is free from refined sugar, flour, dairy, wheat & chemical additives.

From Alcemy's own words: "For Alchemy eating is about freedom. Food should make you happy. To eat intelligently is an Art – pure enjoyment, sharing, laughter, health, & nourishment. Forget the daily restrictions, 5-course heavy meals, calorie counting, guilt, dieting, lettuce leaves or giving up desserts and eat with your HEART at ALCHEMY."

They have a wholesome 4-meter all raw & vegan salad bar which we ate from. We also ordered a green juice from their bar, and raw desserts.

The raw salad bar.

By the time we arrived at Clear, we were at the end of our Bali trip. We'd had so many amazing meals, we may have been getting a little fussy. The layout of this restaurant alone was phenom. Love the bohemian hippy vibe of the cafe. You have to take off your shoes before you enter the dining hall, so wear something easy to take off and put on. Located at the top of a hill, the views are lovely and the open air dining area is very Bali. I ordered raw rice paper rolls to start and a Dragon Bowl for my main. They were both OK, but didn't knock my socks off. Someone on trip advisor had suggested the quality may have dropped from here a little in recent times, but I'd still recommend going here to experience the cafe alone.

After only scraping the tip of the culinary iceberg, all I want to do is run back. But for now, I'll harness my latest inspo to create a new summer 2015-16 menu for my little foodies.

Hannah, The Little Caterer

What’s the point of ridiculously good looking food without someone around to take a photo of you with it?

So you’ll never have to miss a ‪#‎foodie‬ moment again - we’re excited to announce we’re joining forces with Walkin' Fish.

Walkin' Fish are a DJ and photography company who specialise in 21st and 18ths.

You can check out our new BFF's here:

http://walkinfish.com

xx The Little Caterer

We have a surprise for our teen friends….

After several requests to cater 13 to 16 year old parties, we've created a delish party menu just for you!

Put away the frozen party pies and tell mum to stay out of the kitchen – we’ve got you covered with our menu including

deep fried mac and cheese ballsnacho boatsmini chicken schnitzelsice cream sandwichescupcake champagne fluteschocolate chip and cookie shot glasses, just to name a few.

Email hannah@littlecateringco.com.au to find out more! X

We were absolutely thrilled to be approached by Beauty EDU to look after their first Masterclass. The class, hosted by Bec Judd and instructed by make-up artist to the stars Chantelle Baker and hairdressing genius Marie Uva, sold out in less than 24 hours.

When it came to our canapés, The Little Catering Co. team knew our fashionable friends would be after healthy but ridiculously delicious one-handed bites to go with their bubbles.

As our guests entered the stunning space of the beauty EDU studio, they were treated to champagne, coconut water and our own amazing canapés.

These included caramelised onion, beetroot and balsamic relish tarts with goats cheese and thyme:

And as said by Bec on her instagram “the best Peking duck pancakes ever!!!”

With plenty of smiling faces all round, this MasterClass was undoubtedly a big success.

Until our next fashionable soiree…..

The Little Caterer.