The Dirty Duck of Ubud #4 – And Licked Our Fingers.

We had to go for a cocktail party by the beach this evening. As food will be served, we have to leave some space in our stomach for the anticipated sumptuous meal. It is already late afternoon so we only cautiously ordered half a duck to be shared by the three of us.

To me duck are better stewed, braised or roasted to retain a bit of moisture and should come with a strong sauce or it will be over-powered by the strong taste. I was concerned that deep fried duck may be too dry, tough or fibrously.

It didn’t look that great but appetizing and smells good. It came with three small side plates of salad, sambal sauce and spicy pickled onions. The main dish itself came with sautéed potatoes. We tear into it with bare hands. And what a taste! Crispy, crunchy, with a mouth-watering spicy (not hot) flavor. It had been well marinated (we later learned for 36 hours) so that the spices had time to leisurely seeped into and blended with the meat so that the rich taste in every part of the duck.

It is unlike any duck I’ve ever tasted. Thus, it is no wonder to receive testimonial from guests such as Chow Yun Fat. There was also a magazine cutting of a famous French chef who said he still dream of “Dirty Duck.” That is a great compliment considering the pride the French had in their skill in preparing duck dishes.

Want proof of how much we loved it? Looked at the before and after pictures. Only the big bones were left. We chewed all the small bones. We looked at each other and said we just had to have another go. We decided to give the chicken a try.

I had a friend with a genius IQ traveling with me. So we let him order. In his affable manner he told the waitress “Can we have half a Bebek Ayam?” The waitress looked at him first in puzzlement, then with an amused smile said “Bebek is duck, Ayam is chicken’. So we should be ordering Ayam Bengil instead. I told the genius I liked him a lot better now for he just proved himself human. The chicken was good but no where as great as the duck. We left the restaurant more than satisfied and secretly wished we did not have another dinner that night.

The Dirty Duck of Ubud #3 – We Luv.

We walked to the back enticed by the luscious green padi rippling in the breeze. The darker green of older plants was split by a path. This contrasted beautifully with the lighter green of younger shoots in the distance. All these were framed by tall coconut trees against a bright blue sky with spotted low hanging clouds.

To add to the effect is a stoned fisherman who is happy just to fish, not worrying about catching anything.

A well endowed woman seated so comfortably that the weight on her head seemed as light as a headdress.

This pot of lotus perfectly in place among the padi.

Who could resist walking down this path to the inviting scene?

This was the view when I looked back to the restaurant which looked more like chalets.

No where in the world had I come across a modern restaurant with a back view like this.

To be continued.....

The Dirty Duck of Ubud #2 – We Came, We Saw.

The streets of Ubud are very narrow with no place to park so we decided to walk the short distance from Zen spa. The entrance was rather simply decorated by Bali standard but still have a number of interesting, creative and innovative sculptures.

Like this walkway over the drain that leads into the restaurant. Concrete ducks welcoming you in.

This child seemed to be saying – “the food here is so good that my mouth could not stop watering.” The owner has a sense of humor and is innovative for who would dare to call his restaurant “dirty” anything. Note the hibiscus on the stone sculpture. I love this Balinese touch of bringing life to inanimate objects.

When we walked in, the restaurant opened out to a much larger area than its front suggest. Similar to many Balinese restaurants, decoration is tastefully done with lots of wood. At this stage, I’m not yet overly impressed though I do have a favorable impression. We declined to take a seat and moved deeper into the restaurant which opened to a courtyard garden with lots of surprises.

A curious cat.

The Goddess of Fertility.

We would love to take one of the individual hut where we can sit cross-legged on raised wooden platform enjoying the breeze and unobstructed views but they were all taken.

We have to be satisfied with the solid but comfortable seating of the main dining hall but even then looked how relaxed everyone was. I just loved the very casual atmosphere of the whole place. It is like we are dining at home or among friends.

Once we got our seats, we stood up immediately and explored the place. I tried to present a number of photos to give you an idea of what the massive place look like. In spite of that, it told less than half the story. Which goes to show how artistically rich the place is.

If you think this is impressive, what you’ll see next will blow you away. The next post we will continue with the rest of the restaurant and we haven’t even got to the food yet!

To be continued...

(Please also see "Ghost Walk" for extended blog)

The Dirty Duck of Ubud - #1.

The dirty duck of Ubud coming up next. Rather fierce, don’t you think?

Now to tantalize you a bit, here is how the “Dirty Duck” got its name from the owner’s mouth – “One tropical monsoon morning, when the restaurant was very close to being finished (we had the concrete floor down, and the tables in), a flock of ducks from the rice field across the road (yes, there were rice fields all around us then) ran quacking and squawking into the restaurant and across the floor and tables. They left muddy webbed footprints all over the place. They were our first guests - those dirty ducks!”

Don’t you just love a good story? And yes, the padi fields are still there. This has got to be my favorite decoration (its natural – and that is priceless!) for a restaurant. Coming soon or in the local lingo - "Akan Datang". Please go to my Ghost Walk blog for the prequel to Dirty Duck.

To be continued...