Yummy yummy yummy in my tummy tummy tummy

I recently returned from Bali (and yes, I'll post some pics soon) but instead of trying to squeeze everything about my trip into one post - where inevitably I'll get tired of writing and then cut out a lot of the details - I'm going to try multiple posts, each (ideally) discussing something different about the trip.
Whether I succeed at this approach or let tiredness win remains to be seen... anyway, onto entry numero uno...

Food, glorious food!

In case you haven't noticed by now, quite possibly the only other interest of mine that might come anywhere close to my love of traveling, it's my love of really good food and its accompaniments (even shopping, which is also a favorite pastime isn't up there). And, I am very pleased to report that the food in Bali did not disappoint... not in the least!

Two dishes in particular that I feel obliged to mention (and encourage trying at home) are actually salads I had while there. The first, was with my dinner at the hotel's restaurant and consisted of grilled bananas & tomatoes over greens dressed with a light vinaigrette and, the second, was a watermelon salad I had on my last night in Bali at a restaurant named Ku De Ta. (Yes, I splurged and probably shouldn't but with the exchange rate, I could not resist because it still wasn't SO bad.) While, I loved the flavours of the banana and tomato salad, I think I could have eaten the Ku De Ta salad everyday I was there and not tire of it, it was just that good! They combined cubes of watermelon with pieces of super-soft feta (I'm pretty sure a creamy goat cheese would work equally well) and basil leaves then dressed it in balsamic vinaigrette... incredibly simple but unbelievably good!

Of course, the salads weren't the only good food to be had. In fact, the seafood was also fantastic and, on three (out of the four) nights, I had fish for dinner. All three times, the restaurant served the entire fish grilled with Balinese spices - which kind of remind me of Thai flavours - and all three times it was very very good. One of the nights, I had dinner on Jimbaran Beach - which is ridiculously romantic... too bad the only person I was romancing was myself - where I was able to select the actual fish I wanted and then, voila!, 30 mins (or so) later, my fish arrived grilled to perfection. Definitely, awesome. :)

I also had "dirty duck" while I was there and, no, the duck isn't actually dirty. Essentially, it's well seasoned, then deep-fried, duck (when done well it's not overly greasy just yummy). For someone like me who isn't a big fan of chicken breast (because let's be honest, that ish is usually dry... or super-coated in oil to make it not dry... and yes, I feel even more strongly about turkey breast but I mentioned that before) but loves dark meat, duck is wonderful since the whole bird is pretty much dark meat. And, honestly, deep-frying makes almost everything taste better so long as the deep-frying is done properly. (In fact, I'm waiting for someone to deep-fry me some brussels sprouts... maybe then I'll actually be able to stomach them... ah, who am I kidding? Brussels sprouts are just plain gross.)