Pulau Dewata: Centre Point

Whenever I go to Bali, I always visit this restaurant named Centre Point. It's a restaurant owned by my Mom's best buddy back in the old days, I call her Tante Tami. The restaurant is very cozy and is the perfect place for you to lounge around with your buddies after spending the whole day at the beach. The food here is diverse, starting from waffles to deep-fried calamari, from juice to traditional cold beverage named Es Campur. Plus, they have this special live music show every Wednesday where they play Kroncong music!

My favorite dish is still the Waffle with Ice Cream. The waffle is Mickey Mouse in shape and served with a scoop of ice cream, which come in three different flavors: Strawberry, Chocolate, and Vanilla. You can find a drizzle of honey glazing the surface of the waffle - and although the baked batter is not crispy and slightly burnt like how I like my waffles to be, it still tasted so good!

My all-time favorite: Mickey Mouse Waffle with Strawberry Ice Cream

One afternoon, my parents and I decided to have lunch at Tante Tami's restaurant. Dad had a plate of Stir-fried Veggie and some Deep-fried Calamari. I took a bite of each dishes and they tasted great! 

It was a hot day and I was not in the mood to eat something heavy, so I ordered myself a glass of Es Campur instead. Literary translated Es Campur means Mixed Ice. It is a popular traditional cold beverage in Indonesia that commonly consists of grass jelly, Nata de coco, avocado, jackfruit, and canned milk. The ingredients used to make Es Campur may varies, as there is no wrong way to make the cold beverage. You can even add some Rambutan and chocolate sprinkles in it and you can still refer it as Es Campur. 

Dad's Sayur Tumis, or Stir-fried Veggie

Deep-fried Calamari

A cup of cold and delightful Es Campur

One night, after spending the day traveling around Denpasar, the three of us made our way back to Centre Point. I ordered myself a plate of Batagor to munch on, then followed by requesting other dishes which name escaped me. Batagor, short for Bakso Tahu Goreng, is another example of a popular dish in Indonesia. It is actually a deep-fried dumpling, usually made out of fish and is similar to Shumai, topped with peanut sauce. The outer shell of Batagor is very crunchy and savory, while the fish-based inside part is gooey and elastic. 

The Batagor that they sell in Centre Point was crunchy and very delicious! I love how they top the deep-fried dumpling with some onion crackers, it doubled the crunchiness. I love the peanut sauce the most because it was flavorful and not sickeningly creamy. The only flaw came from the food is that the inner filling was a bit too sour for me. 

A plate of Batagor for snack

For some reason, I always have this urge to eat at Centre Point. I could order three different dishes in one night and still having the need to eat more! No wonder I gained a few kilos when I got back to Jakarta. 

Centre Point
Jl. Puputan Niti Mandala Raya
Renon, Denpasar
Bali 80235

A Trip to Bali (Part 4)

The night before the blessings for the newborn baby, we went out for dinner. We ate at a restaurant named Centre Point, which belongs to Aunt Tami herself. The restaurant was lacking of swarms of people that night, which gave us the advantage of being served faster. I had some difficulties in choosing what I should have for dinner. I mean, just look that menu! Grilled chicken, with some vegetables on the sides; how can you not drool and distracted? 

Mom, diligently studying the menu

Yes, people, you can get yourself a delightful cup of lychee flavored tea here 

These photos belong to my parents. They took the liberty to print them out and
sent it to Aunt Tami, so that she can use it to decorate this particular restaurant.
Looks pretty awesome, huh?

What I love the most about Aunt Tami's restaurant is the waffles. They are not like your regular waffle, circle and square in shape, because they are shaped like Mickey Mouse! Yes, I repeat, Mickey Mouse. It feels like I'm in disneyland, minus all of those people dressed up as Disney characters.

"A couple of Mickey Mouse shaped waffles, enveloped with nice and warm honey, and topped with ice cream," I sure like the sound of that. The ice cream comes in three different flavors, which are strawberry, vanilla, and chocolate. I chose the strawberry flavored ice cream because, in my opinion, the waffles tasted best with one. See that burnt side of the waffles? Those are the best parts! But I didn't save them for later though, because I love eating them from the ears, followed by the whole face. Make sure you eat your waffles with a spoonful of ice cream to create sparks of flavor in your mouth. Trust me on this, this particular dessert is beyond delicious.

I felt like I'm in Disneyland!

Waffles for dinner? Yes, please!

For the main course, I ordered myself a plate of rice and some deep-fried shrimps, topped with mayonnaise and sesame seeds. It had been a while since the last time I have shrimps for dinner, it didn't take me long to devour the whole plate. The shrimps were so good, I managed to finish all of them including the tails. Yes, the tails. You know how sharp deep fried shrimp tails can be, and I gulped them all because they were THAT good. The crunchiness of the shrimps was perfect, no to mention they blended well with the mayonnaise. My main course was savory, yet sweet at the same time. 

Look at how nice the shrimps are coated with mayonnaise

You're lying if you're not tempted to have one spoonful of this sinful dish

After I finished my plate of shrimps and rice, I ordered myself a plate of Centre Point's famous burger. I pigged out. It felt like as if I got hit by one of Cupid's arrow, only this time it was Ronald McDonald's arrow. But I regret nothing. It turned out that the burger tasted splendid! 

"Burger Centre Point," was the name of the dish. A plate of burger, filled with cheese and Centre Point's homemade beef, accompanied by some french fries on the side of the plate. Yum! The beef was my favorite part of the dish, because it was cooked with some onion, which made it more savory and rich in flavor. So, I took the liberty of eating the cheese first, which tasted fine, so that I could happily savour the beef later. The french fries didn't taste like those french fries that you can get at McDonald. They reek of a genuine potato and tasted like one too. I assume that the chef made this french fries out of fresh potatoes, that they bought early in the morning. 

The buns were soft and crunchy, and a bit burnt on the sides, just like how I want it to be. After I finish the cheese, I ate the buns. Then, I moved on to the french fries, and finally I managed to eat the beef. I took my time in finishing the meat, because it tasted really good, especially with some chilly sauce. All in all, Centre Point's burger is the bomb!

Potatoes gonna potate!

Save the beef for the last!

Centre Point, despite it being a restaurant and serves mostly lunch or dinner meals, is also a nice place to hang out with some friends. Ordered yourself a glass of iced lemon tea and some mini fried dumplings, then voila! another well-spent weekend you're going to have. If you have a bad day, stop by at Centre Point and spoil yourself with their delicious waffles and refreshing drinks. I guarantee, you'll come home with a big smile on your face. Make sure you have time to visit this particular restaurant on Wednesday, because they have live music during dinner. Cool, isn't it?

Centre Point

Jl. Puputan Niti Mandala Raya

Renon, Denpasar

Bali 80235