Food Tips for Bali Travel with two kids
 

Hello,
We are considering a month-long trip to Bali next November or December, 2011. My husband and I will be traveleing with our two kids - ages 5 and 7 at that time. I think we have narrowed it down to two weeks in Ubud and two weeks at a beach - perhaps on Nusa Lembongan or Bali beach. I am wondering about accommodations as it relates to food. We typically prefer renting an apt. or house because it's easier with the kids (they are not adventurous eaters although we are) and then cooking at home most of the time. However, as I have been reading about Bali it seems that food prices are incredibly low, so I'm wondering if a hotel might be a better economical option. I am not sure what the food quality, ease of access and variety would be like also - specifically for kids. Does anyone have advice on this?
Thanks so much!

Food is inexpensive in Indonesia. (It’s the alcohol that gets you.) Remember that hotels add 21% tax to everything, so non-hotel restaurants are less expensive.

When my son was your kids’ ages he was a picky eater that needed to be fed every few hours. We never had problems in Bali finding food that was appealing to his limited tastes: plain rice, plain pasta, bread and rolls, sate, grilled meats and fish were everywhere. Plus the ubiquitous french fries, pizza and spaghetti Bolonaise, sauce on the side.

Greens were difficult because my son didn’t like salad. Vegetables had to be special orders – steamed, plain – but I can’t remember any restaurant that wasn’t willing to accommodate. The only fruit my son recognized was the banana (still!) but if your kids are fruitarians there are so many choices.

We always kept snacks in the room – e.g., UHT milk in small cartons, peanut butter and crackers, bananas, individual cereal boxes (often filched from the breakfast buffet).

I’m not keen on the idea of cooking at home in Bali (unless someone else does the shopping and clean up). Villas often come with staff who will shop and clean for you and sometimes prepare simple dishes. This is probably the most practical and economical approach.

Market choices are limited (though improving). Imported foods are costly and local foods can be difficult for non-locals to secure. Salad greens and raw vegetables need to be carefully cleaned. Because restaurant choices are plentiful and room service agreeable, I don’t see any reason to bother with do-it-yourself.

The above mentioned breakfast buffet is a treasure trove of surreptitious take away. Obviously, you don’t want to overdo, but a purloined muffin here or there is okay.

Encourage your children to be adventurous as the food in most parts of Asia is interesting, and on most occasions taste sensational. The visual presence of the different foods, textures and tastes will be an amazing educational feast for them.
Please don't feed them on the usual junk food western stuff that the hotels offer on their kids menu, it is an insult to the locals. Start talking to them before they go about the different fruit, vegetables and tastes they will experience and perhaps start introducing some of the recipes into your own home cooking as part of the pre trip experience.

I am a bit of a food sergent in our house and right from an extremely early age - everyone had to eat fruit, vegetables as a regular regime...no excuses, it was all just part of the daily ritual of treating your body with respect and fueling it correctly.. Part of the education about looking after yourself.

I personally think that Ubud is a great place for kids and it's easy to get familiar and refrigerated foods at the supermarkets that have sprung up, namely Bintang and Delta Dewata. You can easily get bread, peanut butter, jellies, bananas, meat and fish and so forth, which you can cook yourself, if you decide on a villa. However, the restaurants are pretty inexpensive, if you eat at smaller local oriented places. The international type restaurants can be fairly expensive, from $3 to 9 dollars for a simple dish. Or $2 for a juice or lemongrass tea. But if you eat at small local places it would be around $1 for a fried rice or plate of chicken, rice and small mound of local veggies (urap). Local fruit in season is wonderful and not too expensive.

For Nusa Lembongan, it's been a few years since I've been there but food choices and activities will be much more limited there. I would actually recommend Sanur at for the beach portion, for ease of going to the Safari Park and other activities and you can also take one of the quick boats to Nusa Lembongan for waterfun.

Many of the villas come with maids who also cook breakfast and so forth, but you might have to train them to cook your style of food. (as you would anywhere, really.) I personally would prefer a hotel as there will be a fuller range of services and there are many nice boutique hotels are not too expensive...In Ubud it could be from $30 (including pool and hot water, possibly air con, to less than 100 a night, depending on location, amenities, etc.

Restaurant that you should go : Nasi Pedas (infront of JOGER outlet), Bebek Bengil, BU OKA Babi Guling, Ayam tulang lunak (Malioboro restaurant), Seafood restaurant along the Jimbaran street..

These were great tips - thanks so much everyone. Just for the record, my kids DO eat lots of fruits and vegetables and I didn't plan on only feeding them western foods...the point was more to have *some* familiar, simple foods on hand when they grow tired of the local stuff and/or we don't want to go out - especially since it will be an extended trip.
Kuluk - do you have any hotel recommendations in the price range you were talking about?