Sanur
is Bali's oldest upscale resort area and a mature beach-side town.
Despite the abundance of resorts and restaurants around this place,
Sanur offers a tranquil and soothing charm. It stretches for about 5
kilometres along an east-facing coastline, with the lush and green
landscaped grounds of resorts fronting right on to the sandy beach. The
beach is thin and protected by a reef and breakwaters, so families
appreciate the limpid waves.
To
blend with the locals and for the better understanding of how they
live, a visit to Sanur Night Market can be included in your itinerary.
Located near Sindhu Beach, the market is amongst the cheapest spots that
a tourist can find themselves at. Groceries aren’t as overpriced as it
is the case with some other spots that have purposely been established
to extort the foreign tourists. Sanur Market ideally operates throughout
the day with the mornings being dedicated to the selling of groceries,
fresh vegetables, dried fish, pungent spices and various household
goods. Slightly after midday, departments shift from grocery stalls to
food stalls, and the market suddenly transforms itself into a place of
sensory delights. So, you are free to go according to your fancies and
whims. If you are a food lover and want to have it in the local way, the
best time to arrive would be after 6 PM.
Recently,
Sanur Night Market underwent some serious sorts of refurbishments and
resulting into a much more organized affair, thanks to the more space
created. The variety of street food available here is mind-blowing, from
local food stalls to meals on wheels. You can find any kind of fried
and grilled food, including fried rice, fried noodles, satay, range of
curries and stir fries. It becomes so difficult for the first timer to
choose what they want to try. The best part, everything is raging under
Rp 30,000 per item. So, if you are travelling on a budget, this is
definitely the right place to be.
Mounds
of food are dumped onto squares of waiting brown paper before being
neatly wrapped and handed to salivating takeaway customers. Most of the
visitors park their motorbikes and dash in for a takeaway, while the
others don’t mind standing in front of the stalls and waiting for the
delicacies to be cooked right in front of them. You might not find
chairs and tables as per a common seating arrangement, but frankly, who
cares! Don’t be surprised to find heaps of foreigners in and around the
food stalls and look very excited to try Indonesian food. Worry not
about the language barrier as the stallers speak English quite enough to
understand what you want to order. In case they don’t, you can still
communicate using the language of food by pointing at the items that you
want. One secret of the market is for one to understand the balance
between the sweetness and the spiciness of the foods.
As
you walk and dance around sampling the sweet and spicy intersections
wherever they meet, you will be amazed to see live coals in the stalls
where meat is charred and grilled to perfection. It is fascinating to
watch the chefs cook with their varieties of tossing, flipping, sautéing
and sprinkling exquisite Indonesian spices. Some of the food stalls
serve plates of ready-to-go food items behind glass, and you can choose
what you want to go with rice. Some of the favourites are Perkedel
Jagung (corn fritters), Terong Pedas (spicy eggplant), Tempe (soy bean
cake), and Balinese style mixed vegetables. You can also find Lawar
(coconut and vegetable dish with bits of crunchy pork), Bakso
(Indonesian soup with meatballs), different versions of chicken, beef,
lamb and fish. Fried pancakes and egg rolls are some of the other foods
prepared in different ways.
If
you are not sure what to have for dinner, you can go for a Lamb or
Chicken Satay with a delicious sweet soy sauce and Lontong (sticky
rice), or do try the savoury Martabak, which is a cross between a thin
pancake and a thin omelette, stuffed with a slightly spicy filling that
usually includes garlic, minced meat, egg and onion. It comes with
fresh, birds eye chilies, sweet chili sauce and cucumber slices on the
side. For dessert, you could buy a sweet Martabak with a filling of
condensed milk, nuts and chocolate. But if you want to go for something
light yet yummy, try a fresh tropical fruit salad of papaya, banana and
pineapple, or perhaps a Durian Ice Cream. For only under Rp 100,000 you
can have all of this. It is a free delicacy.
Sanur
Night Market is an amusing break from eating at high-end restaurants.
While gorging on street food, you do not compromise anything on taste
and quality. But surprisingly, you get to enjoy unimaginable varieties
of food at immensely reasonable rates that you actually go high on food.
The charm of standing in front of the stalls, ordering over the
counter, interacting with the friendly locals who treat you as people
rather than ‘Tourists’ and watching your food getting cooked right in
front of you is an amazing experience. Away from the posh and luxury,
the street food at Sanur Night Market gives you every reason to devour
and indulge into true Indonesian food without feeling guilty about
emptying your pockets.
This article is also published at NOW! Bali Magazine
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