Lotus Pond: An Asian pond in Sanur!
Food: Balinese, Asian – Price: moderate
You have a choice of dishes from almost every part of Asia. That is what is on offer at the totally revamped Lotus Pond. The only Italian item on the menu is an end of meal espresso. The large bar lounge area is a popular meeting place for locals and tourists alike. Do you like Spring Rolls? Well here you have a choice of three different styles. The Indonesian ones are the usual large rolls stuffed with chicken and vegetables, a spicy peanut sauce for dipping. From Vietnam they are stuffed with a mixture of prawn and pork meat. Wrap them in lettuce and mint leaves and dip them in the nuoc-mam sauce. Messy, but nice! The Thai Seafood Spring Rolls come with a sweet and sour sauce rather than the traditional sweet chilli.
Other Snacks or Appetizers include a sample of Chinese Dim Sum, steamed dumplings combining minced pork and prawn meat in a wonton. They arrive in a steaming basket with three dips. The Vegetable Tempura from Japan is served with a wasabi mayonnaise. The Cheese Samosas are small light pastry triangles, load them up with the well-spiced tasty chutney.
Soups include that Javanese Special, Sop Buntut [rich oxtail with vegetables and spices], a Chinese Sweet Corn & Crab, the mandatory Tom Yum Goong from Thailand [hot and sour prawns, mushrooms and lemongrass], and a most unusual offering from Vietnam; a pumpkin soup made with coconut milk but with prawns and Vietnamese spices added.
The menu at Lotus Pond features Noodles, and offers quite a selection for either the lone diner or a table of noodle slurpers. Noodles made from egg, rice flour, mung bean and tapioca [glass noodles], rice flour paste [rice vermicelli] and those two Japanese favourites; Soba [buckwheat] and Udon [thick wheat].
Noodles can be enjoyed in many different soups. Soto Ayam from Indonesia [chicken soup with glass noodles], Chinese Wonton [egg noodles in a chicken broth with prawn dumplings], Pho Ga from Vietnam [rice vermicelli in chicken broth with chicken slices] or the more famous Beef counterpart with thick wheat noodles and sliced beef. From Japan a Tempura Udon is noodles and vegetables in a fish broth topped with a prawn tempura.
Westerners are probably more likely to order their noodles stir-fried. Singapore’s Kway Tiaw is always popular. Stir-fried pork, shrimps, mushrooms and vegetables are tossed with flat rice noodles. From China, I Fu Mie, the seafood and vegetables are flavoured with oyster sauce and are served on a basket of crispy egg noodles. Yakisoba is a Japanese offering with slices of beef mixed with vegetables and soba noodles.
Heading the seafood list is Bali’s own Pepes Ikan [fillet marinated in spices, wrapped in a banana leaf and grilled] with yellow rice. The Chinese, particularly the Cantonese, love to steam their fish and there is no better way to eat it, the flesh just falling from the bones. Here whole Red Snapper is steamed, the wonderful spice flavours impregnating it perfectly. The Japanese prefer to coat their seafood with that ‘oh so lite’ tempura batter, a Seafood Tempura comes with a dashi dipping sauce and wasabi mayonnaise. The Prawns are stir-fried Chinese style with soy and herbs and served with vegetable fried rice. An unusual offering is the Crispy Calamari from Vietnam. Small pieces of squid body are battered and deep fried till crunchy, then served with nuoc-nam, chilli mayonnaise and garlic rice.
When the right crabs are available in Bali there is Chilli Crab, Singapore style, on the menu. They are stir-fried in a chilli sauce just like at the hawkers markets of Singapore.
Another Asian selection for the meat mains but the star attractions are definitely Balinese. Babi Kecap [pork in sweet soy] is a dish that everybody likes. Ayam Panggang is another great Bali dish, chicken breast grilled with spices. But the king of all of them is undoubtedly Bebek Betutu. Sold at all Lotus restaurants, not just at Lotus Pond, and always the real traditional Betutu, with the full preparation not just a quick copy done in the restaurant’s kitchen as is so often offered elsewhere.
I believe that as Bali’s national dish, restaurants that try to shortcut the process just using the name, should not be allowed to sell Betutu!
Other meat mains include that Chinese standard, Sweet and Sour Pork, here not too sweet just a nice balance. A Green Chicken Curry from Thailand, an Indonesian Rendang Sapi [Sumatran beef] and a Vietnamese stir-fry of beef strips and bamboo shoots.
Desserts are a mix of Balinese and International as most Asian sweets only suit the taste buds of Asians. A reasonably priced wine list and friendly service make this a visit that is both pleasant and affordable. What you expect from a Lotus!
Address: Jln. Raya Sanur, Sanur.
Tel: 289.398
Open: 11.00 to 23.00 daily
Credit cards: Amex, Master, Visa
Wine: limited list, reasonably priced