Happy Budha Vegetarian restaurant in Kuta, Bali

Greetings from Seminyak, Bali.

Well today is another cloudy day - 27 degrees and 84% humidity.

Our dollar is hovering around 7,628 rupiah.

Well today I am going to blog about this little vegetarian restaurant we found the last time we were here and we went to just recently. It specialises in "mock meat" dishes.

Now for those of you that do not know what "mock meat" is - "mock meat" or meat analogue or meat substitute or faux meat approximates the qualities (texture, flavor, appearance) of certain types of meat. So really it is a food that looks and tastes like meat but is not meat. Buddhist cuisine features the oldest known use of mock meats.

There are a lot of vegetarians that scorn "mock meats" but I am not one of them - to me the point is that I am NOT eating an animal when I eat mock meats - so that has to be a good thing right? Should I be sorry that I like the different textures and variety that mock meats allow me - I don't think so. I have not always been a vegetarian so I know what real meat tastes like - I did not become a vegetarian because I did not like the taste - I became a vegetarian for ethical and health reasons - so I don't see anything wrong in eating mock meats - in fact I think more people should try it!

I became a vegetarian about 7 years ago - before that I had eaten less red meat for years and gradually just ate chicken and fish - but then decided to stop eating all meats including chicken and fish. It is mostly an ethical thing - I like animals and really just don't want to eat them but also a health thing as well - I do feel much better not eating meat of any kind. I only wish I could give up the dairy - I am really weak on that side of it - I just really love cheeses - and the non-dairy varieties in Australia are few and far between and not really very nice. So for now I still eat dairy - but one day I will give it up as I always feel much better without it.

Anyway, let's get back to the restaurant. It is situated at Jl. Raya Kuta No. 143 and its phone number is (0361) 761600.

Now it is not flash or anything - it is a simple restaurant that sells good food at cheap prices.

Well we started out with Mushroom Ball soup - which I think cost about 7,000 rupiah (90 cents AUD).

Then we had the Mutton Satay - which cost 20,000 rupiah ($2.55 AUD) - this was really great - very very spicy though - but very tasty.

We also had this meal - which for the life of me I cannot remember what it was - but it tasted really good!

Then we had the Mutton Curry for 25,000 rupiah ($3.20 AUD) - this was very tasty as well - quite coconuty - not too spicy but very good.

I of course ordered the Roast Duck Veggie dish - as this always tastes good wherever we go - I don't know how they do it - it is crispy and fatty - very nice. This was 15,000 rupiah ($1.90 AUD).

Peter also ordered one of his favourite drinks over here - the Avocado Juice (or as they type it Alvocado Juice) - this was 7,000 rupiah (90 cents AUD) - this is a very thick juice which they put chocolate sauce in - I must admit I have never tasted it - looks too weird - but Peter loves it and it looks pretty awesome.

Well we ate it all of course - they are not huge servings but we did not eat dinner after this - it was a good size meal for both of us and cost us about $15 AUD all up including drinks (an avocado juice, a coke and a lemon juice).

Well here I am looking exhausted from eating all that food - we are off there again today for lunch - as this is our last day in Seminyak before we venture off somewhere different tomorrow.

So if you ever have the urge for a mock meat feast here in Bali - don't forget Happy Budha Vegetarian - they are not open all day - so at time of writing their opening hours were 10am to 3pm and then 5pm to 9pm.

Enjoy!

Sampai Nanti!