The Crap Vegan Burger and Pester Power

Sanur was not what I expected or was looking for…It has a really nice promenade along the beachfront meaning you could walk for hours, if only you had super human powers to be able to not be annoyed by people constantly asking you if you want to look in their shop, go on a boat trip, rent a bicycle, take a taxi, buy a sarong/fan/knife or have a massage/manicure/pedicure. If you are lucky you may catch a rare moment of peace giving you an insight as to how lovely it could be.

Things would be different if they were asking me about something I wanted (like vegan cakes for example), they’d find I was was a much more willing customer, but as I don’t want to be gathering stuff or spending money like it’s going out of fashion, I found it quite draining after a while.

Luckily we bumped into a group of school kids on a trip from Java who were very keen to practice their English with us, and they were definitely the friendliest people we met in Sanur.

But our school-kid friends soon got back on their bus, which left us to be hassled by the beach sellers and taxi drivers once more.

I thought the saviour to this slow but painful torture would come from a little organic veggie cafe where I hoped to get some hippy vegan wholefood and soak up the beachy vibes. Instead I clocked up the experience of being presented with the most over priced, stingy and un-imaginative vegan burger of my life. To add insult to injury the small, crumbly broccoli and rice burger that was hidden by a dry giant bread roll, was accompanied by a stack of undercooked chips. I say stack, but don’t be fooled into thinking there was tower, or pile, or heap even. No, there were actually 5 chips. Yes 5. And they were small and undercooked. Nothing makes a vegan greedyguts sadder than this display of meanness. This wasn’t hippy wholefood, this was more like hippy half-food and even the hippy had upped and left in protest.

Luckily, this Vegan Food Quest disaster was counterbalanced by finding a beautiful little warung (means restaurant) serving mainly vegan food by a very lovely Javense lady called Mila.

Mila’s Warung is rarely visited by the masses because it’s on the wrong side of the road that cuts through Sanur, but her food is well worth the visit.

We really enjoyed Milas warung in Sanur

Mila cooks Javense dishes that are rich and flavoursome. She is generous with her portions and with her hospitality and so it’s not a surprise that friendly, food loving people flock there. We ate our fill of tofu, tempe and vegetable dishes cooked with chillies, garlic, coconut milk and galangal; the upset of the ‘disappointing burger incident’ disappearing with every mouthful. Bliss.

Plenty of Javanese vegan food at Milas

We loved evfreything at Milas

In Sanur the only thing that is stopping me going crazy from feeling like I’ve been signed up to someone else’s package holiday is the fact that just when I’ve had enough, I find a little vegan snack on the street to lift my spirits. I’m developing a true understanding of comfort eating whilst plotting our escape from the beach (trust me, if you were here you’d understand it).

We find this oh so fresh corn-on-the-cob, toasted on the BBQ and brushed with spicy chilli sauce.

And we find a man selling vegan spring rolls and tofu with peanut sauce and fresh green chillies from a small picnic box on the beach.

We’ve been staying in a nice home stay (our first ever Air BnB experience) and although our host only really speaks Japanese she is communicating friendliness to us by baking fresh bread each morning, making homemade peanut butter and offering me accidentally vegan chocolate spread (which I’ve looked for in the shops and can’t find anywhere). It’s making up for the fact that I’m melting in the heat, not really getting a good nights sleep and feeling worn down with the pester power of all the beach sellers, restaurant owners and taxi drivers in town.

Before I know it though, time rolls on and we are off to Ubud, home of all things vegan in Bali where I’m expecting peace, yoga, a calmness created by meditating spiritual people and an abundance of vegan, raw, organic treats at every turn.