Neka Art Museum, opened in 1982, is Bali's painted and sculpted catalogue of the island's history and culture. This art in this place, the mecca for Balinese art past and present, is driven by the talent and cultural contributions of the artists in the collection.
Basically it's a museum full of significant and pretty cultural stuff which covers Bali's history, but without the bullshit all too often associated with art. I'd be an awful art critic.
But before we arrived at the museum, since we had probably only had 14 meals thus far on that particular morning, we realised we might die from lack of sustenance if we didn't stop for a meal on the way. That's when we came across Warung Sanje.
I'm a chronic walker. Part of it is being cheap (I have a difficult time understanding why people are desperate to pay for transportation when we come equipped with legs and feet), but mostly it's because I like to take my time and explore. Case in point, we'd have never discovered Warung Sanje had we hailed a taxi to the museum.
It's a small place on the corner of a short row of businesses, and if you sit outside there's a view of a mini rice field at the side of the building. There are ducks and stuff.
The fried tempe and tofu, a soya-tastic plate with plenty of soy sauce, comprised of green beans, carrots, garlic, and plenty of tasty oil. I appreciated that it was soy sauce as opposed to kecap manis, as sometimes I find too much of the latter can be a little rich for my tastes.
The tempe and tofu curry, a salty coconut based thin soup dish, involved an array of vegetables and soy. Tofu, tempe, carrot, green beans, potato, cauliflower, garlic, and chilli graced the bowl in a not at all spicy fashion. The broth featured a strong herbal ginger taste – kencur I reckon – which wasn't quite ginger.
Warung Sanje was a worthy find, if a little salty, but then again that can be taken care of with an extra beer or two later on. Right? Right.