This new Balinese Restaurant, The Waterlily, is just a stones throw from my office in Tropicana. This place though unique looking in design (well, about as unique as a Balinese restaurant can be) is a franchise and falls under the same group as Ole-Ole Bali and Bumbu Bali. I have not been a fan of either Ole-ole nor Bumbu Bali in the recent years because their food is way too greasy and the taste is sub-par. It never use to be like this in the past. Bumbu Bali started off well, but the quality of their food has since dropped, in the recent years.
For drinks, my colleague ordered the Bubur Pulut Hitam (Black Glutinous Rice) which was unusual as this is normally served as dessert. Instead we got an ice-blended version and it made a nice change because the santan (coconut milk) was fresh and did not have that engineered taste. Refreshing but a little too heavy as a drink accompanying rice .. as we soon found out.
Soto Ayam – I liked this dish a lot. They gave us massive chunks of white chicken breast meat , carrots, potatoes and rice cubes, in a clear, savory broth. Add the herbs on the side and a generous squeeze of lime and you have yourself a delightful dish. This is served with garlic bread.
Sotong Salad.. Another winner just because of the shear amount of Sotong(Squid) they used in the salad. I hope that these massive portions continue throughout their lifespan as a restaurant. With Bumbu Bali, we found that the quality of food dropped substantially after a time. Since waterlily is also a franchise, I hope that they do not follow in those footsteps.
Nasi campur – This was good too. The grilled lamb was mixed in with a generous amount of coriander and served with yellow rice, kangkung belacan (water convolvulus), a delicious ginger dip, chili dip and a crispy wafer (keropok). The plate looked huge, but my colleague said that the portion of rice was actually rather small. Just nice for one person to finish.
Would we come back to this place? Yes, because it is convenient for a working lunch. Whether or not the quality continues, remains to be seen.
Other reviews that I liked on this place:
1. masak-masak
Add: The Waterlily BistroNo. 11-G, 11-1, 11-2 ,
Jalan Mutiara Tropicana 3,
Mutiara Tropicana
474110 PJ.
03 – 7803 6603
woah! love the shot of the drinks and the low angle of the nasi campur!
love the variety of colours in the food! appetising enough to make me wanna lick my screen 😀
Ooh I love how the nasi campur is overflowing with veg, veg and more veg! Still looks rather intimidating for 1 pax but I will take yr colleague’s word and go for this!
Munkey:
rice! tell ahpa that i eat RICE! chis….
Sean:
yea, Balinese food takes pretty shots;) erm, please don’t lick your screen.. microbes!
Balinese nasi campur is simply healthy and a balance diet. Nice intro and will check it out real soon as I’m a fan of Balinese food.
I luuurve the last shot of the nasi campur. Sooooo much vege!!
All that food looks extra delish today. Must be because it’s a cold and rainy day here.. 😀
heard so much about it! I just passed by the huge billboard with the waterliliy ad on it! hope we could make time for this 🙂
You eat carbs?? 😛
min, email2me:
yar, its looks big, but is just nice for one. the food so far is up to expectations:P
gfad:
hello woman! yar, tons of herbs so you will love the bursts of tastes you get!
Christine:
check it out la..
J:
whaddaya think.. 😛
Haha! Of course u eat carbs! u enjoy your nasi lemak dont ya? ;p
hmm… all looked so yummy. yums yums
Luvlee pics, babe. You’ll hv to take me there next time I’m in your neighbourhood. Now to engineer a meeting in that area….;-)
okies can!
Delicious. Oh so they and Bumbu bali are one of the same?
Uncanny resemblance.
I like Balinese style of food, presented nicely.
I have to ask you this? Were the prawns fresh? Hahaha…Our’s and boo’s weren’t very lor 😛
TNG:
of course I eat carbs la.. ahpa is just exaggerating one simple statement I made that I prefer not to eat rice.. dat don’t mean I dont eat it at all.. otherwise how to hv energy to run like the wind?! chis..
eiling, meens:
yes, let’s have makan here
j2kfm:
yea.. same-same
unkaleong:
what prawns? i don’t think I ate anything with prawns in it wor..
hmmm, better than bumbu n ole? would love a try !
ai wei, yar well, it’s new.. so hard to say since these franchises have a knack of plummeting standards once they have been running for a while:(