Bo & Bun, Seminyak 12-2014

After nearly a week of family dining, I finally had a night to myself. Two were having a traditional Balinese dinner and dance performance at our hotel Anantara and two were trying out the Tripadvisor #1 glamorous waterside setting and food of Bambu. This unprecedented freedom for dinner had me enjoying the ridiculous luxury of the Anantara suite and looking up places to go. We were due to try the top restaurant Sarong (San Pellegrino #47 in Asia) the next evening, so something closeby and not over the top appealed to me.

In the end, I settled on the choice of 3 - the famous Warung Made, a new place Bo & Bun, and a dumpling place Fat Gajah. Lucky for me all of these were on the same street within a few minutes walk of each other.

I decided Bo & Bun would be dinner, and I'd try one of the other two possibly for the lunch the next day. The menu of bao, kimchi fries and pork ribs was something I couldn't resist. As much as I want to eat local food everywhere I go, the reality is anywhere in the world when I want something different or a well rated fusion South-East Asian place is available, my interest is piqued. I actually liked the idea of pho, but as I thought about it there, I figured I can get good pho in Australia (even Canberra!). And they told me they were out of rice noodles. That made the decision easier.

I was trying to figure out the name Bo & Bun. Bo perhaps being reference to Vietnamese word for beef? However they use the western word of Bun for bread or maybe as a play on the Vietnamese word banh? Or it could be Bun as for rice noodles... who knows.

- Bao Gao Pork Belly (twice cooked pork belly on steamed buns with crushed peanuts, pickled cucumbers, hoisin sauce, fresh coriander & Vietnamese chilli) - excellent flavour combinations with additions of pickled cucumbers and textural crushed peanuts. The pork was nice but quite fatty;
- Bo & Bun Bulgogi Fries (stacked fries, chopped kimchi, beef bulgogi, Sriracha garlic aioili, scallions, coriander & black sesame) - a wonderful dish I haven't tried that reminds me of MEATliquor's chilli cheese fries. A Korean equivalent with delicious meat morsels, sweet aioili, chilli, multiple textural elements and good old fashioned fries;
- Pattaya Pork Ribs - they recommended these best seller ribs over the Sticky Hoisin Ribs (which is a flavour I almost always like). The ribs were ok, very meaty and chewy rather than soft and a simple soy marinade. I think I would've preferred the other ones.

If going alone, the pork belly and bulgogi fries were enough food for just me. It was my natural travel greed that made me order the ribs at the end. The Try Everything sampler lacks the essential Fries (which is a shame), but otherwise the only other one to try is their take on KFC wings. Other diners ordered the banh mi thit and East Burger both of which had promise. Only if you have enough time and stomach space.

Next time I would order with a 2nd person to try more things. If alone, I'd ensure enough stomach space then order Bulgogi Fries, and two out of three of either Bao Gao or KFC wings or Banh Mi Thit (or East Burger)