miami fav #94 / bali cafe
after my friend introduced me to first and first southern baking company (utterly crushing any ignorant/close-minded doubts i had about the place), he could have told me pigs fly and i would have believed him. he had my full attention. so, when he suggested bali cafe for one of our ‘friends-that-work-on-brickell-and-are-sick-of-mary-brickell-village-lunch-options’ lunches, i jumped at the chance. i would have totally walked by this place and never noticed it. or judged a book by its cover and never eaten there. at least not by myself. thankfully, i had pierre in my life. and so we ate. we sat at a four-bench booth of sorts. which was interesting because i had to literally swing my legs over a bench and was stuck in said ‘booth’ until i swung myself back out. oh, and the seats were wood. apparently bali doesn’t embrace the idea of cushions. but the food was worth it. the menu was pretty intense. i can’t even tell you what i ordered. but i can tell you that it was good. and i had enough for leftovers. which were just as good the next day. i love when that happens. pierre and i are both leos and we can talk forever. i am pretty sure this was the first time we were completely silent for a full 15-20 minutes. and i don’t even think we realized it. the food was so good the least we could do was give it our full attention. remember when i said i would believe pierre if he told me pigs could fly? well, to prove it, he suggested we try the durian ice cream, and i smiled and practically gave a ‘hell yes!’ if you do not know what durian is, let me tell you. durian is a pungent fruit. so pungent that once it is cracked open, it can either make you a) vomit b) leave the room or c) make you smile like a bali medicine man because you know this rare fruit is about to be eaten. by you. luckily the ice cream helps dull the smell and taste. even so, after we ordered it, the waiter walked away, and then came back seconds later, asking us if we were sure we really wanted DURIAN ice cream. yes. we do. but do you know what DURIAN is? yes. we do. okay then. durian was had. a place that sells a rare bali fruit and makes it into an ice cream is kind of must-do in my book. it’s like being on vacation. even if it’s just for an hour. and you have to go back to work afterward. but an hour is better than no time at all. i’ll take it. and the durian too.
109 Northeast 2nd Avenue
Miami, Florida 33132
