Let’s be clear, Sensorium is not your usual cafe and is in a different league to all the cafes that just do different variations of food with avocado, frozen fruit, quinoa, etc.
It is a gem in Bali. And in any city.
We’ve been there 3 times during our stay in Bali, whilst all the other cafes like Motion, Eden, Organic, Milu by Nook, Penny Lane, etc, we’ve only been to once each and felt they are all the same, with nothing that stands out days and weeks after the meal.
But with Sensorium, I’m still thinking of its Bulgogi Burger, The Earthy Plate, Ramen, and most of all, the Ice Cream Sandwich. We even saw a guy who came in only for the Ice Cream Sandwich! It’s the only dessert available.
The menu is short, focused and clearly knows what it wants to convey; the food sounds familiar but the taste is refreshing and elevated with surprises here and there. It’s a joyous affair on the tongue, food made with a lot of love, passion and finesse from a young chef.
The Bulgogi Burger has a meat patty that is well marinated, rich but still lightened with a squeeze from the charred lime. A satisfying and messy eat! :-)
The Earthy Plate. Even though it’s just charred vegetables, its all done very delicately and it all comes together very well with a hummus base. Enjoyed how the different flavors emerge to give a hearty meal.
The Bacon & Egg Roll and Pulled Pork Benedict are worthy mentions too. In fact, all items are.
To us, the best was the Ice Cream Sandwich. 2 rectangular sandwiches, made of grilled buttered and salted bread, one sandwiches a delightful and surprising beetroot ice cream, dusted with sesame powder. This is your palate cleanser before diving into the other sandwich; a salted caramel ice cream sandwich which has a lot of depth in the flavour. The use of Balinese salt seems to give the ice cream a lot more personality than the usual salted caramel ice-cream.
My only quibs were the restaurant is really too warm during the day to be able to enjoy the food properly. And there is a table that is smack right in front of the toilet door, which is really unpleasant to be seated.
The team is young, clearly passionate and proud of the food they serve. And they should be. I’ve not been so excited about a restaurant in a long time.
So forget about all the other cafes that serve lilac or red smoothie bowls that are mostly gram-worthy. This is seriously good food that makes your tastebuds rejoice!