text by Frankie Miller - image by Foued Kadachi

The first clue is in the name and the second is in the clientele. Arriving at La Cantina (Jl Pengubengan Kauh (next to Warung Gossip), T: 0361 731 840), hidden away in the sunny ricefields of Kerobokan, I am greeted by a distinct ambiance français. It is 2.30 in the afternoon, there are about twelve tables in this rustic little warung, the place is three-quarters full and everybody is French!

One thing is for sure, if a restaurant is patronised by Bali's French community then the food has got to be good… and presumably French. For the benefit of my visitor-readers a 'warung' is a traditional Indonesian eatery: it can be a basic food stall with plastic stools, a corner-shop-cum-snack-bar, or a small restaurant. Over the last few years, the warung concept in Bali has been explored, developed and expanded by some of the Island's expats to incorporate foreign cuisines, within simple, and often classically-colonial, warung-style buildings, at delightfully low prices.

I position myself on the floor of a raised 'bale' complete with cushions, bolsters and a small opium table. Fortunately I am on my own, the bale is big enough to accommodate at least four guests but the table is tiny. La Cantina is comprised of a large wantilan pavilion linked to the bale and another open-sided building by a bamboo walkway with a grass roof. Furnishings are colonial—teakwood and marble topped tables, daybeds and tea chairs. More tables spill out into a romantic, bougainvillea-filled garden, old French prints adorn a solitary wall, a blackboard displays 'Today's Specials' and a rice terrace tumbles alongside like a giant's stairway.

I browse a tempting menu of salads and grilled sandwiches, spinach and mushroom quiche, beef carpaccio, and seared mahi mahi with capers and lemon sauce. I realise the cuisine is not entirely French, there are Italian influences and an 'Asian Corner' specialising in soups, noodles, nasi campur and the Vietnamese fried rolls known as 'nem'. The grilled duck peach sausages grab my attention, as does the Mediterranean veggie platter with hummus, tofu, marinated olives, feta and terrine, but I opt for the spaghetti prawn and an appetiser of goat cheese salad. The waitresses are on the ball, but the kitchen is slow: eventually the starter and the main are brought to my diminutive table at the same time. As soon as I taste the food, the delay in delivery and lapse in service-etiquette is forgiven. The creamy, tangy goat cheese and deliciously crusty bread, the perfectly-cooked al dente spaghetti, the fresh tomato sauce, flavoursome herbs, big, juicy, ready-shelled prawns, black pepper, blue chinaware and luscious crème brûlée combine to make my experience one to write home about. La Cantina is also an internet hotspot, open daily 9 am – 5 pm.