Category Archives: Food & drink

Blather on food and drinking opportunities.

The big kahuna

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From time to time, you get big ships visiting here but few bigger than the hospital ship USNS Mercy.  It is parked off Dili for 2 weeks providing specialist medical services.  I believe it is concentrating on cleft palate operations on this its 3rd trip to Dili.  Hard to believe there is more medical grunt on that ship than the whole country put together.

On Wednesday at lunchtime, a supply ship provided entertainment by airlifting supplies by chopper to the Mercy.

It is also noticable that there seem to be more oil exploration ships passing through.  Maybe its just because I know what one looks like now.

Someone said to me recently, “there’s gotta be a market for dry cleaners here”.  Funny how you only start noticing signs advertising laundry services – at the Sands Motel and the new Sealion Laundry next to the new “Pinoy Grill” restaurant.  This may be a new incarnation of the Pinoy that existed in the old Fat Boys premises.  Its on Comorro Road between the heliport and the OZ Embassy.  And there is a new Vietnamese restaurant across the road.

For some, little gems

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If you follow that small lane on the left of Dili Beach Hotel and head towards Comorro Road, there is a little warung on your right a couple of hundred metres before Comorro Road.  Almost completely out of malae-land, looks quaint & promising.

On a similar quaint note, the little ice-cream shop across from Carla Mansions in Motael/Palopaso/whatever is no more.  Sad really.  I hope it is because he has moved somewhere else.

Had a nice lunch at Bangkok Spice 2 recently – not bad.  Similarly, the new Tuk Tuk (aka old Thai Jasmine) is doing fine down at Metiaut.  Me thinks the Thais have cracked the code here.

Also went to the photo exhibition across from the OZ Embassy.  Made me think that I have seen a lot of these things as well – just didn’t take the pictures !

Cheese – the new luxury food

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According to the IMF, inflation here in TL is predicted to be 9.0% for 2008 which is climbing even higher than the 6.7% for 2006 and 7.6% for 2007.   Cheese inflation feels like 100% over the last year or so.  In price, the humble cheese sandwich must be rivalling a few canapes with pate now.

Good for the arteries.

Weekly Digestive

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It took a few passes before I worked out what has happened with a few restaurants down at Metiaut, towards Christ Rei.  It looks like Sabai Sabai has gone and after a few renovations, it looks like the Garden 88 restaurant has replaced it.  A little further down, Tuk Tuk has now opened – it is the Thai Jasmin but in a new location.  There is also another new one without a name right next to Long Beach Health Club.

This follows the closure of Enigma’s beach-side restaurant operation and the renovations to the beach-side operations of the Atlantic Grill and Sol e Mar.  Sol e Mar is no longer the small, quiet cozy juice bar.  The beach operation is now a fully fledged retaurant and bar and across the road, the main building is being completely re-built and about 5 times bigger.  Who knows what it will look like.

The traffic yesterday was apalling around the Palacio.  Someone told me it was Xanana’s birthday.  If that is true, he must have been having it at his new office location which is on the western side of Lita supermarket.

Timor Diver is right on the money re. motorcyclists and helmets.  Over the last month, I have seen at least 5 occasions when a helmet goes rolling down the street. These are the “ice-cream container” helmets made of thin and useless plastic and utterly pointless if not strapped on at all.

I have noticed the high tides of late crashing over seawalls in a couple of places, dumping water and tons of sand. I can’t wait for that king tide coupled with a nice northerly wind whipping up some big high waves. Could be interesting.

Restaurants and the tremors

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Looks like Megha Indian was just on holidays and it is back open.  Carlos (ie the 1st restaurant on the left in the Metiaut strip) has closed the beach road side of the operation and installed a flasher eatery across the road in the main building.

Sol e Mar (my favourite juice bar) has renovated its operation and the bit by the beach is now a flasher area but have yet to try.  The Atlantic Grill has also heavily developed its beach-side setup although it is a bit too formal for my taste.

I think there is a new Thai restaurant next to Sabai Sabai at Metiaut and I guess it is the new Tuk Tuk restaurant (ex Thai Jasmin) but no sign yet when I last went past.

If I am not mistaken, there was a little earth tremor at 10:45 pm last night.

(MORE INFO] :

The quake had a magnitude of 6.4 and struck 289 kilometres east of Dili at a depth of about 120 kilometres around 10:42 pm (1342 GMT).

Bar/restaurant closures

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Apparently, Fat Boys Bar opened for the last time last night.  Cheap beers were had and lots of snack foods.

About a week ago, the Thai Jasmine restaurant closed and the sign on the gate says something like : “Closed.  Re-opening at the end of May as Tuk Tuk down on the beach”.  I believe this is somewhere down near Hotel California.

Food crisis

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Until now I thought the world food shortage would have little impact on the typical ex-pat here in Dili.  That’s until I re-stocked the Mrs.Macs pie supplies at lunchtime.  Good grief, US$3-75 for a frozen pie.  This is certainly crisis material.

At last look, an Asian sourced 3-minute noodles was still 15 cents if you looked hard enough.  That’s 25 packets of noodles per pie.  Anyone for an eat-off – I’ll take the pie, you take the 25 packets of noodles.  I’ll even share the sauce.

Easter curfew & eating

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I am sure I am going to get this wrong but if I understand correctly, curfew hours were changed to 1am to 5am for the Easter period and will revert to 11pm to 5am after Easter.  Thats one more hour at night and in the morning.  Most people can not understand why there is a curfew at all but it does encourage better sleeping for some.

The restaurants and bars will be happier.  Down in the Metiaut area, the Enigma nightclub has morphed itself into the “Nelayan Restaurant” as the 100% nightclub scene has taken a big hit.  Across the road, the “Thai Foods” restaurant has had a name change to “Siam Reterong” but I think the staff and management are the same.

Easter has been very quiet.  At times, the churches are packed to the gunnels and if the F-FDTL roadblock near the lighthouse hasn’t caused enough traffic problems, the thousands of people standing in the streets just to participate in the services at Motael Church pretty much blocked the area completely.  The Pope would be pleased with turn-outs like this around the world.

Some restaurants are closed but numbers of eaters are down considerably so it is understandable.  Even Lita supermarket seemed to be closed today at lunchtime so Tiger Fuel became the spot for milk.  I guess things will loosen up over the rest of the weekend and I am not talking about my gastric system here.

St.Patricks Day

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In Dili, this is my one day of the year when Guinness takes priority over all other forms of ingestible substances.  In fact, its the only day at all in Dili when it is possible to imbibe of the elixir of life – well, its the elixir until tomorrow morning.  It dredges up memories of evenings at Filthy McFaddens and afternoons around the keg …….

Getting back to reality for just a moment, the Riung Kuring restaurant seems to be now known as the “Wasabi” Japanese/Indonesian restaurant – card marked.  I think I recently called the “Sabai Sabai” restaurant (ex Soupys/Bangkok Thai) the Sabia.  You know what’s its like … you try to remember : “when I get home, its the Sabai, Sabai, Sabai,  Sabai,  Sabai,  Sabai”.  Then you get home and its the Sabia.  What was I thinking ?

These days, there is a new establishment next to the Sabai Sabai called the ???? which does body maintenance or something like that.  Presume I mean massage, hair cut or something along those lines.  I couldn’t remember that one by the time I got home either.

Its not all gravy though.  I once did the Guinness brewery tour and I wasn’t sure if I was in Disneyland Dublin-style or not.

Blowing out the cobwebs

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Forgive me lord for I have sinned in that I raised my middle finger in protest at the truck bearing down on me at full speed while I was innocently cycling on MY side of the road.  I apologise for keeping said finger in vertical position while heading off into the dirt to avoid aforementioned truck while it was performing an unnecessary overtaking manoeuvre on beach road when a 2 second wait would have provided a clear road ahead devoid of cyclist with middle finger raised in forlorn protest.  I also regret cursing this event in the seconds afterwards and hurling abuse about the flashing headlights which were obviously subtle encouragement for me to vacate MY side of the road.

I am better now … but I have to give some credit for UN drivers who these days seem to have complied with requests not to speed and perform ridiculous manoeouvres like unknown non-UN truck driver above.  Well, they are better anyway.

Be that as it may (whatever that means) it gave me incentive to blow the cobwebs out this week.  Recently I attended 2 functions courtesy of the Kebab Club (near the ANZ bank) and I have to give the place pretty good marks for the food.  I also visited the Atlantic Grill down near Christo Rei and it seems to be cutting a more refined image in that neck of the woods.  Nevertheless, I reverted to the old favourite CazBar next door which was more in keeping with my standard of dress and demeanour.

There is no doubt that the little bay containing Caz Bar, Atlantic Grill and Sol e Mar (my favourite juice bar) is the choice relaxation spot with a neat little beach and the picture perfect orientation to capture the absolutely magnificent sunsets. Provided you can find a car parking spot, a perfect place to blow out the cobwebs before curfew.  Cobwebs blown.