Ganga Cafe (Bangsar) $ 18/20

I apologize for the hiatus! I’ve been travelling around Malaysia and overseas a ton and have actually been gathering much material for this blog, but alas! No time to post. I’ll attempt to be more regular.

The Ganga Café Sunday Brunch is superb. Photo credit: EatDrinkKL Blog.
The Ganga Café Sunday Brunch is superb. Photo credit: EatDrinkKL Blog.

Today I’d like to introduce a small café on Lorong Kurau that I cannot say enough good things about. Ganga Café is an amazing, healthy, cozy find in the Bangsar area. Very dressed down and casual, you feel like you are returning home when you walk into the café. The owners, whom I simply refer to as Aunty and Uncle, are sweet and accommodating. They give me a hug when I walk into the door. They make their own food, and can tell you *exactly* what goes in it, so in terms of allergy-friendliness, they are #1.

Almost all their fare is gluten-free and contamination-free, save for the few dishes that use wheat (like the rotis) and hing powder. The Aunty has even gone to the extent of specially preparing dishes for me that typically use hing sans hing. She says that the pure hing powder from India does not contain wheat; however, the local variety does.

They are MSG-free, use fresh vegetables in their food, cook mostly with ghee and butter (healthier oils!). They are vegetarian, and sometimes have mock meat dishes (which you can’t have if you’re gluten-free).

They have an *amazing* Sunday eat-all-you-can buffet lunch for a flat rate of RM17. Call and book your seat – it can get crowded. You’ll see traditional Indian food you haven’t seen before – all from the regions surrounding the Ganga River.

My only issue with the place is that they have started using bottled water (ugh!). They used to have a high environmental standard in my eyes before until they caved to the self-centred KL crowd that still insists on drinking bottle water.

Here is a link to their web site.

  • Allergy friendly: *****
  • Taste: *****
  • Atmosphere: *** Casual and laid back. Like being at home. Sunday brunches can get crowded but in a good way.
  • Service: *****
  • Cost: $ (Sunday brunch is RM17/- nett and thalis and meal plates go for around RM10)

Peace,

Daisy

Holistic holiday: Como Shambhala Bali

By the middle of January, following a series of rather over the top nights out, too much rich food and a lot of alcohol and late nights, mixed in with work that continued to pile up, life felt a lot overwhelming. My sleep patterns were a mess, I was burnt out and starting to loathe my thesis despite just needing one last data chapter and my inner snark definitely made plenty of appearances while grading student papers. My solution… Find a holiday to reset everything.

It took me two days to decide on Como Shambhala in Bali and flights and wellness program booked, I arrived in Bali to start my week of rebooting my body and mind.
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The estate is around a two hour drive from the airport, located in a village outside Ubud. The backdrop is a mix of forest and terraces of rice paddy fields, with rooms set within separate residences, each with their own common areas for dining, lounging and swimming. My room felt a lot like being in a tropical jungle tree house. With the windows open, i had a light breeze, sounds of cicadas and birds and the very relaxing river burbling below.
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The Como takes care of food allergies at a whole other level. Not only had all the restaurant and room device staff been briefed by their in-house dietician, Eve Persak, but I had an entire menu written up for me, for both the restaurants, for all meals, with so many different options that despite eating three course meals for seven days, I didn’t have enough time to taste more than half of the selection! In addition, Eve met with me to ensure the choices included food I liked, explaining their experience with celiacs and sharing her own food allergy woes (MSG in Asia). I felt entirely spoilt for choice and so well looked after.
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20140129-084717.jpg< Looking at that menu, I was a little worried I'd come back from my week off very full and well-fed but not any healthier. Luckily, they look after that problem too. The estate offers group yoga classes, qigong, mat Pilates and a gym. As well, walking up and down the few thousand stairs to get between classes, the spa, the restaurants and the swimming pools (there are four plus all the private residence and villa pools) or joining the morning estate walk ensured a sufficiently calorie-burning break combined with enough quiet time for introspection and watching the world go by, very slowly. All in, I arrived back in Kuala Lumpur a kilo lighter, a whole lot healthier, pretty well relaxed and am already planning my next trip there. I did want to pack up Amy, the Pilates instructor and David, the traditional Chinese medicine expert in my suitcase but sadly, that wasn't a viable option. Kiss kiss, Bubbles <

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