A Trip to the East: Rote, a Low-key Foodie Heaven

I am a big foodie. My passion for food goes to the extent that I consider food is actually a work of art. I used to have an Instagram account dedicated to the meals I’ve had, I get very excited when someone asks me for food recommendations (Fun fact: I always maintain a list of restaurants I’d recommend to my friends. I have a complete list for Jogjakarta, Bali, Bandung and Jakarta — you can ask me if you need one!). Accordingly, most of the time, trying new food in a new place is always an important part of my travel itinerary.

But, this post is something I did not expect would be writing. I came to Rote with zero expectations about the food. Did no research about the food there as my main objectives to travel there were simply to surf and dive. I only planned to have se’i in Kupang and that’s it. Little did I know, I unexpectedly had a superb dining experience there and probably had meals that are among the top 5 meals I’ve ever had in my life. Coincidentally, Boris is also a foodie, which resulted in this party of two always ordering a complete set of meals from the appetizer(s), main course(s), to dessert(s) (all in plurals!).

1. Blu Oceano Rote

Just as soon as I arrived at Rote, Boris asked me if I wanted to have Italian food for lunch. Who can say no to pasta for lunch? From Google Maps, he found this place called Blu Oceano.

The place is actually close to where we were staying but it took us a while to finally found the place as it is not located on the roadside. We had to sort of go through someone’s backyard and when we were there, we made sure if they were open for lunch.

Blu Oceano is located in a private garden where the herbs and veggies they serve are grown. We met Massimo, who ran the place and the chef. Aside from an Italian restaurant, Blu Oceano is also a bed&breakfast. So if you’re looking for a place to stay, you might want to check this one out.

These are what we ordered for there:

Pumpkin Gnocchi with Gorgonzola Sauce — I went with this one simply because gnocchi is my current favorite pasta. This one was good but a bit too ‘heavy’ for me.

I forgot the name of the dish. Basically, it was fettuccine with some sort of tomato sauce, bacon bits, and black olives. I liked this one better than the gnocchi!

Pizza Napoletana — A classic but it was really good. The dough was perfect, not too thick but still a little bit chewy.

Tiramisu — My kind of tiramisu as it was not sweet at all.

Panna Cotta — This one was decent but didn’t have that much of a wow factor to me

My take on Blu Oceano: Authentic Italian food! Reminds me a lot of La Cucina at Labuan Bajo. Saw great reviews on the place as well on the internet — which confirms that everyone was happy to come home from this place with a full tummy.

2. Seed Resort

Seed Resort is one of the most famous resorts in Rote. Out of all resorts we went to, this was the only one with Indonesian tourists. We came here a lot! The restaurant is really nice, lot of seatings, decent wifi connection — a great place if you want to work from here. I always came here after sunset, the lighting is always very dim so it is really nice if you just want to have a nice dinner with a glass of wine, and just chill there.

These were what we had here:

Tuna Ceviche — we wanted to have something fresh for the appetizer, hence the ceviche.

Tom Yum — this dish is definitely not their forte. There’s this sweetness from the Tom Yum which reminds me a lot of the taste of sweet soy sauce a.k.a kecap manis. I’d prefer my Tom Yum to be more sour.

Creme Brulee and Chocolate Lava Cake — I’d say these two were our favorite menus from Seed Resort as we always ordered these two every time we came there. The Creme Brulee and the Chocolate Lava Cake were great but the MVP was actually the gelato! They said they made the gelato by themselves. Sadly they only have vanilla and chocolate flavor.

Linguine with Squid Ink Sauce and Calamari — Loved this one! The reason why we went with this was that we had fried calamari at another place in the afternoon which was really fresh and tasty. We then assumed that every calamari on this island should be as good as that fried calamari or even better. As you can see in the pic, they didn’t do much with the squid — it literally tasted like squid, which was exactly what I was looking for! (Ok, I just realized I ate a lot of dishes with squid ink during this trip, hehe. There are two more below!)

Margherita Pizza — Not much about this pizza, the dough was too thick for us.

My take on Seed Resort: Good vibe, generally good food (since some were just okay). They have a wide selection of food ranging from Asian, Western, and even Middle Eastern food — very suitable if you’re traveling in a big group and looking for one place that will cater to everyone’s tastebuds. We found out that the main chef is from Padang and coincidentally they have beef rendang on their menu, we assume their rendang must be great too. Anyway, staying at Seed Resort is already on my to-do list for my next trip to Rote!

3. 81 Palms Resort

We passed through this resort on the first day when we were looking for Blu Oceano.

We went here right after we’re just finished diving (imagine how starving we were). Right when we arrived, we meet Chef Jose, one of the owners of this resort and also a former Michelin-starred chef from Barcelona (!!!).

Chef Jose asked us if we wanted him to bring whatever tapas are available and squid ink seafood paella. We literally didn’t choose any of the tapas, they were just served to us. The food was divine — arguably the best non-Indonesian food lunch I’ve ever had. It was definitely on the pricier side but worth every penny!

These were what we had for lunch that day:

Tomato Bread with Jamon Iberico — my favorite out of all the tapas! This was the first tapas served to us, it was really really really good. The fact that we were starving made it taste even better — automatic mouthgasm. Loved loved loved the Jamon Iberico.

Forgot the name of the tapas, they were egg with prawns and something with fried fish (Tried to guess the name of the tapas on Google but no luck). Although they were paired with mayo, both the prawn and fish were still the stars of the tapas.

Ink Croquetas — The name of the tapas is self-explanatory, basically it is croquettes with squid ink and calamari topped with aioli, which will never go wrong, right? This one is my second favorite tapas.

I don’t know the exact name of the dish but in short it was roasted pork with apple compote (and perhaps pumpkin puree?) with soy sauce on the side. This one was great too. The sweetness from the apple was nicely paired with the taste of the roasted pork.

Squid Ink Seafood Paella. This was our choice of paella. The rice was al dente, not mushy at all. Tasted really rich. The menu said the paella can serve up to 2–3 pax but I guess it is under the assumption that they shouldn’t eat that much of tapas prior to the paella hahaha but we did finish the paella though!

Cheesecake (duh.) — Despite being very full thanks to the tapas and a humongous portion of the paella, we decided to order cheesecake (there’s always room for dessert!) They don’t have a regular dessert menu, the cheesecake was what they have on that day alongside with lava cake if I’m not mistaken. We went with the cheesecake. This was arguably the best cheesecake I’ve ever had — I’m not a huge cheesecake person as I don’t really like cheese that much, but this one was just right! Not too sweet, not too salty, and on top of everything, the texture was perfect.

My take on 81 Palms Resort: With the price tag, the service, the food, I’d say it was a worth it fine-dining experience! I’d definitely come back to try their non-tapas menu.

Bonus: If you have a layover in Kupang either before or after visiting Rote (most likely you will), treat yourself by going to Depot Se’i Aroma. A local friend of mine also recommended Babi Tore next to Bank NTT.

I’m still surprised with how great the food was in Rote. If you’re not into diving or surfing — just chilling and eating a lot of good food from various cuisines should be a legitimate reason for you to plan your trip to Rote.

Due to a very limited time, I didn’t get to try that much local food (which I believe must be great as well), this should be a reason for me to go back to Rote, no?