A vegetarian restaurant on the main street of Trawangan with sophisticated dishes for lovers of culinary delights
Many of us who have heard about the Gili Islands know Trawangan as a party island. But few know that on Gili Ti, as tourists call it in English, there are many establishments that will bring inveterate gourmets into culinary ecstasy.
Demand has created supply. But in addition, some expats and business owners on Gili Trawangan decided to create some establishments "for themselves". And so that they themselves would be happy to go to their cafe and invite guests and enjoy a real visual and taste feast together. "We conduct some culinary experiments not for reputation, but because we want to invent something that we ourselves would like to eat," says the owner of the "Banyan Tree".
Nina from Finland created the Banyan Tree cafe in 2016 on the bustling and noisy street of Trawangan. There are always a lot of tourists coming to the island on fast boats and leaving from here. The Banyan Tree could be a great place to while away the time while waiting for their boat. In addition, there were several dive centers in the area, whose employees were looking for tasty and colorful food.
The Banyan Tree became one of several vegetarian restaurants on the island of Trawangan, whose mission was to dissuade people from the idea that vegetarian food is dull and tasteless. Nina received a culinary education in her native Finland, worked as a chef, and therefore could masterfully create an interesting menu.
The menu includes both vegetarian and vegan dishes. For example, the menu includes regular cow's milk, soy, coconut, almond milk. There is traditional cheese, and there is vegan cheese. The menu includes dishes that will please raw foodists.
Raw foodists will be captivated by the "zoodles". These are noodles similar to "noodles", but using zucchini. Zucchini is twisted into spirals and then mixed with vegan pesto. Vegan parmesan is made from nuts. That is, you get zucchini pesto paste with vegan parmesan.
One of the signature dishes in the cafe has become a sandwich called "pulled pork sandwich". For it, the meat is pulled apart into fibers. In the case of the dish from the Banyan Tree restaurant, it is not pork, but jackfruit. The fact is that the unripe fruits of this tree are prepared as vegetables, they taste close to vegetables, but with certain cooking methods they can be mistaken for meat.
When preparing the sandwich, jackfruit is stewed, pulled apart into fibers and then baked in the oven. The result is a delicate taste and texture similar to very tender meat.
Banyan Tree lasagne does not use pasta. Instead, the chef uses zucchini, so the lasagne is also gluten-free. Meat is also replaced with vegetables.
Avocado toast has its own characteristic taste. It is made from avocado puree with a hint of balsamic vinegar, feta cheese, arugula and egg.
Banyan Tree is a popular place for breakfast and lunch. And of course, the main love of the visitors is the bright, natural and creative smoothie bowls. Another highlight of the cafe is chia seed pudding.
Banyan Tree is one of the few cafes in Trawangan that has a spacious air-conditioned area, so coworking seekers hang out in Banyan Tree for a long time.
The design was developed using wooden elements and bricks. The architectural flourishes had to be tempered because the cafe was built on land that was leased and could not be owned forever. But Nina has 12 years of land lease left to keep serving up amazing vegetarian dishes.
Across the street from the cafe is a space on the beach. No roof. Chairs and tables are set out in the open air. You can sit and watch the boats arrive at the port and watch the bustle of Trawangan's main street.
What to try?
Pulled pork sandwich
Smoothie bowls
Zoodles
Vegetarian lasagna
