“Renowned antique collector Ibu Murni founded the first real restaurant in Ubud in 1974, and still manages it actively…”

ShopSmart
Bali & Lombok 2006

All roads lead to Murni’s Warung

All roads lead to Murni’s Warung, Mary, Martha, Murni’s Warung and Me

Bud Smith
The Times, Lombok, August – September 2007

Mary is my wife, Martha is my mistress, Murni’s Warung is a famous restaurant and I am myself. It is a long story but we all found ourselves on the island of Bali in late 2006. A spur of the moment thing, as often the best – and the worst – of things in life are. Summer is a busy time in London for a jazz singer and I was dead beat, so I proposed to my wife that we take off to Bali in October. I remembered the wonderful mushroom pizzas in the late Sixties and Mary, an interior designer, remembered the fantastic art.

Little did I know that my mistress Martha would be there. Martha is a 25 year old blonde living in Greenwich Village, a beautifully talented poet. I was singing in Soho last year and noticed a book signing in Borders right close to the club. I went in between sets, lined up, told the young poet that I was a man in a hurry, a jazz man in a hurry, had to rush and could she write something poetic. Dear Bud, Harvey Wallbanger, 10.30 in the club tonight, Martha!

Hardly had we got over our jet-lag than Mary and I made a bee line for our favourite restaurant in the whole world: Murni’s Warung in Ubud. We both love good food and drink, but even more we love good food and drink in beautiful places, where the prices are reasonable. Murni’s Warung is one of the most beautiful places on Earth! You walk in, facing you are coconut trees, palm trees and betel nut vines. Suddenly a blue-winged kingfisher glimpses by and a second later his mate. It is no surprise that the Bali Bird Club meets there keeping beady eyes out for bird and butterfly life.

The beauty is not only natural. Murni is a well-known collector of fine arts from all over Asia. At the entrance are Balinese statues, all chosen for their fine carving and fabulous expressions. On the walls are antique shadow puppets: the tree of life, which starts and closes the Balinese shadow puppet play, and the expressive clowns, who explain the story to the audience. They are for sale and I have a fine collection of them. The restaurant is on four levels and all the rooms, and especially the Lounge Bar, are decorated with Asian textiles, tribal pieces and objets d’art. Murni is often at hand expounding on art and food in the same breath.

Mary and I went to our favourite part of the restaurant, which is on the lowest level, just above the river, which you can hear rushing by underneath. So romantic. The President of East Timor and his Australian wife were on the next table. Mary ordered the Balinese Smoked Duck, which comes with Balinese vegetables. President Gusmao leaned over and said, ‘Good choice. It’s really smoked. They don’t fry it here.’ I ordered Bali Guling, a spicy pork dish eaten at special festivals. When I’m in Bali, I can’t get enough of it, and it was especially great that evening. Jacobs Creek Chardonnay helped the food go down. President Gusmao’s wife told us it’s the most popular wine in the World.

Murni’s Warung is famous for desserts. I just love the cheesecake in a strawberry coulis – better than New York cheesecake, which is saying something – and Mary adored her Cashew Pie and ice-cream. We then went to the Lounge Bar to have a chat with Murni, who was preparing to go to San Francisco to exhibit some of her collection, and drink a couple of cocktails. They play rather good jazz in there too.

Nyoman, the bartender, discreetly handed me a note. ‘Dear Bud, Harvey Wallbanger,10.30 in the Lounge Bar tomorrow morning, Martha!’. It was the Readers and Writers Festival in Ubud and Martha was launching her latest book of poetry. Nyoman smiled and said, In Bali all roads lead to Murni’s Warung!

All roads lead to Murni’s Warung

Ubud News
Ayu Intipid
Bali Advertiser, December 2007

I remember a time when you were lucky to find anything more than fried bananas on local restaurant menus. Then came Murni’s Warung. Established in the early eighties [actually 1974], Murni’s Warung was one of the first restaurants to serve a selection of international sweet dishes to appease the cake eating, chocolate-craving tourist. It was the chocolate brownies and home-made pies that served many a home-sick traveller.

Perched on the edge of the Tjampuhan suspension bridge, Murni’s Warung is run by none other than Ibu Murni. Ibu Murni is a well-known local identity, hailing from the narrow streets of Penestanan and is one of the culinary tour-de-force mothers who set the gastronomic standard of Ubud.

But it is more than that.

Murni and others in her league shaped the eating style of Ubud by adding loads of gracious Balinese hospitality and charm to their establishments. Ibu Murni still runs her world famous Murni’s Warung, in between belting it out with the local badmington team. Drop in and say hello over a piece of pie.

She loves having a chat.

Ubud News

Ubud & Beyond

Bali Advertiser, 2008

You can’t visit Ubud without going to Murni’s Warung, its most romantic restaurant at the Campuan bridge. The food is simply excellent and very reasonably priced. The setting above the Campuan River is stunning and it’s open every day, 9am – 10 pm.

There are great local and Western dishes or you can just have a snack washed down by a tropical fruit juice or something stronger. Murni’s has the best yoghurt and cheesecake anywhere.

It is owned by Murni, a very charismatic lady, who founded it in 1974. She’s usually around and enjoys a chat. She’s a treasure trove of information and was the consultant for Secrets of Bali which explains all you need to know about Bali.

Murni also has one of the best shops in Bali, known for rare ethnic pieces from all over Asia. She’s the place to go for textiles, jewelry, gifs and high quality handicrafts. Murni’s Warung Shop is very convenient as it’s part of the restaurant. The best pieces are upstairs.

Murni has accommodation too. Murni’s Houses are in the centre of town. Murni’s Villas with its jaw-dropping infininity swimming pool and uninterrupted views of hills and rice terraces are about 15-20 minutes’ drive outside Ubud. They are a favourite place for weddings, very private and luxurious, and about third the price of a 5 star hotel.

2008

Ubud & Beyond

“The best place to have a meal is Murni’s Warung. A four-story open-air eatery and bar overlooking a jungle-clad bend of the Campuan River, it was the first restaurant to open in Ubud, way back in 1974.”

Hip, Hitched, Hooray
Ian Lloyd Neubauer
The Sydney Morning Herald
10 March 2013

Aussie brides choose Bali to wed over any other destination. Ian Lloyd Neubauer reveals the island’s most popular venues to say I do.

Murni’s Houses @ Ubud

Set in a velvet-green valley in south-central Bali, Ubud is the spiritual capital of the island. Like something out of a Rudyard Kipling novel, the town is overflowing with Hindu temples – thousands in fact.

Don’t miss the lotus pond-ensconced Pura Saraswati temple, which is next door to a Starbucks, or the Gunung Kawi archaeological park half an hour out of town. And while it’s a no-brainer destination for Hindu weddings, this moss-covered fairytale of a place is also a popular destination for Christian weddings.

The best place to have a meal is Murni’s Warung. A four-story open-air eatery and bar overlooking a jungle-clad bend of the Campuan River, it was the first restaurant to open in Ubud, way back in 1974.

A few blocks away is Murni’s Houses, a traditional Balinese compound with four temple-like houses and an award-winning day spa set in a pixie’s garden.

“Why get married in Ubud? For starters it’s more traditional and authentically Balinese,” says owner Murni who, like many Indonesians, goes by one name only.

“And it’s cooler than the coast, which can be very hot. But the main difference is the scenery – many people like the backdrop of rice terraces for the ceremony.

“I’ve lost count of how many weddings we’ve done over the years,” Murni says. “I enjoyed them all, but the most memorable was the first, as I wasn’t sure we could do it. I was more nervous than the bride.

“We set the place up beautifully for the wedding by the pool: lots of tropical flower arrangements, tall Balinese umbrellas, ritual offerings and an antique table for the wedding book. Then it poured down. We quickly had to change everything, and then have the ceremony in my living room.

“But it all went well. And it gave us the confidence we could do weddings well, because we could deal with the unexpected.”

The Sydney Morning Herald

Half Century Restaurant
Murni’s Warung The Restaurant

Sky Publishing Guide to Bali 2013-14
Hong Kong

Murni has a lot of businesses and this restaurant is another one. Right next to the hotel, the restaurant has already been open for nearly 50 years. Every local knows about it. Once you step into the restaurant, the pleasant river and mountain view first come into sight. On the way to the table, you will walk past a display case in which the famous pastries are delightfully presented. The lounge bar on the 2nd floor has a cosy environment. It houses the hugh sculpture of the Elephant god Ganesha. The sculpture is as tall as Murni and took 5 years to finish!

Half Century Restaurant Murni’s Warung

“Calling itself Ubud’s “first restaurant,” Murni’s Warung has introduced Balinese food to the likes of Richard Gere, Mick Jagger, Richard Branson, Jean-Claude Van Damme, and David Copperfield. Since opening as a warung (roadside stall) in 1974, Murni’s has grown to four levels running down the river’s edge. (Book a table at the bottom for the best views.) The menu has also grown, adding Indonesian and Western choices, but the foundation remains Balinese, with local standards like ayam betutu (spicy roast chicken), babi guling (roast pork), and black rice pudding, plus rarer specialties such as smoked curry duck. It’s great for lunch.”

Fodor’s Guide, 2013

Murni’s Lounge Bar – Ubud’s most haunting watering hole

Ian Lloyd Neubauer

Travel and Leisure Asia

January 2014

“Set above a gentle bend in the Agung River, Murni’s Warung holds the estimable title of being the village’s first real restaurant. Like something out of a Rudyard Kipling novel, the Lounge Bar on the second floor is crammed with museum- quality antiques, including a 400-year-old plate of armor and a Sumatran sarcophagus. Soft jazz music, old-fashioned cocktails and the sounds of the jungle lurking outside make this Ubud’s most haunting watering hole.”

Eat, Pray, Shop

A one-time haven for hippies, the village of Ubud in Bali’s southern highlands now caters to more sophisticated travelers too.

Travel and Leisure Asia

She is often referred to as the “mother of Ubud,” and her restaurant has been a longtime favorite among both travelers and locals: Ni Wayan Murni, a Bali native who recently celebrated the 40th anniversary of Murni’s Warung with the launch of a book that includes personal memories and anecdotes of people who have accompanied her on her journey from the 1970s until today.

Author and photographer Jonathan Copeland, co-editor of “Forty Delicious Years,” as well as a good friend of Murni, said that it felt right to celebrate this milestone “in a more tangible way than simply a T-shirt and party.”

“We didn’t want a book blowing our own trumpet — there are enough of those vanity publications around — but instead a book focussing on the times and life of Murni’s Warung as seen through the eyes of its guests over 40 years,” he said.

It is an approach that gives readers the chance to learn more about Murni and also about Ubud and Bali in general, and particularly how significantly it has changed over the years.

The first thing that needed to be done was to decide on the number of contributors; 40 contributor for 40 years was the logical solution.

“We then compiled a list of colorful, engaging and interesting characters whom we thought we could contact,” Copeland said. “We went through the time-consuming process of trying to track them down. Some were easy to locate but some were impossible to find. We were delighted with the final list as they comprised a wide range of nationalities, occupations and ages which cover the life of Murni’s Warung from day one until the present. They are all busy people with big jobs and we are very grateful for the time they spent on this.”

Murni, who was born in Penestanan, just a few minutes away from Ubud, began selling breakfast snacks before going to school in the 1950s. Less than 20 years later, Murni already owned four shops on Sanur Beach and established Murni’s Warung in Campuhan-Ubud.

Besides traveling the world and collecting Asian antiques and textiles, Murni built Murni’s Houses and Murni’s Villas catering to the growing number of tourists, and recently opened the Tamarind Spa at Murni’s Houses.

In the book, Murni writes that she still finds it incredible to look back at how she started Murni’s Warung — with no more than a bowl of soup and a sandwich.

“I wasn’t a cook and had no knowledge of what Western food was. I had no business plan, no mission statement, and no spreadsheets. I didn’t have electricity or a fridge or an electric oven. I didn’t have staff or suppliers or a car,” she said. “But I did have passion and drive and energy. And I had friends and customers and hard work. Luckily, Murni’s Warung grew and prospered and has been able to serve food and drinks to thousands of people these 40 years.”

Murni also has a very special connection to the restaurant’s location on a gorge above the river Wos, which is sacred to the Balinese people.

“It has been part of my life, going back more than 40 years,” she said. “When I was a very young child […] I played and bathed down there at the river and among the rocks. When I was older, I helped carry rocks up from the river bed to the road for construction use. Later still, after my parents split up, I secretly met my mother below the bridge. I never dreamed that I would be able to buy part of the gorge, live there and go to sleep to the sound of the sacred river crashing over the rocks.”

“Restaurants often start out as flavor of the month and fizzle out,” he said. “It is not an easy business and diners are demanding and unforgiving customers who don’t give you a second chance.

“I think it’s easy, in retrospect, to see how Murni’s early success came about,” he added. “In the early days there simply wasn’t a place in Ubud to get good food. Murni’s Warung was a beacon for early travelers to hang out. They spread the word and they still do. But obviously there had to be substance to it. I think the substance is what has made Murni’s Warung remain a favorite for so long. Murni is a perfectionist. She is very concerned about the comfort and happiness of her guests. And she is a traditionalist concerned about the preservation of Balinese culture. Murni’s Warung is a Balinese building with Balinese food served by Balinese waitresses in Balinese dress.”

Dr. Lawrence Blair, an anthropologist, author and filmmaker who has been based in Bali for almost 40 years, was among the warung’s earliest customers and still vividly remembers a quiet Ubud.

“Instead of tourists, there were only a few ‘travelers’ and barely a handful of eccentric resident expats,” he writes in his section in the book. “And the place to meet them was Murni’s Warung. But the first real draw to Murni’s was the discovery that hers was the sole place in Ubud to have mastered that most rare and esoteric art of producing a sunny-side up properly fried egg. Further cause for enthusiasm was when she also became the first person in Ubud to provide natural yoghurt and wild honey with one’s tropical fruit.”

Blair was also witness to some of the illustrious figures who have visited Murni’s Warung over the years, including Richard Branson, Mick Jagger, Richard Gere and Diane Von Furstenberg.

“My only regret is that they weren’t all there at the same time,” Blair wrote.

Australian-born Janet de Neefe, founder of the Ubud Writers and Readers Festival, has also been a regular to Murni’s since the 1980s.

“Many of my fondest memories of Ubud in the Eighties are wrapped up in the walls of this multi-leveled eatery,” she writes in the book. “We’d sip on freshly squeezed lime drinks brimming with crushed ice while slowly eating nasi campur or nasi goreng . Lunchtimes drifted into dinner and it didn’t matter. There was nothing urgent to be done except chat about life, love and cosmic heroes — there were no mobile phones, Internet, e-mails, reality TV, not even Facebook.”

De Neefe, like the other contributors, have always enjoyed the peaceful surroundings as much as the delicious food. But they also all agree that Murni, the heart and the soul of the restaurant — some might even argue, of Ubud — has always been the real draw and the secret of the restaurant’s lasting success.

“Back then, I remember that one of the greatest joys about visiting Murni’s Warung was simply Murni,” de Neefe said. “She used to sit at the front desk and invariably wander up to your table and have a chat. There is so much to love about Murni. Whether it be her heart that’s as big as the moon, her gentle nature, grace or soft humor.”

Ubud Icon Murni’s Warung Turns Forty

Worlds on a plate
A fusion revolution is firing up Ubud’s fine dining scene

Ian Lloyd Neubauer

The Australian Financial Review, 17-21 April 2014

“An hour’s drive, but a million metaphorical miles away from the crowded beaches of southern Bali, the village of Ubud has long been cherished by travellers as a place to tune in and drop out, practise meditation or yoga, recharge with spa treatments or immerse oneself in velvet green jungle surrounds. In sync with the zeitgeist, Ubud’s culinary scene has focused around neighbourhood warungs – curry houses, satay grills and noodle shops run by charismatic village women.

“The warung is an extension of the home, where the cooking is done by mothers and grandmothers, where the food is practical and the recipes have been passed down through generations,” says Janet Deneefe, the Australian author of the definitive Indonesian cookbook Bali – The Food of My Island Home. Warungs are still as popular as ever and eating at one is an indispensable part of every visit to Ubud. But, in recent years, the village has seen an influx of gastronomes such as Deneffe, who have paired European culinary techniques with the flavours of Bali to create a fine-dining scene writ large. Here are venues that stand out…:

Murni’s Warung

Set in a jungle-clad gorge overlooking the Wa River, Murni’s Warung was Ubud’s first real restaurant. “When tourists first started coming to Ubud in the 60s, there was nowhere for them to sit down for a meal,” says Murni, who like many Indonesians goes by one name only. “The warungs closed after lunch. But I thought I could offer more. So I made friends with an American girl who gave me the recipe for apple pie, cheesecake and guacamole. At first, I didn’t even know what these were. We never had this food in Indonesia!”

The cakes at Murni’s are still as comforting as ever, though for a real taste of Ubud, order the bebek betutu – Balinese duck. Marinated overnight in Indonesian herbs and spices, and served with finely chopped vegetables, a pyramid of yellow rice and confit sauce, the meat literally melts in your mouth…”

The Australian Financial Review

forty forte

Hello Bali, Editor’s Finds, February 2015

If you have been living in Bali for some time, chances are you know and love Murni’s Warung in Ubud. Dating back to the 1970s, Murni’s Warung is
 a treasured food joint with authentic Balinese food and Campuhan River views. Furthermore, Ibu Murni herself is a beloved figure whose hospitality has earned her many friends and loves over the years.

However, if you don’t yet know who Ibu Murni is or where
 to find Murni’s Warung, it’s high time you do. One of the best ways to do that is to read Forty Delicious Years, a compilation of stories about the warung and the namesake founder told by the warung’s eclectic patrons. It’s an interesting insight into what it’s like to be among the island’s insiders.

To Buy: click here.

www.fortydeliciousyears.com

Murni’s Warung,

forty forte