*DEAL GONE* Brussels to Cape Town – Business Class £1005 R/T
April 6, 2017
REVIEW – Cathay Pacific : Business Class – Bali to Hong Kong (B772)
April 7, 2017
Trendy restaurant offering very modern and expertly executed tapas
Cuca restaurant is a modern glass and concrete building set in an expanse of private gardens, very close to the Intercontinental in Jimbaran.
The main premise of the restaurant is that money is saved by keeping ingredients as local as possible and eschewing luxury tableware for Balinese options. I personally thought that the design was great and I found the tableware to be both varied and very stylish.
The food was universally excellent. The service however left a lot to be desired. Don’t arrive here super hungry, it was at least 40 minutes until we were brought any food at all, no snacks, bread or anything was brought in the meantime.
Looking around, quite a few other tables had upset looking people waving to servers, trying to determine the whereabouts of their meals.
Beautifully presented Lombok scallop with mashed cauliflower and toasted butter crust
Whimsical mushroom fritters with roasted garlic and ricotta cheese
BBQ glazed pork bao with pickled cabbage and fresh coriander
Locally sourced ceviche with chilli lime dressing and watermelon ice. The ice really took this dish to another level, very refreshing and well balanced.
Cuban corn: grilled baby corn, young parmesan, fresh lime and parsley. The robust spice and parmesan were perfectly balanced with the freshness of the lime and parsley. A real standout dish.
Rice tempura soft shell crab with garlic aioli, bbq pineapple and curry leaf. Spectacular.
Black squid risotto. The popped rice provided an unexpected crunch to balance the creaminess of the dish. The garlic cream added a vibrant and slightly sour note to bring the heaviness down a notch too.
Crispy fried chicken with country coleslaw, Thai basil and wild honey.
The house speciality cocktail: “Sun-gria”. A variety of frozen fruit ice cubes slowly melted into the red wine and brandy soda. Very fun and tasty if a little too sweet for my liking.
Slow baked apples with Javanese black pepper ice cream and waffles
The grand finale: Cocoa 99. A delicious mixture of warm chocolate with mint ice cream and crunch y brownie croutons. Even better than it sounds.
Karma Beach – Uluwatu
Luxury beach bar on a pristine wind sand beach with table service cocktails and sushi
Karma Kandara’s beach club is situated directly adjacent to Sundays Beach Club (formerly Finn’s) on the same spectacular strip of white sand beach. It is pitched as a slightly higher end offering, with less crowds, better sun loungers and a tranquil, covered bar and restaurant area.
The set up is quite similar, you access the bar by purchasing a funicular ticket at the main resort above for 500,000 IDR – which includes one drink per person.
The reception area at Karma Kandara. This is where you purchase your ticket and wait for the funicular down to the club.
The main pool at Karma Kandara
The main pool at Karma Kandara
Stunning view from the funicular on the way down.
Karma Beach Club (the funicular runs along the track to the right)
Beach bar vibes
A game of beach volleyball or relaxing with a drink, the choice is yours.
Continue walking along the coastline and you can find a small secluded spot of your own. If you have your own drinks and can find enough shade under a tree, the truth is you’ll probably have just as good a time here without paying half a million IDR 😉
Warung Restaurant at Alila Villas Uluwatu
Open air restaurant serving and extensive Indonesian menu with spectacular views and service to match
Just seeing this sign from the road makes my heart start beating faster 😀
Given the unreal view from the lobby, you’d be forgiven for never looking up and noticing this
As if the view of numerous pools blending into the infinite ocean wasn’t quite fantastic enough, just as we stepped outside a paramotorist passed overhead!
Not quite as exciting as a dude with a motorised backpack and a parachute… sorry.
As we approached Warung restaurant, the staff immediately recognised us and asked if we wanted to sit in one of the cabanas overlooking the ocean, like last time we were there. Of course, we said yes!
I love all the little details at this restaurant. Everything gets a small plate or a holder of some sort. Spoons? Put them on a plate. Glass of water? Plate. Bottle of water? Put it in clay sleeve to keep it cool…and put it on a plate. The water comes with a choice of lemon or lime slices which are served table side. The table also comes with a selection of sprays, mists and suncream, just in case. The food? Unbelievably good. That thing on the left? A custom made boat containing two types of crackers and 12 different dips. That’s what you get here instead of bread rolls. On this occasion we decided to share a Rijsttafel, a selection of different meats and vegetables served with a generous serving of wild red rice. Every single aspect of it was intensely delicious.
After all of that, we didn’t really have room for dessert. Instead we went for a coconut milk and grass jelly drink, served with a side order of unbelievable ocean views.
Merah Putih, Seminyak
Trendy and lively restaurant and bar; featuring grand, modern design
paired with high-end Indonesian cuisine
The aroma of smoke fills the air and probably won’t come off your clothes for a week… a good thing in my book 😉
This is not a restaurant which I would describe as ‘vegetarian friendly’
The other dishes are decent but nothing beats the astonishing ribs
With a little ingenuity you can create a ‘waterfront’ view to rival the top restaurants in Uluwatu 😛
Swept Away at The Samaya Ubud
A supremely romantic riverside restaurant serving fine modern cuisine at highly reasonable prices
I kind of feel like its cheating when you can get these spectacular flowers from the jungle around the edges of the hotel!
The reception is located at the top of the resort. Of course it would be most indecorous if we had to navigate the paths down to the river by ourselves, a buggy driver is on hand to ensure that guests arrive at their table safely.
The main restaurant pavilion is usually always empty as everybody prefers to sit out on the deck, by the river.
The menu features a series of different degustation menus in addition to a la carte items. The degustation menus are extravagant multi-course affairs and top out at 650k IDR (roughly £39)
Seared scallops with pomelo, avocado, crispy chicken skin, caviar and green chilli
A palette cleanser of watermelon with feta and mint
Fresh truffle butter is served with the bread 😮
My delightful dining companions
Oli looks on in anticipation as his avocado gazpacho with prawns is served table side.
I couldn’t come here and not order my favourite Balinese dish: Bebek Goreng (crispy fried duck). Ridiculously crispy outer skin, with a super succulent centre. This is finished off with a selection of fresh and spicy pickles and sambals.
A tender and fragrant piece of foie gras topped with a mesmerisingly crunchy web of vegetable strands
Mixed satay skewers
Swept Away is a very popular venue for people who are looking to pop the big question and the restaurant really goes to town with the preparations. I guess the pressure can get too much sometimes. We were sat next to a couple who were getting into some pretty heated arguments, the situation was a little absurd given that they had this rose petal display right next to their feet.
About half an hour into their meal the guy went to the bathroom, twenty minutes later he still hadn’t returned. The girl began to look upset and started chain smoking cigarettes. After another twenty minutes or so she disappeared too.
Apparently the guy did a runner and didn’t pay for the meal. He left his (presumably ex) girlfriend by herself with no money and no means of transport to get home. The staff took pity on her and organised for the hotel car to take her to her hotel on the other side of town.
We were just expecting dinner. Instead we got dinner and a show.
The stage
Miscellanea
My go to place for coffee in Ubud: Seniman Coffee Studio. Way better than any coffeeshop in London.
How can you go to Bali and not spend the day at a Waterfall?
We made the effort to head slightly off the beaten track to Nungnung and were rewarded with a spectacular stream of water, cascading past dense foliage, into our own private pool of crystal clear water.
Tukies coconut ice cream, Ubud. Freshly made coconut ice cream topped with young coconut and coconut sugar. You need this in your life.
Probably the most famous and photographed spot in all of Bali : Ulun Danu Bratan Temple. My third visit to Bali and finally I made it here!
- Part 1:
- British Airways : Galleries North Business Class Lounge – London Heathrow T5
- Part 2:
- British Airways : Club World (Business Class) – A380 – London Heathrow to Singapore
- Part 3:
- Conrad Singapore : Centennial Suite
- Part 4:
- DNATA Lounge – Singapore Changi T1
- Part 5:
- Cathay Pacific : Business Class – A330 – Singapore to Hong Kong
- Part 6:
- Intercontinental Hong Kong : Harbour View Room
- Part 7:
- Qantas : First and Business Class Lounge – Hong Kong
- Part 8:
- Cathay Pacific : The Bridge Business Class Lounge – Hong Kong
- Part 9:
- Cathay Pacific : Business Class – B747 – Hong Kong to Bali
- Part 10:
- Intercontinental Bali : Singaraja Room
- Part 11:
- Villa Kerasan (Airbnb) Ubud, Bali
- Part 12:
- Alila Villas Soori, Bali
- Part 13:
- Villa Jiwa (Airbnb) Jimbaran, Bali
- Part 14:
- Sofitel Nusa Dua, Bali
- Part 15:
- An updated guide to Bali
- Part 16:
- Cathay Pacific : Business Class – B772 – Bali Denpasar Hong Kong
- Part 17:
- Cathay Pacific : Business Class – B77W – Hong Kong to London Heathrow
