Tags
Apple crumble, Bali, Beach Club, BintangBeer, foie gras, foodstreet, french food, in villa BBQ, iVilla, Lilin, Metis, naughty Nuri's, ocean view, Potato Head, RE day spa, sangria, seminyak, spa
Like my previous posts, I am going to combine all 4 days of our Bali trip into 1 post simply because we didn’t do much except to eat and have massages. So it was really nothing much to talk about. So we had decided on a villa about 4 weeks prior to our trip. But somehow we never got to booking it. It was only while discussing about this trip with friends, that I realised we then had at 2 weeks to go before our flight. So, that very night, we decided to book the villa we had wanted and of course it was fully booked by then! Scrambling like mad, we then chanced on this villa called iVilla. It’s a new villa and of course, to make one sound fashionable these days, adding an ‘i’ to everything helps. The pictures of the villa look good and reviews were excellent as well, so we booked iVilla! Our package included airport transfers, which was what most villas offer. So with this trip sounding like a poorly planned trip, I had made lunch and dinner reservations/plans way in advance!!!! So we were picked up at the airport and arrived at the villa and we were happy with our choice of villa. We had wanted a modern looking villa as opposed to traditional balinese villa and I suppose we got what we wanted. We were introduced to our villa by the staff. An iPod is provided for playing music; but it has only balinese music. We were also provided with a mobile phone which was very useful in making calls for taxis or spa appointments. There was a his and hers amenity pack which contain stuff like insect repellent and suntan lotion etc. Oh and all snacks and drinks in the minibar are complimentary and I think they are supposed to be replenished daily. Well, we didn’t empty out the minibar so no idea if it was really replenished daily. Here’s our villa:
So lunch on our first day in Bali was at Naughty Nuri’s. We had been to Naughty Nuri’s a few times but all were for dinner. Since lighting at Naughty Nuri’s is rather dim, I thought lunch would be better so we could see exactly what we were eating.
I like the corn. It has a nice BBQ taste to it and the gravy is not too sweet. I was tempted to order a second one.
After my first bite of the nachos, I recalled I had ordered this before and that I didn’t like it much. Yep, second time round, my feelings are still the same.
And the ribs are tender and delicious as always! And the dessert we chose was …..sinful deep fried banana. The hot weather ensured that the ice cream melted fast.
So we popped into the shop next door which sells Naughty Nuri’s memorabilia. I suppose some of the items could make for some cute souvenirs. And after lunch, we took a cab and headed the The Care Spa and had foot reflexology. This time round, the receptionist didn’t recommend any male masseuse. While the female masseuse we had were good, I think the male ones are definitely better. While having foot reflexology, I decided to have a manicure at the same time. Hmmm, I suppose if one is looking for a real sophisticated manicure, this would not be the place to go. But if one is looking to tidy up and paint the nails, this manicure would be fine. Nothing beats a nice foot reflexology 🙂 Then we spent the rest of the afternoon doing nothing but lazing around. Then it was time for dinner. I don’t think we were hungry but heck, who cares about full stomach! Dinner was at Metis. We would always head to Metis whenever we’re in Bali. This restaurant for first recommended by a French lady we met at a spa years ago. She has been traveling to Bali every year for about 20 years and Metis is highly recommended. And we never looked back. Metis has got to be one of the more expensive restaurants in Bali. I always compare the price overseas with Singapore and again, Metis is rather affordable compared to similar offerings to Singapore. Of course, there are those who argue that things in Bali shouldn’t be that expensive given that Indonesia is less developed. I don’t mind paying for better food when I’m overseas; I suppose its akin to paying for an experience.
So Metis is a rather intimate restaurant; lights are dim and atmosphere is romantic. Pretty good place to bring a date to 😛 While Bali is a place for the sun and sea, I would encourage you to dress less casually, to add on to the romantic atmosphere if nothing else. Personally, I feel that the restaurant and ambience doesn’t deserve people strutting in in their all-too-casual T-shirt and shorts. Besides, it’s always nice to dress up right? Metis serves foie gras hot and cold. So depending on your taste, you could choose from about 7-8 choices. The husband loves the foie gras at Metis. I have to say, the price of a foie gras here is really quite affordable. I am no fan of foie gras; it gets too greasy after a while and let’s not even go into how it’s made. But I did have more than a couple of bites and it was good!
The first dish that I fell in love at Metis is the trio of tartare – a dish of raw fish. Maybe it was having it overtime we went to Metis, somehow this time round, the dish didn’t give the same ‘WOW’ feeling. And after so many trips to this restaurant, the menu does feel a bit stale as the offerings remain the same through the years. Perhaps we should try the daily specials in future.
For mains, the husband had the slow-cooked roast pork. The skin was crackingly good and meat was tender. I think I had ordered it as my main on one of our previous visits.
And my main is a fish. On a day of what seems to be ‘down the memory lane’, it turns out I had tried this before. And again, it wasn’t a dish that I particularly liked. On hindsight, I should have gotten a steak or something else.
I had thought we needed some vegetables in the meal and ordered some. It turned out that it wasn’t necessary since 1) the mains have sufficient greens 2) I don’t like capsicum at all!
We definitely over ordered and couldn’t finish our mains. And no room at all for dessert….:( So we decided we should walk back to our villa after the very heavy dinner. I think Bali has been adding pavements along the roads, so it is now easier to walk along the roads compared to a couple of years back. Just be prepared for endless taxis honking to check if you need a ride. Along the way, we came across a pastry shop, which have some creative offerings. We thought we could come back some time to try the pastries but deep down, I know there’s no chance of that as all our meals have been arranged…. Just as we were reaching our villa, we saw a new nice spa place – RE day spa. So we arranged to have a body massage in 10 mins time (at about 9pm), just in time for the last massage slot. The massage was not outstanding but it is good Balinese standard. I suppose going for a massage when the body doesn’t need it makes one less conscious of the massage quality. The one really good thing about RE day spa is that it is just next to our villa! So it’s location made sure we would be return customers.
And I thought our villa looks very romantic at night.
The next day, we had breakfast, which was ordered the night before.
That was a lot of food for breakfast and it was such a yummy breakfast!
Lunch was booked at Potato Head Beach Club. I have heard of so many things about Potato Head so I thought we could just go during lunch, in hope that the club would not be too crowded.
There are two restaurants at Potato Head and my reservation was at Lilin. Surprisingly, there was no queue at the club! And we were shown to our table in the empty Lilin restaurant. Lilin serves Indonesian food and after we looked through the menu, we thought junk food like fries would suit us better. So we asked to be transferred to the other restaurant which serves western food.
I finally understand the big deal about Potato Head Beach Club. I can see why this place is popular with sun worshippers. The view of the ocean, with nice lounge beds – pretty nice setup to get a sunburn, or a tan. I just hope they have good sunblock on – skin cancer is no joke.
I have a weakness for sangria! I did say we were in the mood for junk food….
We had pizza, which was saved by the lovely tomatoes.
So I thought some spring rolls would be nice and the name Summer spring rolls made the spring rolls sound like a yummy food. Turns out it was something like a Vietnamese roll, a type of spring roll that I don’t particularly like. However, when eaten with the dipping sauce, it was indeed refreshing in the hot weather.
These fries were done to perfection!! Our fries craving satisfied!
Then we decided to end lunch with apple crumble! I liked the apple crumble a lot!
Then we headed back to our villa and soon started the body massage which was included in our room rate. It was a thoroughly awful experience, mainly my fault. The masseuse I had, despite being small and skinny, had a lot of strength. Her strength became too much when she did the head massage. I had thought the head massage would be over shortly, hence I did not feedback that she was using too much strength. Anyway, it went on for too long and I just didn’t voice my discomfort. So I was really glad when the session was over. And so much oil was used that we had to shower immediately to get rid of the unpleasant greasy feel.
Soon it was dinner time! Our villa rate included a in-villa BBQ dinner. Lucky lunch was not overly filling 😛
So I ordered a seafood set and the husband got an Indonesian set.
Soup was first served, followed by rice.
The husband said pineapple is a critical dish for this meal. He said that in anticipation of the amount of meat that would be served. He was right! When there is too much meat, pineapple helped to clear the palate.
I like the fish sate a lot! And it was refreshing to served them on lemongrass sticks.
I was too eager to eat the prawns and only took the photo when 2 prawns were left.
Finally dessert was served.
Too much food and we couldn’t finish all of it. But it was good to stay in the villa and have dinner at there. Feels homely 🙂
What after dinner? Foot reflexology at the RE spa, of course!
This post has way too much food, so I decided I will continue our food indulgence on a new post.