Surprising Bali RealBali.com 11 ORIGINAL PLACES WHERE YOU CAN EXPERIENCE A DIFFERENT SIDE OF BALI By Thibault Masson, Founder of RealBali.com I’ve put together this quick, but interesting, list of things to do in Bali that are slightly off-the- beaten-track. They are original, some a bit quirky, but I like recommending them to my visiting friends and to the guests staying at my family villa Adagian near Seminyak (http:// www.realbali.com/adagian/) and my beach retreat Bulung Daya (http://www.realbali.com/ bulungdaya). There’s more to Bali than cheap bars in Kuta, as I keep telling my friends who have never seen that side of Bali. I hope that you will enjoy my selection. Drop me a message at [email protected] to let met know. RealBali.com !1 Surprising Bali RealBali.com 1. GOURMET TREK IN NORTH SEMINYAK Having a great time in Bali as a romantic couple can mean conjuring up all your senses. A great person to touch, great things to see, great food to eat. Yes, food and love have been intertwined for millennia in human history. Here are 4 gourmet Bali restaurants located in the same area of Bali, in North Seminyak. I know them pretty well as my villa rental Adagian (http:// www.realbali.com/adagian/) stands nearby. They all offer fine food, excellent service and stunning décor. My advice: Book a table at night, when the ambiance is magic. #1 Merah Putih: Indonesian nouvelle cuisine in a glass cathedral When our French honeymooning friends sat at the restaurant’s table, they could not believe that they were still in Bali. This place was so hip, so sophisticated, so urban. We had barely rode our RealBali.com !2 Surprising Bali RealBali.com motorbikes for 10 minutes from my villa in Umalas (just north of Seminyak), but they felt like they had been transported to New York or Singapore. This restaurant is not your usual local restaurant. It proudly flies the flag of contemporary Indonesian cuisine. So, this is precisely why it is called Merah Putih (Red and White), from the colors of the Indonesian red and white flag. This is a showcase for modern Indonesian cooking, with a menu detailing two kinds of plates: traditional recipes cooked in a contemporary manner brand new recipes created using Indonesia’s best fresh ingredients This is also a showcase for contemporary Indonesian restaurant architecture. Imagine yourself sitting in a sort of modern cathedral, with high glass walls that filter out solar rays to prevent the place from turning into a tropical greenhouse. Well, they do have actual trees inside the restaurant! A mezzanine comprises a lounge and three private dining ‘pods’ made of teakwood that can be reserved for private functions. My personal advice: Call to book a table: It is a popular place, you do not want to wait for 30 minutes or to have to come back Avoid groups: It looks and sounds like a cathedral, so groups can be very noisy. Come early and at booking time ask to be seated away from any group. Wear something nice and not too short: This is a posh place, so wear something better than a Bintang tank top. The air conditioning can be chilly, too. Long trousers and shirt for men, a nice dress for women. Have dinner, not lunch: The place is much more romantic at night, it looks less like a greenhouse too. Directions: Jalan Petitenget No. 100x, Kerobokan, Kuta Utara, Badung, Bali 80361 +62 361 8465950 #2 Sardine: Romantic rice paddies in urban Bali Sardine is famous for its great French-Indonesian food, but also for its very romantic dinners with views on rice paddies. Make it a surprise to your lover: Book a table for dinner, hop on a bike (around 8 minutes from my Villa Adagian) and drive her/him there. Imagine her/his surprise when, after leaving a busy Indonesian street, both you step into this beautiful restaurant: a beautiful bamboo structure with a view on (seemingly) endless rice paddies. A night, uplighters make the evening scene almost picture perfect. T RealBali.com !3 Surprising Bali RealBali.com Before dinner, have a drink close to the rice fields. Lights have been carefully set in the rice paddies, in order to create a very romantic décor. The food is inspired by “cuisine du soleil” or “sun cuisine” in French. It means that it is great cuisine adapted to warm weather. It’s like Southern France food mixed with Indonesian and Balinese classics (Sardine’s founder, Pascal Chevillot, is French, but the chef, Michael Shaheen, is actually from California). As the “Sardine” name implies it, the restaurant is very strong on seafood. The menu changes daily to adapt to the kind of fresh fish that the staff manages to buy from the Jimbaran market. My personal advice: Book a table for dinner, it is much more romantic as the rice paddies are all lit up Come early to have a pre-dinner cocktail and sit side by side on the couches overlooking the rice fields Avoid the place when the weather is very hot as this open-air restaurant has only fans, and no air conditioning Directions: Jalan Petitenget No. 21, Kerobokan, Kuta, Bali 80361, +62 811-3978-333 #3 Métis: Haute French cuisine with an Indonesian art gallery Originally, the French word “métis” is used for a person of mixed heritage. Unsurprisingly, the Métis Restaurant and Galley in Bali offers a mix of Mediterranean cuisine with Balinese influences and ingredients. Foie gras and soufflés are very popular at Métis. The experience is bit like that of Sardine, but in a more upscale atmosphere: open air restaurant, rice fields view, French-Indonesian fusion food. However, this place is also about looking at beautiful objects and furniture in the gallery. Beautiful works of art that they can ship to your home. If you know Bali, you may have been to a similar place, combining a restaurant with an art gallery, and called Warisan. Actually, the 2 former chefs from Warisan left the place and created Métis. My personal advice: Just as at Métis, avoid the place on very hot nights Come for dinner, it is more romantic Book your table ahead, ask to be seated at a table with a good view on the rice fields and the lotus pond If you want real Indonesian food, not French cuisine, go to Merah Putih instead RealBali.com !4 Surprising Bali RealBali.com Directions: Jl. Petitenget No. 6, Kerobokan Kelod, Kuta, Kabupaten Badung, Bali 80361 +62 361 4737888 #4 Mozaic: A beach restaurant where fashionable clothing is de rigueur Located on the Batubelig beach, the Mozaic Beachclub is expensive. But when you step into the place, especially at night, you understand why. It is a very beautiful place, with a spectacular décor, a very nice pool, very well-trained staff, and amazing food. The Mozaic Beachclub is the sister restaurant to the very famous Mozaic Restaurant Gastronomique in Ubud, created by Chris Salans. The chef has gathered a wealth of experience from this work in London, New Zealand and Australia. This is great, international haute cuisine. Fresh food with a lot of different flavours. If you are looking for a place to pop the question, well, this is a great choice. Mozaic also has an art gallery with items from famed brand Lotus Art de Vivre. These are exquisite little things that you could hide in his / her napkin before asking him / her to marry you. My personal advice: Come to the lounge for sunset, to enjoy the poolside bar and the trendy ambiance After sunset, climb up the stairs and have dinner. Wear your best outfits. Mozaic is only 10 minutes away from my Villa Adagian, but you could get lost as it is a bit hard to find on the Batu Belig beach. Look at my map to understand where it is located. Directions: Jl. Pantai Batu Belig, Seminyak, Bali, +62 361 4735796 I hope that this short list of romantic Bali restaurants will help you create indelible memories with your loved one. Exploring Bali can definitively mean going from one gourmet restaurant to another. Just mix and match: Have a light lunch at a local warung and then dress up to go to one the fabulous Bali restaurants. RealBali.com !5 Surprising Bali RealBali.com UNCONVENTIONAL, YET 100% LEGAL SPA EXPERIENCES From an extravagant Arabian Nights-themed private spa suite in Seminyak to the intriguing “Happy Marital Life” rituals (vaginal smoking, anyone?) in a very upscale spa, as well as to a Bali massage for gay couples on a honeymoon, I’ve tried to list original Bali experiences for you. Some kinds of Balinese massage offered on the island can be pretty unique and are among the top things to do in Bali. I call them unconventional massages: they are not erotic, but they can put your body into a state that it is quite sensual. For a couple spending their holiday in Bali, it can be a very nice sensory foreplay, in a very nice, upscale Bali spa. RealBali.com !6 Surprising Bali RealBali.com First, let me state again that unconventional massage, to me, does not mean erotic massage. It is more about clean, decent, well-know places offering quality massages with a twist. Plenty of places in Bali offer regular Balinese massages, from spas to hotels, from local women offering traditional massage on the beach in Amed to posh L’Occitane spa at Kupu-Kupu hotel in Ubud. Here, it’s a more personal list, all about experiences that can create bonding memories between your spouse and you.