Part 1.
Just a short trip of 7 nights. Celebrating a wedding anniversary, and headed over without the kids (thanks Granma!).
My wife is a Margarita fanatic, and she stipulates that she doesn't care where we eat as long as they sell margaritas. I am a wannabe food critic so not too many dramas on this count. Her only exception for not having a margarita is the occasional lunch at a local warung. She also only likes the frozen margaritas - so this proved a challenge at times. She's not fussy - just a princess!
We wanted to have some fun in Kuta/Legian and then some chill out time on Lembongan. We normally stay at the Legian end of town with our kids, but wanted to re-live some of the times of our youth around Kuta.
FLIGHTS : Flew Air Asia ex Perth 4.50am flight. On time, all OK. Got some food on board (noodles and rice) and it was actually pretty good.
VOA : We were seated in row 6 on the plane, and made it to the VOA in quick time. No other planes landing and managed to clear immigration, grab and Taxi and get to the hotel in 30 mins (from leaving the plane). Only 2 booths open so the people at the back of the line were probably in for a wait.
HOTEL : We stayed at the Kuta Lagoon for 3 nights. We arrived there at 9.10am and they advised that a room would be ready at 10.30am, so we headed out to the IndoNational for brekky. Stopped at Ketuts for a couple of teeshirts and singlets on the way back, and made our way to the room.
I had checked out the best rooms on a prior visit and were given our requested poolside room. The rooms themselves are pretty standard fare, but having access to the pool was fantastic. Regularly cleaned during the day and always spotless in the morning.
Staff - absolutely terrific. Given the hotel is fairly small the staff are extremely friendly and always willing to stop for a chat. Could not fault them.
Brekky - just OK. Usual fare, but hot food selection is average and fresh fruit didn't include pineapple or bananas.
EATING OUT : The memory is a bit hazy on them all, but here goes with a selection:
Café Agung - in Poppies 1. Food pretty good, satays came to the table in a wood fired holder - nice touch and the sauce was good. Mararitas 6/10
TJ's - in Poppies 1. Surprisingly we had never eaten here before, thinking that it would likely be your standard Mexican fare. We were pleasantly surprised with the quality of the food here (fajitas to die for, they come to the table with a hot platter of meat (chicken or beef), selection of sauces (sour cream, tomato, guacamole, chilli, and condiments) and 3 freshly cooked tortillas. So make them yourself. Really really good. Margaritas 8/10.
UN's - The gang heading into Poppies 1. Again, hadn't eaten here before, but given the revies had high expectations. The food I'm afraid was just OK, however, the atmosphere created by the friendly staff and live (roaming) 3 piece band was excellent. Good to hear the trio belt out some classic Elvis, U2 and other tunes. Margaritas 5/10
Ultimo - Seminyak. Our favourite Bali restaurant. The food was fantastic as always. The duck ravioli is seriously good, and the fried gnocci is different but also good. We also enjoyed scallops wrapped in bacon which was really well presented and tasted excellent. I was looking forward to their White Chocolate Crème Brulee, but it wasn't on the menu in this night, disappointing but we were stuffed in any case. Service great, band - so/so. Margaritas - 9.5/10.
Goodys - Legian (out the front of Jayakarta on the beach - about 400 metres down on the right). We have loved this place in the past, food good, service friendly and good margaritas! This time around they appear to be struggling keeping up with demand. They were full, so we waited at the bar having a few drinks. Lots of tables complaining about slow service, missing meals, missing drinks etc. Saw two tables leave without paying as some meals didn't arrive. I spoke with one of the owners (Italian guy) and he said that the kitchen staff had recently changed and couldn't cope with their exacting demands for quality food output.
We eventually sat down and given the time (about 8.30pm), the family groups had left and the place was back to normal. Food came out in good time, and was pretty good. Now this place has seriously good desserts - you must try the chocolate mousse and Toblerone Mousse Pie - they are seriously good. Margaritas - 7/10.
Had lunch at a couple of small warungs around the traps, can't recall the names, but usual Indo fare was always good.
Enjoyed drinks at a few places, but rekindled some fond memories at Kebuku on Poppies 1. A great place to people watch and enjoy their Happy Hour cocktails. Carafe's of selected cocktails are about 45,000rp from memory, and they pack a punch.
SHOPPING : Didn't buy much as were just recycle our Bali gear each trip and add a few items each time. Usual DVD purchases.
Ordered some stubbie holders for our business from Redline in Garlic Lane (Opposite Ketuts). We shopped around for these, and the quality does differ. Paid 9,000rp each. They say that the minimum order is for 50. We ordered 50 for ourselves and got another order for 30 for a sporting club that we know. Quality was really good and exceeded expectations. Make sure that you take your design on a jump drive so that they can upload. Doesn't need to be a JPEG file, a simple Word doc is OK as well.
Summary of this part of the trip - We had a ball in and around Kuta, with the occasional sojourn further north. We prefer Legian when travelling with the kids - not as much walking to restaurants etc, not as hectic.
Part 2 - Lembongan coming soon.