Travel: A Foodie Weekend in Bali
Last weekend I was very lucky to escape from the Jakarta buzz to Bali. The island can sometimes get a bad name due to certain southern-cross-tattoo-sporting visitors or being too ‘commercial’ or crowded. But do you know what? I still love it, it is an amazing place and you can still have ‘unspoilt’ experiences depending on where you go and who you go with.
This is my third visit to Bali, and I was keen to go to some areas we hadn’t been to before. I’d heard so many great things about Echo Beach in Canggu: the surf beach and general area – so that was our place of rest on the first night. It is much quieter than the more popular Bali we’ve seen in the past, and a real breath of fresh air – literally too.
A cheeky Pineapple Juice at Canggu Beach
For our next two nights we were EXTREMELY lucky to be staying at The Mulia in Nusa Dua, voted the World’s Best New Hotel in 2013. This came about because I actually won a competition to stay there and my boyfriend and I experienced the most amazing hospitality and service. This included a 60 minute massage each (it was amazing), two unbelievable buffet breakfast’s at one of the Mulia’s restaurants: The Cafe and a romantic dinner at Soleil. As if this wasn’t enough, they have several fabulous pools and are located right on the ocean. We spent half a day exploring a private beach area with lots of little boulders and cave like crevices – a big highlight of the trip for us.
The Spa at The Mulia
The last port of call was Seminyak, our favourite old stomping ground on previous visits. We were very grateful to be hosted by the W Retreat and Spa’s Fire Restaurant for their Hawker House Street Feast Sunday Brunch which gets booked out weeks in advance. This was overwhelming – imagine a hawker style set up inside and outside the restaurant with a mixture of Italian and Asian dishes, as well as fresh seafood and an impressive dessert station. After a few hours of this indulgence we used the remaining daylight at Kuta Beach drinking in the wind, surf and the sun’s last rays – a great way to close the page on our foodie weekend.
Bali is such a special place, it is so easy to travel and visit, the food is incredible and nothing beats those sunsets and baby waves for surfing learners like me. Here are some images from our weekend, I won’t be forgetting it in a hurry.
Jen Curcio
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A formal greeting on arrival at The Mulia Bali
The Mulia lookout from level 7
Our home for two nights in the Mulia Grandeur room
Inside our bathroom at The Mulia
Pool tiles at The Mulia Bali
Pre-Spa welcome drinks with lemongrass and hot towels
The digs at The Mulia Spa
Grilled Prime beef hanger steak with herbed butter and wine merchant’s sauce at Soleil
An example of how buffet breakfast goes down at the Mulia’s ‘The Cafe‘
Enjoying a beautiful lunch at The Mulia’s ‘The Cafe‘
A close up of our lunch – the Asian seafood plate – can’t tell you how incredible the marinade was!
Another example of how buffet breakfast goes down at the Mulia’s ‘The Cafe‘
The view when we arrived at the W in Seminyak
Just some of the spread at the W Seminyak’s Sunday Brunch
Inside the Fire restaurant at W Seminyak hosting their famous Hawker House Street Feast Sunday brunch
A little seafood brunch platter at the W in Seminyak’s Sunday Brunch
Dipping in at the W Seminyak’s Chocolate Fountain
Surfing at sunset – Kuta Beach
