Photos: 1) The Ku De Ta bar crowd; 2) Ku De Ta beach; 3) beet and goat cheese salad; 4) snapper; 5) salmon; 6) pasta and rabbit ragu; 6) child’s meal of pasta with pesto and chicken
Bali is a popular destination among expatriates in Asia – especially Australians – so when one of my daughter’s teachers from down under passed on her favorite restaurant cards ithe day before we left, I was pleased to have the recommendations.
For Christmas Eve, we selected “Ku De Ta,” which turned out to be – though not what I was expecting – a good choice. I knew it wouldn’t be the typical place to spend Christmas Eve when we pulled up under heart shaped lanterns and exited the car to a a high-end nightclub setting, complete with beautiful people and loud, clubby music. We entered the restaurant under more hearts – now festooned among large, shiny snow flakes – as the music became even louder, if that were possible.
We gazed at the large white Christmas tree made of white, plastic balls, which we later learned were lights that would turn a rainbow of colors throughout the evening. I was getting a little worried about our three-generational, family dinner when I glanced out at the ocean and saw the sky. The sun was setting, and we were treated to one of the most beautiful sunsets I have ever seen.
As darkness fell, the music tamed (or maybe I just got used to it). In the end, we had a lovely evening with excellent food (the reco was right on target) and good company. And a distinctly non traditional Christmas Eve setting to remember.