Just returned from another memorable Bali trip, staying with the most hospitable staff at Wilsana 2. Just a few observations on places we went, things we did and places at which we ate.
Amed & Tulamben: Drove up to Amed and stayed at Blue Moon Villas, spending a great evening in the restaurant, singing and jamming with the guitar loving waiter, Ketut. Blue Moon Villas is a great place to stay with friendly staff and superb sea views. Snorkle in clear water immediately in front of the hotel. Had lunch at Dancing Dragon and we were really impressed. Great food, sensational location. Nothing wrong with Blue Moon but might look at trying Dancing Dragon next time for a bit of variety. We did two dives with Eco-Dive (based in Amed) on the Liberty wreck and "the wall" at Tulamben. Sensational diving and found Eco-Dive very good - good equipment, safety conscious and good dive-masters.
Bali Bike Baik: Have previously done the downhill bike tour with another company and thought we'd try Bali Baik as recommended by many people on this forum. A great recommendation, cheaper than opposition but more interesting and concludes with a very good lunch at owner Wayan's own house in Ubud. Would definitely do this again!
Restaurants:
Eating in Bali just gets better and better! Cafe Warisan is still superb with great atmosphere, great menu and great food. It might be expensive by Bali standards but certainly not by western standards. This should be on every "foody's" must eat list. Another on the must eat list should be Breeze, located at Samaya Villas right next door to La Luciolla. Once again, a great menu, great location complemented by an excellent menu and wine list. Also, enjoy a cocktail with the tapas menu while watching the sun set over the adjoining beach. Blossom, the Thai restaurant at Sentosa Villas is also superb. Well worth a visit to see the Sentosa set up but don't miss out on trying Blossom's menu. The Living Room was probably the only slight disappointment for us. Still beautifully presented with great atmosphere, but just didn't enjoy the food as much as prior visits. Still, might be that the current menu just didn't suit us.
Moving back into Jl Laksmana, or "eat street", (and at lower prices), Kuni's (twice) is a great Japenese restaurant, Khaima serves a very tasty Moroccan menu (together with a very tasty belly dance performance on Friday and Saturday nights), Rumours is always packed due to great food at very reasonable prices and Ultimo is a very slick Italian restaurant with good service and good food. Around the corner, and a little closer to Wilsana, is the new Grocer & Grind which is a combination of restaurant, wine bar and deli. Presents really well and has a great menu and food. We do hope it finds enough customers to stay open as it is not on the main road. Well worth searching it out!
Despite the abundance of good food, a brisk walk along the beach each morning ensured that the kilos stayed off! Looking forward to returning next April.