Johan Hensen Column The writer is a retired hopitality consultant and living in Bali. Any comment about this article, please email at johan@bits.bali.com or HP 081558582853

Everyone has a Little Secret……

Last week I received an e-mail from one of our readers in Bali, who accused me of only writing and highlighting the Balinese / Indonesian Cuisine. Well, partly that is true as I am a true lover of this food. But as Bali is more or less an international food court, I reviewed in my last column the delights of the famous "Mezzanine" restaurant in Sanur.

But I realize that you would like to have some culinary experiences while in Bali, so I will share the little secret that I have for a romantic dinner, or even better a romantic day, including more than just eating! That all in the Tuban – Kuta area, a very central location, easy to be reached from where-ever you stay. According to "experts" no fine restaurants can be found here. Well, they are all wrong and you will understand why, if you follow the uncovering of my little secret.
The restaurant is called "Ma Joly" and is associated with the Sandi Phala Resort and is directly situated on the Tuban beach.
My partner and I had a truly romantic breakaway from all daily hustles and bustles.
As we really wanted to relax our body & mind and pamper each other, we first went to their Spa for the "Romantic Gaya" body treatment. Well, the environment, the beautifully decorated spa room and the professional therapists are part of the magic that they perform to get rid of your stress and to bring you in a romantic mood again.
After a traditional herb drink (jamu), we had a floral foot bath, followed by an aromatic body compress. Our bodies were now ready for the Romance Body scrub and Salt Bath. You feel all stress and dirt fall of your body, feel young, fresh and attractive again. But more was to come. After a hot towel compress, we underwent a "Romance body oil massage", finished of by a face massage. I felt like an Adonis again, and looking to my partner, this whole treatment must have had the same influence, according to her body language. What a magic performance they did to us. After this 3 hour treatment we took a refreshing swim (well we didn’t "swim" much) in the pool and made ourselves ready for more romantic experiences and we were in the mood for it!
So up we went to the Ma Joly Beach front eatery.
Here we were welcomed by this beautiful Balinese young lady, offering us frangipangi flowers, while escorting us to our nicely decorated table under the pergola right on the beach. After we were offered a non-alcoholic welcome drink, we took a short walk along the white sandy beach and returned to our table. Restaurant Manager, Mr. Dadang Kadarisma and Executive Chef, Mr. Patrick Marty from France were now welcoming us and recommended a glass of white Australian Semillon Chardonnay from their extensive, well selected wine list. The finest wines from Australia, New Zealand, Chili, France and Bali (which made me happy) as well as some champagnes, all reasonably priced.
Indeed this white chardonnay was fitting perfectly with our first course: "Mediterranean Salad" for my partner and "Crevette Salad" for me. Both a feast for the eye and adding to the fantastic romantic mood hat we were experiencing. The very colorful assorted salad was made from egg-plant, cucumber, tomatoes, lettuce, and paprika with tomato & vinaigrette / mayo blended sauces. A feast for the tongues, fresh and light food, perfect for new lovers. The approaching sunset and the sound of the ocean waves were adding to the mood.
To relax in between the courses, we both took a "Kir Royal" (sparkling wine with crème de cassis) and enjoyed together, and I mean really together as we forgot that we were in a restaurant, the stunning and romantic sunset. Wow, what could we wish? Well, master cook Surya had more in mind. He personally escorted the next course: "Snapper Garlic" for my partner and "Beef Medaillon" for me. The Snapper filet was topped with garlic cream sauce, spinach, Cajun seasoning and stirred pimiento sauce all on a bed of fettuccini. My beef, very tender medium grilled imported beef in green pepper sauce, accompanied with fried mushrooms, mixed vegetables and grated potatoes (gratin) was truly a food gift of the gods. Chef Patrick recommended again the perfect wine to accompany this delicious food: a bottle of French Gewurztraminer. We felt in heaven, this is truly paradise. As by now it was already dark, the candle lights were the extra in this atmosphere of romance. I even became worried that all this food would be too much to end this romantic adventure in a fitting way. But don’t worry, my dear love birds and culinary lovers, all the food is so light and easy to digest, it will not disturb your romantic mood or feelings in any way.
So we continued our culinary and romantic discovery with superb desserts: "Mocca Parfait" for my partner and "Citrus Terrine" for me. Both desserts were perfectly fresh, light and in a way, relieving the stomach.
As we were unwilling to break up our mood yet and to tear us away and leaf this beautiful environment and romantic atmosphere, we ordered both the "Prince of Ma Joly", an arak – orange cocktail.
However, finally we took off to have …….??. Well that is my little secret and I will not tell you what happened afterwards. We all have our little secrets, don’t we?
As I told you that this is an exclusive and romantic place, you’ll understand the need to make reservations. How and where, please see this page for their full information. Have a romantic Christmas and New Year time, especially at Ma Joly!