Mia's Review: Blue Bali

Was searching around for some interesting restaurant to celebrate a colleague's birthday when I chanced upon Blue Bali and was immediately attracted to how pretty it looked, the Balinese Garden Villa theme.

Tucked away from the bustling city at a pretty secluded corner of the Botanics Garden (1D Cluny Road), it was a pretty long way (some parts uphill) up from the carpark near the swimming complex.

Upon reaching the entrance, I was instantly wowed by the Balinese decor of the place. The short hike uphill (in the dark) earlier was simply forgotten.

The indoor area at/near the bar counter. Really cozy and pretty, like a Bali resort reception area.

And here is the outdoor Balinese Garden themed dining area, with normal table seats, couch seats, or floor "tatami" seating.

A couple date here will be pretty romantically awesome, too. :)

A shot of the menu. Simple, yet with pretty Balinese art prints.

My drink of the day: Bali Cooler - $15

This is a cocktail containing Vodka, Watermelon Liquer, Cranberry and Pineapple Juice.Very refreshing and light. I tasted a lot of watermelon (which I thought was just watermelon juice) and a hint of pineapple in it. Hardly any effects of liquor at all. I would have thought this is a mocktail if not for the slight bitter aftertaste from the Vodka. 

 

My colleague's Mocktail, which I have no idea what she ordered. I just took a photo of it because it's in my favourite colour. :)

 

Blue Bali Crispy Roasted Chicken - $25

This well marinated chicken is roasted till crispy with aromatic Chinese spices and served with prawn crackers and lettuce. Although claiming to be crispy and juicy, I'm sorry to say that it's not juicy at all. I can't deny that it's flavourful and tasty, but the meat were kind of dry, though still tender enough for a healthy set of teeth. 

 

Thai Vegetable Green Curry - $16

And this is good! We all loved the curry to bits. It's creamy and flavourful with generous servings of cauliflower, broccoli, brinjals, carrots and baby asparagus. After this curry was served, you basically see all our plates tinged green, regardless of which dish we were really eating. It was like a mad rush snatching up the ladle and pouring the awesome curry gravy over EVERYTHING we're eating. 

 

Jimbaran BBQ Seafood Platter - $90

This platter comes with grilled snapper, sambal cumi, grilled mussels, sambal king prawn, bali rice and garden salad. It should safely serves between 2 to 4, depending on individuals and how many dishes you order. 

I personally find it slightly overpriced, but then again there's not only a generous serving of snapper (the entire fish) but also king prawns so I guess it's the money you have to part with given the raw ingredients. Execution wise (of the cooking), it's really just decent. It's not as if I'm going to expect anything less for a platter that may only serve up to 2 pax (for large eaters). The seafood ranges from being okay to slightly overdone, especially the squids and mussels. I had to swallow a chunk of squid almost whole, after chewing it for a while and realising it's not breaking down at all. The prawn was pretty well done though, the meat thick, chewy and juicy, not forgetting the tasty sambal that coated it generously. Not exactly a prawn person, but I personally find these prawns the best in the platter. 

Homemade tofu served with Thai Chilli Sauce - $9

We wanted to try Gado Gado but it was sold out that day, so the waiter recommended that we take this tofu dish instead.
Not a bad recommendation at all. The tofu was fried till crispy and fragrant on the outside, piping hot and soft on the inside.

A dessert platter I have no idea what they are nor how much exactly it cost.
Now here comes the story, I sneakily went up to one of their staff and asked what can be done for a birthday surprise for my colleague, as they do not serve cakes. So this was what she recommended, saying that they can put on a candle somewhere.
Now, do you see any candles? And as if this disappointment is not enough, a group of their staff, one holding onto a guitar, popped up at the large table of Caucasians beside us, and started serenading one of them a birthday song.
Okay.... so.... you only do that for large group of patrons... or... what?
Alright, nevermind now. The staff then quickly pointed at each dish on the platter and blabbered about what they are before leaving our table promptly. Leaving us totally baffled and still trying to figure out what is what.
Nevertheless, we all put our tastebuds to the test and managed to figure out roughly which is which. There's namely 2 scoops of ice cream (one coconut and one vanilla), a creme brulee (or something similar), a lemon grass pudding, some glutinous rice roll with mango filling, and chocolate banana springroll.
 Out of which I have to say the springroll is the best. You can't go wrong with soft mushy banana coupled with yummy chocolate sauce and then wrapped in crispy springroll skin.
As for the least popular dish, it has to be the lemon grass pudding. All of us gave the exact same cringe upon trying it and the poor pudding was pretty much left as it is after that. The lemon grass flavour was so overpowering it reminded me of toothpaste. Well, it makes a good breath refresher after all the food, I guess?

Blue Bali is located at 1D Cluny Road.
For more information, visit their website HERE

Till then,
Mia