KU DE TA is currently Bali's most trendy restaurant in a top beach front location next to the Oberoi Hotel. The modern architecture and interior design of the bar and dining areas go well with the "fusion cuisine" of the Australian chef. On the menu you find a selection of freshly shucked oysters imported two times per week from Australia and France and served with a champagne vinaigrette. There are many salads, grilled Australian yabbies (small freshwater crayfish), seared scallops, a seafood stew, lamb rib eye, venison rib and beef tenderloin. The interesting wine list features many wines from Australia, California, Chile, France, Italy, New Zealand and South Africa and starts around US$55 per bottle. Sparkling wines by the glass are US$15 to US$20, and bottles range from US$60 for VALDIVIESCO Brut from Chile to US$300 for a bottle of KRUG Brut Grande Cuvee. The service staff is well-trained and attentive, and prices are not cheap but still reasonable. There are comfortable deck chairs right on the beach to watch Bali's famous sunsets, and you can choose from nearly 30 Cuban cigars such as BOLIVAR Coronas Junior, COHIBA Coronas Especiales, H. UPMANN Connoisseur No. 1, HOYO DE MONTERREY Sort Hoyo Coronas, MONTECRISTO Especial No. 2, PUNCH Punch Punch, or ROMEO YULIETA Exhibition No. 4 from about US$10 to US$50. This is a place to see and be seen, and from late afternoon on Fridays and Saturdays there is a rather noisy DJ entertaining Bali's beautiful people.

For many years rather popular is DIRTY DUCK or BEBEK BENGIL in Padang Tegal about one kilometer south of Ubud's main street. Forget their special "Crispy Duck" which is very dry and sometimes rather tough. Their range of other Indonesian and Western dishes, however, is quite tasty, the garden setting very pleasant, and the live background music in the evenings creates a nearly magic atmosphere.

The BUMBU BALI Restaurant (& Cooking School) in Tanjung Benoa adjacent to Nusa Dua, is operated by Heinz von Holzen, the author of the book "The Food of Bali" and former food guru of the Grand Hyatt and Ritz Carlton hotels in Bali. A visit here IS A MUST if you are interested in authentic local cuisine. In beautiful surroundings you can enjoy appetizers such as "Ayam Pelalah" (chicken with chillies and lime), beef, chicken and prawn Satay, or "Jokut Kakul", a tasty snail soup with lemon grass and black pepper. Main dishes include "Ayam Betutu" (roasted chicken in banana leaf), delicious "Siap Mapanggang" (ox tongue in sweet nutmeg sauce), "Satay Lilit" made from minced seafood, and "Ikan Pepes", and grilled fish in banana leaf. You can choose from a range of exotic desserts such as Black Rice Pudding, Coconut Pancakes, etc. Or indulge yourself by ordering the "Balinese Rijsttafel" which consists of 14 different dishes served together with white, yellow, and red rice (even a vegetarian version of this feast is available). You can end your meal with various gourmet coffee preparations or special flavoured Indonesian teas (apple, apricot, black currant, cinnamon, orange, peach, raspberry, strawberry, vanilla, etc). Service is very attentive, and prices (about US$20 to US$30 per person for a huge meal) are very reasonable for the unique experience. On Fridays there are Balinese dance performances from about 8 p.m. (If you book certain villas through Balivillas.com, you enjoy FREE participation in the popular Balinese cooking classes conducted by Heinz.)

Another excellent new restaurant in this Tuban-part of Kuta is QUEEN'S of INDIA in Jalan Kartika Plaza next to the entrance of the BALI DYNASTY hotel. This eatery belongs to the QUEEN's Group of Indian restaurants and offers very pleasant surroundings in a modern 2-storey building. The menu features all the favorites which made the QUEEN's TANDOOR in Seminyak so popular such as delicacies from the Tandoor oven, chicken, lamb, seafod and vegetable curries, masallas, pasandas and kormas plus a number of quite unique specialties such as the chicken, mutton, prawn or fish "sizzlers": after being marinated in yoghurt and fresh spices the meat is partly cooked in the Indian Tandoor oven before being finished together with vegetables in a Chinese Wok and served on a sizzling platter. Creative Indian-Chinese fusion cuisine, but these delicacies are both HOT and SPICY; tell the waiter if you don't like spicy food or, even better, don't order a Sizzler! Vegetarians will enjoy the wonderful sauces with a wide range of veggies and the tasty black or yellow Dhal (lentils) cooked in spices, cream and butter and the famous Indian breads; we love the papadums and the Kashmiri Nan. A very enjoyable meal for two is around 250,000 Rupiah++ without drinks. Right now the QUEEN'S of INDIA offers the most pleasant surroundings and most delicious and creative food from the sub-continent in Bali. Enjoy, but bring your own wine.

Only opened in late 2007 is the modern, fully air-conditioned SUSHI TEI located at Sunset Road No. 99 in Kuta. When you sit at the bar you can watch the skills of the chefs in the open kitchen and help yourself to creative Japanese delicacies from the conveyor belt in front of you. This is Bali's first and currently only "Sushi Train". There are many different Sushi Rolls filled with combinations of eel, crab meat, tuna, salmon, prawns, mango etc., various kinds of Sashimi and Sushi including sword fish, scallops, smoked bonito, octopus, life lobster and sea urchin. The beautifully designed menu shows photographs of many specialties including grilled meats, various Tempura preparations, Japanese soups, noodles and rice dishes, many salads and a choice of desserts such as Green Tea ice cream, Black Sesame ice cream, peach sherbet, chocolate wafers, etc. The photographs are very tempting, the actual dishes, however, are often rather disappointing and not as fresh as expected. A meal for two should be between 400,000 and 650,000 Rupiah.

CAFE BATU JIMBAR, Jalan Danau Tamblingan, is a casual sidewalk cafe and popular with regular visitors to Sanur and expatriates who meet here for breakfast, lunch or dinner under large trees. You can choose from a number of fresh fruit juices, healthy salads and light dishes; the vegetables and herbs are grown at the owner's farm near Bedugul. Next door to the restaurant is a bottle shop which carries a choice of imported wines.