New Thai Restaurant Opens in Bali

(7/24/2001)

The La Terrace Restaurant at Villa Sekar Nusa fills an important gap in Bali's range of dining choices with the opening of their new Thai Restaurant. I joined the hotel's General Manager, Jean-Luc Bonneau, for a memorable 7 course tour de force of their new Thai menu last night. In fact, I was so moved by the experience that I'm busily doing a cost comparison between migrating to Thailand versus the cost of a permanent room at the Villa Sekar Nusa. Once is not enough and with food this good there's no such thing as too much of a good thing.

Dinner got underway with a tasty selection of traditional hors d'oeuvres, including spring rolls and shrimp toast accompanied by a traditional picquant ginger-chili sauce. Also providing the taste buds with a wake up call was a delightfully different chilled infusion of cinnamon, cloves, anisette and allspice, which I liken to a chilled version of Christmas spiced wine - minus the wine.

My taste buds, now well-primed for the culinary adventure ahead engaged a traditional Tom Yum Gung soup of spicy prawn and lemon grass soup which heralded what followed: Yum Woon Sen - Spice Glass Noodle Salad with Seafood; Panang Talay - Mixed Seafood in Curried Coconut Milk; Gung Tod Kateam Prick Thai - Deep Fried Prawn with Garlic, Peppercorn and Vegetables; Pla Hor Boi Toey - Baked Fish in Pandan Leaves; and Gaeng Khen Wan Gai - Chicken in Green Curry. Dessert was a deceptively simple but delicious sweet banana serve in rich coconut milk perfectly perfumed with a dash of tart lime juice.

The menu and the restaurant are the inspiration of the Villa Sekar Nusa's veteran manager, Jean-Luc Bonneau, who worked for many years in Thailand. To ensure absolute loyalty to the Thai kitchen traditions he has engaged the services of a very talented lady-chef from Thailand, Khun U Thai Pochanavicet who visits the restaurant on a regular basis from her base in Thailand.

Now is a particularly good time to sample the wares of the La Terrace Restaurant. Situated on the second floor balcony of the resort under a canopy of star and with commanding views of nearby Nusa Dua, the very pleasant outside temperatures of the July-September in Bali make dining al fresco an added bonus of dining during this time of year.

Reservations are recommended. In fact, I'm considering taking a long-term lease on a table for my exclusive use. Call ++62-(0)361-773333.