A Lovely Late Lunch at La Lucciola

We'd heard so much about La Lucciola while we were researching for this trip... the beautiful beachfront location, its fresh fruit granitas, the fancy brunch specials... that we knew we just had to squeeze in a visit no matter what! So after a bit of incredible spa time at Jari Menari, we headed up to La Lucciola for a late lunch and we're happy to report that La Lucciola met all of our expectations and then some!!

the view from our table at La Lucciola

There was an ongoing temple ceremony at neighbouring Petitenget temple so all the gamelan playing from next door made crossing the bridge to La Lucciola even more surreal than it already was for us!

La Lucciola sits on beautiful Seminyak Beach, so from wherever you're seated, you get this gorgeous view of just this wide expanse of sand and sea, hampered only by a few coconut trees standing guard in front of the restaurant. We chose to sit upstairs on the mezzanine for an even better view!

a view of horses on the beach

that's right... horses!

We were given our Drinks & Lunch menu as soon as we were seated and we immediately zeroed in on the granitas. The Mister had the Strawberry & Guava Granita and I had the Mango & Tangerine (both at Rp30,000) while the Little Boy ordered a glass of fresh Strawberry & Watermelon juice (Rp30,000).

our granitas & fresh fruit juice

These were excellent granitas! Perfect for a hot afternoon in Bali! I would trek the beach to La Lucciola every single day for these granitas! Served on big glasses set on saucers to catch the overflow, the granitas were the perfect balance of ice and freshly squeezed fruit goodness!

the Mango & Tangerine Granita

the Strawberry & Guava Granita

the Strawberry & Watermelon juice

While the Strawberry & Watermelon juice was also good, it did not hold up to just how refreshing the granitas were. The Little Boy kept stealing sips from my glass throughout our meal and ended up finishing my Mango & Tangerine Granita!

taking sips from his drink...

...before he decides he likes my drink better!

For lunch, we went for a light meal and ordered the Calamari with Tangy Lemon & Dill Mayonaisse, Rocket & Balsamic (Rp58,000) for me and the Risotto with Balinese Duck, Porcini Mushrooms, Spinach & Roasted Hazelnuts (Rp98,000) for the Mister.

butter & bread before the food arrives

I was a bit disappointed with the calamari's small portion but taste-wise, it was great. The calamari went perfectly well with the arugula and just the light seafood lunch with my granita just made for that perfect beach lunch!

Calamari with Tangy & Dill Mayonaisse,
Rocket and Balsamic

The risotto with the Balinese duck was the clear winner here though! It was soooo good! The porcini mushrooms, the duck, the roasted hazelnuts all gave to that earthy, rich risotto goodness!

Risotto with Balinese Duck, Porcini Mushrooms,
Spinach & Roasted Hazelnuts

The Little Boy ordered a plate of Penne Pasta with Cream & Bacon (Rp59,000) from the Kids' Menu that we found a tad overpriced, but he liked it very much and finished it right away so we didn't mind.

the Little Boy's Penne Pasta with Bacon & Cream

For dessert, we had their Apple Tarte Tatin A La Mode in Caramel Sauce (Rp75,000) and a small cone of Chocolate Ice Cream (Rp36,000) for the little boy and a small glass of Caffe Latte (Rp28,000).

the Apple Tart Tatin with Caramel Sauce & Ice Cream

a cone of homemade Chocolate Ice Cream

The Apple Tart was heavenly, bathed in all that caramel! And just the warm apple tart paired with the ice cream made it the perfect end to the meal! They've got very good coffee, too, a nice pick-me-up before we go on the rest of our day-tripping!

my Caffe Latte

For lunch + dessert + coffee + granitas, our bill came to a little more than a whopping Rp500,000 / $55 after 5% service charge and 10% Gov. Tax was added so it turned out to be a pricey lunch for us! But I think that while you can maybe have food as good as theirs at lower prices somewhere else, the beautiful view at La Lucciola is what makes the whole dining experience worth it. So while it was a bit of a splurge for us, we found that it was well worth every Rupiah! Our late lunch at La Lucciola really stood out as one of the best dining experiences we had in Bali!

Another plus? When you've had too much to eat, Seminyak Beach is literally steps away and perfect for a nice after-meal stroll. :)

Puri Damai: A Lovely Boutique Losmen (a hotel review of sorts…)

a stone statue welcoming us to Puri Damai

We’ve never liked staying at big properties or often soul-less chain hotels whenever we travel. Every time we go anywhere, we really try to research and look for smaller properties, B&Bs or inns to stay at. On this trip to Bali, while looking for a place we could stay at in the Legian/Seminyak area (while we really wanted to stay at Ubud for most of our stay, we decided to spend atleast a night near the beach so we could take the little boy for a swim on our first day!), we were lucky enough to be guided (by a kind soul on ever-so-dependable Tripadvisor.com) to one of the most charming boutique properties we’ve ever stayed at anywhere.

Puri Damai - a boutique losmen

Puri Damai claims to be a boutique losmen in Legian, Bali. A losmen is actually a traditional homestay where local Balinese people open their own homes & houses to travellers who need a room to stay at for a night. And while Puri Damai isn’t exactly a losmen in that sense since it’s really more like an apartment complex built for tourists, I guess what makes it still a losmen is how it’s run by its owners so there’s still that personal touch & home-away-from-home feel!

Puri Damai's small courtyard

Puri Damai is basically made up of a few 1-Bedroom and 2-Bedroom Apartments surrounding a pretty little garden courtyard. I fell in love with the place as soon as we stepped into their small reception area where we were met by the lovely Ayu Giri. I wasn’t the only one smitten by the place, too. While the Mister & I were checking in, the little boy noticed the window overlooking the super cute tiny pool they had right next to the reception area so he immediately ran to the poolside to check it out. The pool was just about 14m long, really small but just perfect for swimming short laps and taking quick dips. Of course, our little boy was quick to find that the pool had an even tinier kiddie pool right beside it, complete with little stone fish fountains. So adorable! And while at first I was worried about how small the pool area was, I was surprised to find that we had the pool all to ourselves every time we took a quick dip. Needless to say, we had a hard time getting the little boy out of the pool every time so we ended up running late for most of our reservations and our planned itineraries because of that.

checking in at Puri Damai

a peek at the pool through a window
at the reception area

the tiny pool at Puri Damai

and an even tinier kiddie pool!

our only other companions at the pool

Our room at Puri Damai was just as lovely. We booked a downstairs Single Apartment. We had our own open-air living area with a nice big daybed (perfect for just curling up with a book); a small dining table for 4; a quaint little kitchen with everything we could possibly need to cook & prepare our own meals (a fridge, a stove, plates, glasses, utensils, a couple of pots & pans we used to reheat food we ordered from outside); a small siting area by the front; and a door that leads into a small cozy bedroom with a comfy queen-sized bed, a working desk/dresser, a cabinet, a safe, a ceiling fan, aircon, and even a small TV (yay for the little boy!). The bathroom had one of those ubiquitous shower in a tub, and was kept fairly clean. A small room but it had everything we needed and more! Plus points too for their small green initiatives: solar-heated water! Oh and did I mention free wi-fi?!

Apartment 4 - our own little apartment for the day

our dining & living area

the small cozy sitting area right by the door to the bedroom

our dining table & our favorite spot -- the daybed

our super comfy queen-sized bed

beautiful Balinese batik & pretty flowers on the bed

we even had a small working desk!

The only thing I guess I didn’t like about Puri Damai was the food. They didn’t have their own restaurant but since Puri Damai’s owned by the same people who own the legendary Made’s Warung, we had a huge photocopied menu of Made’s Warung that we can order from and they promised to deliver in 15 minutes.

So, we got pretty excited about the food since hey, this was Made’s Warung – one of the most popular, most established restaurants in Bali! And since we didn’t think we’d have time to make a stop at Made’s Warung later on in our visit, we decided to order some merienda while the little boy takes a quick dip in the pool so we could atleast try their food. Turned out to be a bad idea. :s we had to wait for more than half an hour for the food! And when it got there, the food was already cold & our lassies & fruit shakes weren’t even cold anymore. We ordered a plate of the ½ Nasi Campur ½ Gado Gado combo (Rp35,000/Php179/$3.75), a Tri-colored Ravioli (I know… Ravioli in Bali?! what were we thinking?!) (Rp43,000/Php216/$4.75), and a traditional Balinese Black Rice Pudding with Bananas which turned out to be the only thing we liked out of everything! We also ordered an Avocado Shake (Rp15,000/Php77/$1.75) & a Mango Lassie (Rp24,000/Php123/$2.75) – both actually tasted good but it was already warm when it got to us so it wasn’t as refreshing as it should’ve been. Our little boy still loved & finished his mango lassie though! We paid around Rp180,000 (around Php920/$20 including taxes) for a disappointing lunch and we ended up leaving half an hour late for our drive to Uluwatu because the food took so long so we weren’t too happy about that!

soggy Tri-Colored Ravioli from Made's Warung

Yummy Black Rice Pudding with Bananas & Shredded Coconut
and a glass of Fresh Avocado Juice

Service was hit & miss. After our disappointing meal, when we called the reception to send someone to take away the used plates to avoid unwelcome visitors scavenging at the leftovers, we were told that housekeeping hours were over so there'll be noone to clean up anymore. *sigh* It was all good though. Having to wash the dishes & cleaning up after ourselves gave it that 'living like a local' feel. :p When we got back from a late night out though, their staff were always so warm & welcoming and even helped out the Mister plan a small surprise for me (but that's another story!).

Over all though, Puri Damai provided us with a lovely, lovely place to stay at during our quick stop at Legian and we’re glad we decided to stay here! And for only $57.50 (or around P2,670 in pesos), we thought it was a steal and would definitely stay there again on our next trip to Bali!

the entrance to Puri Damai

the way up to the second floor apartments

(Sidenote: Being an avid Tripadvisor.com user, I also posted a review on Puri Damai here: http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g608487-d735701-Reviews-Puri_Damai-Legian_Bali.html.)