Thursday, August 27, 2009

Dinner in Blue Marlin @ Jimbaran Bay (Bali Day 1)

It's been quite a while since I actually had a break and I've been promising May for a year to take her to Bali. With Merdeka making it a long weekend we finally made our way there!

We checked in at The Westin Nusa Dua and went immediately to Kuta's Double Six Beach for May's Bungy Jump. I swear it didn't look really tall when your looking from below but once I was up there I chickened out while May jumped. I watched embarrassingly as the crew buckled May up and took shots of her jump. The guys were taunting me but I was way too wimpy to take on their taunts.

May's Bungy Jump

Anyways, after strolling along the Kuta area, our plan of eating at our Hotel changed. Our driver insisted that we have dinner at Jimbaran Bay to watch the beautiful sunset.

He drove us straight into a restaurant of his choice which made us quite unhappy as we knew he was probably paid a commission by this place to take tourist in. We told him to wait while we "choose" what we wanted to eat. To our surprise the entire beach was lined up with restaurants all serving the same food: Seafood, seafood and more seafood. The only difference is as we passed one after the other the discounts kept getting bigger.

We finally settled on the Blue Marlin Restaurant since they had some seafood that was actually live and not kept in a cool box like many places.

Sunset on Jimbaran Beach

Ordering was easy as we picked out what we wanted either from the tank or the cool box.

Live Prawns
Squid
Fish


We ordered a few dishes all of which were grilled in the open kitchen.

Open Kitchen
Grilled Seafood


After ordering we were seated at the very front of the beach where we could watch the sunset without any obstruction.

Dining on the Beach


Like all the restaurants in this area, we were treated to a traditional Balinese Dance. It was nice but this didn't distract us from our food and drinks.

Balinese Dance


Being tourists we both ordered what most tables had... coconuts. May's coconut was pretty sweet but mine tasted like water.

Coconut


Complimentary soup arrived next and it was very thick and bland. They must have put way too much cornstarch inside it.

Complimentary Soup with our meal


Soon after our main courses arrived. We had the Grilled Sea Bass which we chose from the tank. The fish was really moist and very tasty from the marinade they used.

Grilled Live Sea Bass


We also had Grilled Red Snapper which was from the cool box. This was overcooked and very, very dry. We had a tough time finishing this.

Grilled Red Snapper

Grilled Squid came next and it was grilled just right. The squid was tender and moist. Flavor wise it was a little mild. But this was fixed with some Sambal that they gave.

Grilled Squid


Clams were also not bad. They weren't overcooked and was grilled with some tomato puree and spices.

Grilled Clams


Last our seafood also came with a plate of vegetables which I think was Kang Kung (Morning Glory). It was simply sauteed with some garlic.

Stir-Fried Greens

Overall, for our first meal in Bali I wasn't very impressed. I felt the restaurants here were very tourist focused and that showed in the quality and price of the food (Dinner for 2 cost: USD $49). The Balinese Dance was nice and so were the musicians who dropped by for a couple of songs. The view was also nice as we dined right through the night. I just hope the other restaurants I planned for would be much better!

3 Amigos
Sunset on Jimbaran Beach

Contact Information:
Address: Kedonganan Beach St. Jimbaran Bay - Bali
Tel: +62-361-702242
Website: www.blue-marlincafe.com

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

In the 2nd halfe of May 2010 we spent a convivial evening in your cafe. We enjoyed the meal, the dancers and the view.
For 4 persons I ordered two red snappers. I asked for the weight: 2.2 kg. Our guide said 1 kg for two is enough.
But the end of the day was poor. On the bill was written: 3.7 kg red snapper. After 40 minutes discussion with your staff and only because I took a photo of our picked out fishes on the scales I got a corrected bill.
On this way your staff will be rich after a short time. Your guests have no chance because they have normaly no photo of the scales as argument.
It is too bad about the nice evening and the wonder full meal!

Regards

Guenter Schulze (Germany)
guenter0411@web.de