The Best Curry We've Had on this trip

So much of what we learn about these hotels and resorts in advance come from Trip Advisor. Leslie and I spent hours culling through traveler's reviews of various properties. Like judging in the Olympics, we tend to throw out the overly negative and breathlessly positive reviews, and look for overall trends in what folks commented on about these places. For the Ayana resort, one dude complained that he couldn't get into any of the restaurants once he arrived because they were all booked up. So, about a week ahead of our arrival, we made a slew of reservations covering our four nights here (in the end, we kept only two of them).

We had 7:30 reservations at a restaurant called Padi, so after washing off a day at the pool and getting ready for the evening, I had the family quickly pose for a photo in the camera friendly twilight, then boarded a golf buggy (oddly, they weren't electric like other places), and our butler drove us to the Demar lounge, adjacent to the Padi restaurant for drinks.

Family portrait at villa

View from back of our buggy zooming along the resort's paths

There, we chose a covered, spacious bure, with big comfy pillows upon which we plopped down. I ordered my usual Caiparoska, and Leslie ordered a bottle of wine that was moved over to dinner with us.

Fading Twilight

Demur Lounge

Lovely Leslie in the Twilight



Thank goodness Liam has his iPad mini...kept his complaining to a minimum

As twilight faded into a star draped night sky, we headed over to the restaurant. Ironically, it was maybe 25% occupied. I don't know what that trip advisor guy was complaining about. Strange.

Comprising four open-air, thatch-roofed pavilions, this traditional Bali restaurant features an open Asian heritage-style kitchen where guests can watch the native Indonesian, Indian and Thai chefs working alongside each other with fiery flair and fast-paced action, to prepare favorite dishes from their respective home countries.



Guarding the entrance to the restaurant

Padi Restaurant

One of the thatched pavilions of the restaurant

Lily, clearly being embarrassed.

I opted for the Thai fixed menu, while Leslie and Lily chose curry dishes, while Liam (tired from a day of pool time) chose something pathetically bland (hamburger, maybe?).

The Phad Thai and green beef and eggplant curry I enjoyed was better than anything I've tasted on our trip to Thailand. It was the bomb. Leslie, was simply ecstatic over the yellow curry she ordered. It was a fantastic meal. So much so, I walked over to the kitchen and thanked the chefs personally.

Unfortunately, the kids were so unappreciative of the whole experience. As a teenager, everything embarrasses Lily, even the most harmless comment or loud laugh. Anything that draws attention, in her mind, is embarrassing. Liam on the other hand, just isn't capable of staying out late. He is not a napper, and ends up getting grumpy and shuts down. His most frequent M.O. is to get mad, say he's not eating anything, then after we order, finally become hungry again. One night, we dragged him back to the room and he went without dinner (for all you older readers, remember that happening in our childhood?).