Head to Ma Joly for a posh night in Kuta, Bali
If you’re looking for a special evening with some fine dining in Kuta, Ma Joly is definitely the place to go. We were lucky enough to have the romantic set menu dinner booked and paid for us by our absolutely amazing friends as a leaving present!
I think it was roughly £50 per head, which when you get six courses, plus a massive glass of wine, on a table under your own little canopy on the beach, surrounded by candles, that’s pretty amazing value! I was even given an ornament type gift to keep ha!
The place had such an amazingly tranquil atmosphere, I can’t even describe how lush it was eating delicious food with my feet in the sand watching the sea lap at the shore! There was a wedding in the place next door which let off a load of Chinese lanterns too and added to the magic!
Our set menu didn’t have a lot of options so if you’re having this you need to check ahead and make sure you like the options – which we definitely did!
First up was some warm bread buns that had been baked with little bits of peppers and chillies in it, with a marmalade to go with it. Then we got basically two small mouthfuls worth of salmon terrine topped with some kind of cream cheese and caviar, which was really tasty.
The second course was a choice of tarragon prawns with seaweed or an orange duck salad. I always want to try everything so, as usual, we ordered one of each and shared! Both were so, so nice but I think the duck just about edged it for me, the dressing was so tasty but didn’t overpower the duck, so was just perfect.
Third course was definitely my favourite: lobster ‘bisque’. For those who had never heard the word bisque (like me ha), that’s soup! It was thick and mega tasty with an absolutely delicious piece of seafood ravioli in it. I was pretty damn sad when it was over!
You know you’re in a posh place when you get a palette cleanser! That was next with strawberry for me and lime for George, before we were served our main courses. George had tenderloin of beef in a rich sauce with mashed potato. I had a mouthful of the beef and it was melt-in-your-mouth delicious! I went for the red snapper as I love fish and I’d never had it before. It was served with pea purée and a fish stock type sauce with deshelled mussels, and the fish had a lovely layer of very thin and crispy skin on the top. It was a white and quite meaty fish but was still wonderfully light and fresh.
After a five-minute rest we then had our dessert course (served with either hot or iced tea of coffee). George had tiramisu, and I had the mango fruit tart which was soooo nice. It was like a creamy mango mousse on top of a nutty base that tasted like pistachio with some cream and strawberry sauce – absolutely wonderful!
The restaurant is tucked away from the hustle and bustle and loud music of Kuta so if you’re looking to escape that for an evening this is the perfect spot 🙂
