It's the most fantastic venue I know. It always feels like sitting in the center of international couture. Every first world language is being spoken and people are dressed to kill, even in their casual clothes in the most trendy of places – Ku De Ta.
Not only is Ku De Ta my favorite restaurant in Bali, it's my favorite beach experience. Why? Ku De Ta proclaims itself a "lifestyle venue" which indeed it is. The lifestyle everyone who isn't a Hollywood star dreams of, at least occasionally.
The west-facing beachfront restaurant has a contemporary elegant dining room that wraps around a giant courtyard containing a swimming pool and giant, cushy lounge chairs called "beds" – because they are that big and comfy. It all faces the white sand beach of Seminyak and there are steps leading down to the water. On the way back up, there are foot and full-body showers to help you cleanse before returning to your bed or seat at one of the two stylish outdoor bars.
In the background is a mix of cool, lounge tunes put together by the four DJ's Ku De Ta hires to arrange their music.
Ku De Ta serves brunch. The staff encourages lunching, snacking and lounging all day. At night it turns into an elegant, smart-attire dinner restaurant with a phenomenal international gourmet menu. Ingredients and alcohols are imported from around the world.
All day and night, a constant breeze blows in from the sea, which also provides the additional soundtrack of its constant roar.
Sitting on my "bed", writing this, I feel as if I'm back in the highlife. You need a little of this in life to balance things out (as if my life lacked comfort, joy or interest…). But at times in the past when I faced crossroads, challenges, and felt down or frustrated, Ku De Ta was an instant pick me up. It's impossible not to feel some zeal with the wind sweeping in from the South Pacific while people from all around the world enjoy great music, food and the Indonesian sun.
The crazy part is that I don't know where all these people come from. I'm sure Ku De Ta appears in some guidebooks, but it's also a hot spot that among expats and those who frequent Bali. It's a place to be if you're in the know.
It's a place where you hear, "Oh, Barbara…Barbara, how are you! You look fantastic! We haven't seen you in weeks! I love the earrings….how's Mark?!" and "How's the new gallery?! And did they finally finish your new villa with the beach view?!"
Ku De Ta is the best of "the other side" of Bali – the Bali I usually shun. The Bali that horrifies me. The highly developed, touristy, gimmicky, no connection to Balinese culture, party on the beach…Bali.
The first time I came here was when our neighbor – a 24 year-old, rich, very well educated Javanese girl living with her Dutch boyfriend who was the chef at one of the top resorts near Ubud – took my friend Chad and I for sunset drinks.
The sun makes a beautiful swan dive in front of Ku De Ta every evening. The bars and beds fill to capacity with expats and tourists alike, all willing to pay for some of Bali's best, most creative and most expensive drinks to watch a perfect piece of sky in style.
I hated it. First, I was on a tight budget while bootstrapping a business and one drink ($10) cost more than two meals at nice restaurants in Ubud. More importantly, Ku De Ta and the Seminyak area were not my Bali! Not the Bali of rice terraces, peace and rich culture. It wasn't a Bali with or about any Balinese – other than the staff serving people. The Balinese had been reduced to slaves, the villages destroyed and turned into a mini-Beverly Hills on the beach, there wasn't a hint of Balinese culture…they paved paradise and put up a parking lot.
A couple of months later, a friend from home came to visit. We had done all the cool, traditional things Bali had to offer….and it turned out that over the past year since I had seen him, he transformed into a miserable prick.
Chad – who had gotten his own house nearby mine – disappeared not to be seen when my friend was around. My friend managed to take joy in little to nothing. A drink was in order and maybe a change of scene. I needed something impressive, something to snap one of us out of the funk that was descending. Ku De Ta.
In the blink of an eye, I came to love it. In that moment, I matured enough to realize that you can enjoy some things for what they are and leave the dogmatic BS at the door. If Ku De Ta was in Los Angeles or Malibu, people would be paying well over $100 a head to be there. We had wine, appetizers, dinner and dessert for $65 combined – and it was world class. A little ocean air, good music and great food helped drown out the miserable blah that was pouring out of his mouth. And then I took him to the airport.
From then on, Ku De Ta became my favorite restaurant in Bali. Because it's cool. Because you can have fun. Because it's a great concept. Because I love the hummus and came to crave it. Because the sun and ocean were great on days I was hosting pity parties when business and life decisions seemed difficult. Because it's a great place to bring friends – and even better with the happy ones.
That's not to say I still don't experience nausea, convulsions and tremors when I pass or – God forbid – enter Kuta, the disgustingly overbuilt touristy zone of southern Bali. It's not my Bali. I don't connect with it in any way and hate driving through it.
But I understand it a little better. All the comforts of home. Some great restaurants, even if they aren't Balinese. Cheap beer and fun on the beach. Some people come to Bali just to surf. Some just want a cheap tropical beach getaway and could care less about Barongs, temples, art and ogoh-ogohs. So be it. To each his or her own.
Besides, there has to be a place where Barbara and Nancy can run into each other and catch up over pineapple black pepper martinis, sashimi and gourmet wood-fired pizzas in between dips in the ocean.
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