Bloody Mary

The two things I can't deny Seminyak of, are the party vibes and a good mix of drinks. The bartenders know their stuff. There're so many newly sprung restaurants and bars built with the latest trend in sprawling interiors and architecture with a wow factor that doesn't appear too mass market. The design factor has come up really strongly in Bali over the past 3.5 years.

Beach bars in Bali aren't exactly the best place for single malts. The limited choices are put on the menu at sky high prices. I rather have that in the quiet of the resort. I'm very partial to mojitos and bloody mary. They seem colorful enough to suit the mood and the people.

However, I'm not too fond of the mojitos at many venues because of the brand of rum used. I'm always suspicious of the taste in the final concoction. They're rarely nice. The housepours used by the bars are more often than not, rough and not the smooth. A stark contrast to the velvety rich, deep dark Angostura rum I like.

Quite a number of bars in Seminyak do a mean Bloody Mary. Importantly, they seem to use freshly made tomato juice. Ku De Ta's concoction is a classic with basil and Cajun spices. I especially love Sardine's version. I was very tickled when the drink came with leaves on the celery stick. The worst concoctions are made by those resorts near the beach, like the roof bar at Anantara. The brilliant sunset couldn't even mask the horrid mix of alcohol. Small wonder that no gorgeous humans chill out there.

It's kinda crazy how many glasses of Bloody Mary I can put away in one sitting. At Sardine alone, I had 7. The friends had various other cocktails. The mojitos were fab too. Heee. I'm not sure if I like the spice or something. But I generally like tomato juice, so a Bloody Mary is rather easy down the throat for any occasion.