Journey Home

A cocktail tale and a body scrub; Andrew Leci sucks the marrow out of life at St Regis Bali.

- Andrew Leci

IF THERE ARE two things that you absolutely have to do at St Regis Bali, it's to order a Bloody Mary. Twice. Drink one of them as the opening salvo at the resort's legendary weekend brunch, and let an expert therapist apply the other to your body as you lie supine in a spa treatment room.

For those readers who feel that I've lost the plot here, some explanation is required, although not much for the drink itself. While there is no such thing as perfection, St Regis Bali is working hard to get its weekend brunch experience as close to it as possible. It's splendid in almost every way and a foodie's daytime dream.

The Bloody Mary at the start of proceedings is as good an iteration as you're likely to sup, exhibiting the perfect balance of vodka and tomato juice, judiciously seasoned, and with just the right amount of Tabasco, Worcestershire sauce and lemon. It's refreshing and sets the diner up nicely for a magnificent repast in which dishes arrive at a leisurely pace and present a startling array of deliciousness. Oysters and sea urchin are likely to feature at the top of the order, and foie gras will make a couple of appearances further down the line.

Expect a beautifully created and curated dish at each successive turn and if you're particularly fond of one, ask for another. If that doesn't satiate your desire, have another, et cetera, until the laws of diminishing marginal utility come into play and you move on to something else.