Thank you Ericka for adding color to what I had stated... You are right - it just depends upon what one is looking for from a dining experience.

If you want peace, quiet, Gambalan, romance, outstanding and attentive service (and great food!) all in a very beautiful setting, then by all means go to Amandari for dinner! You will not regret it.

My wife and I do treasure this kind of ambiance, just not every night...

The Balinese feast was a great experience. The Bale was decorated earlier in the afternoon for our dinner. The young dancers (6 or 7 years old?) who take lessons at Amandari started our evening with a private performance just for us. It was a lot of fun and the kids are so adorable! Then on in to a lovely dinner with small portions of quite a few different dishes. It was a good way to get to taste a variety of dishes in one meal. We loved it!

PS Ericka - we also did take your advice and chartered the steam train during our subsequent stay at Amanjiwo. It was awesome! We loved every second of it! We were not able to fit in a visit to go see Sela, so we'll have to meet the artistic elephant on our next trip to Java.