Originally Posted by Musken

If you go for dinner, make sure that you arrive before sunset to see the view and have a drink in the lovely bar. It is true that the restaurant is not full, but I did not think that this was a problem at all, for me it made sure that I was able to enjoy the surroundings and atmosphere more than when I am surrounded by people. Maybe you can even book a private balinese feast. I am not sure they offer this for non-guests, but it was a fantastic meal and the whole idea was for it to be private. Enjoy!

Originally Posted by Ericka

This is the ambiance we prefer. Less crowd noise and more gecko/frog noise. ^

Originally Posted by LarkSFO

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.