Babes and cocktails at Potato Head Beach Club
Most visitors to Bali have heard of Ku De Ta, even if they haven't experienced a sunset from one of its luxurious day beds or sipped cocktails to the tunes of a resident DJ.
So it was only a matter of time before some entrepreneurial types cottoned on to the fact there was room for two such venues on the Island of the Gods.
And so it is that our troupe ends up at Potato Head Beach Club.
There's an "it" factor about this place, which is plonked ostentatiously in the middle of the island's uber-trendy Seminyak district.
The facade of this towering venue is pretty cool. Designed by Indonesia's architect-of-the-moment, Andra Matin, the exterior of the horseshoe-shaped amphitheatre is covered in more than 12,000 vintage teak shutters, recycled from Dutch colonial-era buildings scattered across the Indonesian archipelago.
Owners Ronald Akili and Jason Gunawan - who were partners in a contemporary art gallery before concocting the Potato Head concept - kitted out the interior with furnishings from their personal collections. Akili says proudly that each of their souls "is written all over the place".
Inside, the beachfront complex is akin to a miniature village.
Beach babes drape themselves over sun lounges dotting the pool deck during daylight hours; diners enjoy a meal from the limited but adventurous menu at the alfresco restaurant on the lower deck; late at night the 500sqm lawn becomes a dance floor enticing groups from the comfort of the couches filling the bar.
Kevin, the bar's genial events manager, tells us there are plans for a fine-dining French restaurant in the glass-encased space on the second floor. If all goes to plan, it will open its doors in July. It's a seemingly incongruous concept at such a venue but, hey, anything goes in Bali.
Then there are the amazing flavours bursting from Potato Head's dishes and cocktails such as the Kookaburra, which boasts an exciting mix of lemongrass- infused gin, vanilla, lemon juice and delicious passionfruit foam.
The drawback, of course, is the Perth price tag - the cost of a glass of wine is phenomenal - but this is no down-market nightspot.
The Seminyak venue is the second Potato Head incarnation.
Its older sibling, Potato Head Cafe in Jakarta, opened its doors in June 2009.
The Bali venue is far from heaving the night of our visit but images of Potato Head in full swing give this place the impression of Ku De Ta on steroids. It also makes for great people-watching.
Potato Head lacks the class of Ku De Ta but has plenty of potential. We decide a return visit is on our to-do list. Maybe next time we'll work out why it's called Potato Head.
Potato Head Beach Club is located on Jalan Petitenget, Seminyak. See www.ptthead.com.
Rachel Donkin travelled to Bali as a guest of Accor Hotels and Garuda Indonesia.
