Latest posts by Martin Moodie (see all)
This just may be the best ad for airport dining I have seen. It comes from the excellent Hard Rock Cafe at Ngurah Rai International (Denpasar International) Airport in Bali.
I’m not sure most airline food is quite that bad (though some of it is much worse) but what a brilliant way to make the point. Dine with us in dietary delight and enjoy a pleasant, leisurely ambience or opt for the dubious pleasures of a plastic knife and fork, a reheated meal covered in tin foil, a bread roll that could double as a hockey puck, a postage stamp-sized dining table, and the prospect of the passenger in front leaning back suddenly and sending your canteen cuisine flying into your shirtfront.
Because I’d spent so much time store- and restaurant-checking, I opted for the latter. The beef and rice ‘creation’ on the otherwise excellent Garuda Indonesia flight made me regret my decision (though I’m not sure anyone smaller than the BFG could actually get their mouth around the indeed legendary burger above).
I mentioned in my last Blog what a good job the airport management has done here in its commercial proposition and commitment to sense of place. The contrasting Dufry and DFS offers are each in their own way excellent and there’s also a strong specialist retail offer (including a very successful WHSmith store and a surprisingly wide array of boutiques) and some top-notch (or should that be top-nosh) food & beverage.
Much of that success is down to Indian infrastructure group GVK, which has a Management Services Agreement with PT Angkasa Pura I (Persero) for commercial and operations development of the Balinese gateway. After the Blog’s publication I got a nice note from Karthi Gajendran, GVK’s President Airport Development, who told me: “We are really happy to see your recent article on Bali Airport. Our collaboration with Angkasa Pura Airports in Bali is now into its 5th year and it’s really great to see your feedback.”
I’m sure I’m not the only one to make such comments Karthi. This is indeed an airport transformed. I’ll be back in Paradise soon. And this time I’ll have a Legendary Burger.
