A few
quiet beach days have passed. The sea has been completely idyllic: so warm and calm, perfect for swimming. It’s strange, how varied the wave conditions can be. But we are back in neap tides so maybe that explains it…. no complaints anyway.
The weather is also getting hotter, the sun a little fiercer. Not so much a different temperature during the day – anywhere between 32C and 34C, but it is warmer at night definitely.
Last night we returned to Cow Corner, the Austrian restaurant near us in Patnem. They had live music on. A flautist and a tambur player. The flautist was a German, Claus Ruckbeil, the Director of the Berlin Jazz School. He was absolutely excellent and the music was a wonderful backdrop to the food. It was packed there and they seem to be a lot more together than they were earlier in January. I had the chicken steak in mushroom sauce again which was just as delicious as last time. Everyone enjoyed the evening.
Today, we had a morning on the beach and then in the afternoon went back early to the apartment and showered. I had a manicure booked at Amore in Palolem. It was the usual difficulty which I should know better than get myself into. No one here offers SNS Nails (powder dipping), they’ve only just cottoned onto shellac/gel nails. So, it took the lovely nail technician absolutely ages to get the SNS polish off my nails. Like 90 minutes. I do wonder if they’ll survive the long soakings in acetone… Anyway, like the new pastel pink colour.
It made me 30 minutes late for my secret birthday appointment which then ran late….. and then…. I had to leg it along Palolem beach to get a tuk tuk to Colomb Bay to the Kala Bahia resort to the film night there.
The film was “Green Book” and it was absolutely excellent. Great script, great acting, shooting, story… just a very, very good film. If you haven’t seen it, then I heartily recommend it to you.
We had dinner there. I want to be kind. In fact, the food was good. There is a small menu, rather Italian in nature. For a non carb eater, it’s a problem. However, moving that aside, I had tomato bruschetta which was billed as a starter but was plenty for me as a main. Other good looking dishes were the burger and the middle eastern plate of dips and bread. The pies frankly looked disgusting. Rather like baked omelettes. Service was appalling and chaotic. It took about 40 minutes to get our pre dinner drinks. And then they were served badly. The water delivered to the table was warm. G&Ts were served with what can only be described as ice fragments rather than ice cubes. Entrees were delivered in a random fashion. The last one came to the table at least 30 minutes after the first….. Frankly if it hadn’t been for the film – which I wanted to see – I’d have given up. Having been one of the lucky ones, served early, I’d finished my dish and drink before the film started so I ordered another gin and some ice to go with the tonic I still had left. After about 10 minutes, the ice came, but no gin… I watched the ice melt and then gave up and went to the kitchen and demanded my gin. I got it…. but…..
I suppose the point is: Kala Bahia has a great location and a great potential but….. and the but has been there now for over 2 years. 2 years ago we ate here and the service was just as horrific as it was tonight. They just don’t have it together at all. Its like eating at your scatty friend’s house who has invited a whole lot of people over and can’t cope. I might go back for another film. But I would eat somewhere else first. Tragic waste of a great location in the hands of incompetent amateurs.