7 Secrets Resort

Have you booked a trip to Indonesia’s tropical paradise of Lombok but wake up feeling like you are in a cool beach resort in Miami or Ibiza?

If this is you, then chances are you’re staying at Lombok’s newest coolest young thing, 7 Secrets Resort. Crisp white by day, fringed by perfect tropical palms and a turquoise ocean, then glowing shades of neon pink, purple and blue by night, this is definitely a place for the young and fabulous.

As the only member of the prestigious Small Luxury Hotels of the World on the island, 7 Secrets Resort promises to take luxury travel on Lombok to new levels.

Located right on Nipah Beach, you’ll get to enjoy those beaches that Lombok is famous for; peaceful, unspoilt by tourism, sun-drenched and palm-fringed. But herein lies the dillemma, 7 Secrets Resort has some serious pool action going on, complete with sunken pool bar and poolside hydrotherapy jacuzzis. Plus, every luxuriously appointed suite has its own private jacuzzi. Where to swim? How to laze, pose, nap and take a millions photos to make your friends jealous? Head down to the beach to swing in a hammock under a palm tree or sink into the bubbles on your own patio?

Decisions, decisions, decisions…

No expense has been spared at 7 Secrets Resort; impressive chandeliers, walls of illuminated bubbles, an LED lighting system that bathes the resort and poolside ‘Secret Beach Bar’ in neon multi color at night. Majesty, the signature restaurant is an extravagant creation of velvet and bling with a huge crystal chandelier, weighing in at a whopping 1 tonne suspended over diners who sit in giant, throne sized dining chairs.

7 Secrets Resort has to be seen to be believed.

Suites are nothing short of opulent. Enter our ‘Secret WOW VIP Suite’ through automatic sliding floor to ceiling glass doors and you are greeted by plush fabrics, shining mirrors and shimmering giant sequined walls. There are statement art pieces (our room had a giant portrait of a flamboyant masked woman) and hi-tech fixture, fittings and automated lights. At night you can flick the swtich and turn your ceiling a shade of neon purple. So cool.

There’s an indoor shower, an outdoor shower and that jacuzzi we mentioned earlier too.

The Vegan Food

Breakfast is just as extravagent as the room you’ll have slept in the night before. It all started with a healthy green juice full of lettuce, cucumber and mint; sitting there right next to the beach sipping our juices we were really feeling quite virtuous, then the bread basket arrived.

Chef had created some kind of magical vegan muffins and other baked delights, accompanied by vibrant pink beetroot hummus with crudite and an equally tempting glass of overnight oats topped with fruit. We ate most of it, beacuse it was all too delicious but we did try to show some restraint because we knew for sure there was something else coming. That something else turned out to be a giant plate of Indonesia’s famed ‘Nasi Goreng’ (fried rice) full of roasted vegetables and served with tempeh, some spiced and fried tofu balls and some crunchy ’emping’ crackers. These crackers are made from pounded melinjo nut and have a wonderfully nutty, slightly bitter taste, a description which admitedly doesn’t do them justice.

Trust us though, they’re really good as was everything else so we ate all of it.

Then came the congee. Indonesians call congee, ‘borbor’, it’s basically a plain rice porridge-soup which you pimp with all manner of condiments; you can get a version of congee in most Southeast Asian countires as it’s a staple meal in this part of the world. The 7 Secrets Resort congee is next level though. For a start it is probably the prettiest bowl of congee you’ll ever see and packed with diced carrots and red pepper and meaty slithers of fried oyster mushroom, doused liberally with fried shallots and enough chilli to really wake you up in the morning; it’s probably the tastiest you’ll find too.

At this stage we were full and considering rolling back to our room to lay around in the style of over-fed ancient Romans but then pancakes arrived. Now, normally vegan pancakes can be pretty hit and miss but these were light and spongy and air-filled. Full of blueberries, dusted with powdered sugar and served with a side of spiced syrup; there was no hope for us in the face of such deliciousness so we succumbed and polished off both plates.

This kind of thing happened to us quite a lot at 7 Secrets Resort; we’d think we’d paced ourselves to try to fit in all the food and then BAM!, a whole new platter of something too tempting to pass up would arrive. Whether it was pancakes or a Middle Eastern themed collection of lentil soup, a pressed and baked tofu terrine and butter beans cooked in the style of foul medames; we were powerless to resist.

Afternoon tea (we just didn’t have room for lunch) was a sweet and spicy affair which wowed with molecular gastronomy. An ooey gooey vegan chocolate brownie, glasses of traditional black sticky rice with coconut cream and mango, a hot spiced apple punch (my goodness it was sweet but addictively delicious with all those spices and some fresh mint to boot). The star though was a glass of what looked like fruit salad but turned out to be delicate spheres of fruit juices floating in a fuity, salted chilli tinted juice.

This dish alone has to be amongst the best vegan fine dining in the region, and it was just part of afternoon tea.

You might be wondering how we managed to squeeze dinner in? Quite frankly we were too. The thing is, when vegan food is this good we always find a way and so we embarked on what turned out to be another epic banquet of plant based goodness, created by a chef that clearly loves food and knows his way around a kitchen.

We started with platters of crostini, topped with olive tapenade, a beetroot puree or slices of ripe tomatoes and served with extra olive oil and chilli balsamic vinegar. This was followed by a take on a Greek salad with squares of green pepper, slices of onion and tomato but also cubes of spongy fried tofu, little sprigs of salty, local seagrass and jewels of delicious, sweet, fruity black garlic.

My word it was good.

This salad was memorable becuase of its simplicity and the use of some unusual ingredients, but there were other salads we ate during our stay that hailed from a completely different place, notably one where there were so many different things going on that at first sight we had no idea if it would all go together. Take beetroot, avocado, olives, dates, sundried tonatoes, basil leaves, apple, cucumber, a pressed tofu ‘cheese’ and singular salt crystals places strategically around the edge of a mini-mountain of salad. Somehow it managed to work, producing a multitude of different flavor combinations in each mouthful. But anyway, we digress…

Because the chef must know we have a weakness for really good fried food, a bakset of fried spring rolls and oyster mushroom tempura arrived. The spring rolls were OK, freshly made and full of vegetables with a hearty amount of pepper, but it was the oyster mushroom tempura that really captured our attention. They had been torn into shreds, fat at the top and thin at the stalk, the seasoning was magical and the batter was supremely crunchy.

They really were a beautiful thing to eat.

We were well into our vegan banquet by now and polished off a smooth velvetty chick pea soup, complete with giant whole chick peas hiding at the bottom, in easy spoonfuls. Every vegans friend, the humble chickpea never fails to dissappoint.

Our main course was a vegan version of a local dish ‘Pecel’; steamed Indonesian green vegetables served with a rich and spicy peanut sauce. Ours had spiced tofu and tempeh cubes and some tiny potatoes cooked in a ‘Balado’ sauce. Balado is a hot and spicy paste made from red chillies, garlic, shallots and tomatoes, and those tiny potaoes were like a little volcanic spice erruption.

Delicious.

Of course we managed to find room for dessert, which we’re glad we did becuase it turned out to be another of Chef’s lovely creations. A ‘masala apple’ which basically consisted of a variety of spiced apples (soft, crisped) and some other kind of kitchen magic all in a fancy glass. Even though we proclaimed we were full before it arrived we both still managed to finish it all off.

Please don’t judge us, you’d have done the same…

The Vegan Essentials

Our bed already had feather free pillows and duvet which always makes us happy. In-room amenities are from luxury brand Chopard who do not test on animals but we were unable to find out the ingredients, so unsure if they are suitable for luxury loving vegan guests.

The Vegan Food Quest Verdict

Check in to 7 Secrets Resort to top up your supply of super cool luxury living, giving yourself a heafty dose of Miami Beach chic delivered right on the tropical island of Lombok. Be amazed by the vegan dining where every meal will make you tip your hat to the Chef in acknowledgement of a high culinary standard which is beyond that found elsewhere. Highly recommended for vegan foodies (who also love a picture perfect beach).

We were guests of 7 Secrets Resort but please rest assured that their generosity in hosting us didn’t influence our views.

7 Secrets Resort
JL Raya Pemenang
Malimbu – Nipah Bay
Senggigi
Lombok 83355
Indonesia

Telephone: +62 370 619 7034
Email: info@7secretsresorts.com
Cost From: £715 / $950 (August 2018)