I spent $135 to have dinner in a cave in Bali. The food was delicious, but there are better ways to experience the island.

• The Cave by chef Ryan Clift is a 22-seat restaurant in a cave in Bali.
• It's billed as an immersive adventure, and the food was delicious.
• But the restaurant strips away one of the island's most compelling offerings: Views of the ocean and the jungle.

It's not every day that a chef gets a chance to open a restaurant in a cave.

So Ryan Clift, the chef and owner of Tippling Club, an award-winning restaurant and cocktail bar in Singapore, seized exactly that opportunity when it arose.

It all started when a close family friend, the interior designer Caroline Usher, told him a cave had been discovered on a hotel property she was working on in Bali.