The 10 best restaurants in Bali
From local cuisine, decent coffee to Japanese, Greek, Mexican or Italian food, we have found the top eateries on the Indonesian island.
From local cuisine, decent coffee to Japanese, Greek, Mexican or Italian food, we have found the top eateries on the Indonesian island.
1. Buzo Bali in Seminyak
Australian travellers continue to be drawn to the Island of the Gods for everything from surfing to finding Zen at a wellness retreat. But they are also being seduced by its world-class gastronomic scene. In addition to warungs serving nasi campur (mixed rice) and open-air street stalls fragrant with the aroma of satay ayam scorched over charcoal there’s a bounty of global cuisine on offer. Leading the charge is Scottish chef Will Meyrick, who is married to an Indonesian, speaks Bahasa Indonesia, and is behind some of Bali’s most sophisticated restaurants, including Mama San, Hujan Locale and Billy Ho. When he’s not hosting food tours around the archipelago or making videos for his YouTube channel, WMTV, the chef is busy gathering inspiration for his various venues. Buzo Bali in Seminyak is his latest and a nod to the atmospheric izakaya he found on his travels to Japan. The go-to dish is the line-caught snapper crudo, which is emblematic of the menu’s Italian-Japanese accent. It is light and delicate and made bright with cucumber, honeydew, herb oil, shiso, yuzu gel and wakame.
2. Yuki
Studio Tanama designed Yuki Bali with a mix of bamboo, wood and stone, and a traditional wantilan-style roof modelled on local communal buildings. Yuki is elevated from the main strip of Uluwatu, which means it’s removed from the hurly-burly of peak hour. It’s a chic dining and drinking den that pays homage to both Japanese and Indonesian cultures. It’s also filled with a core crowd of happy expats who have been carried to the island’s shores in search of opportunities. Executive chef Yudha Permana’s cosmopolitan cooking is in keeping with the sophisticated surrounds. Order the Hokkaido scallop, which arrives in a vivid pond of green goddess dressing and chilli oil.
3. The Grumpy Butcher
If you spotted the signage to The Grumpy Butcher while pootling around Petitenget you’d have no idea the unassuming entrance led to an expansive deck overlooking green rice fields. The sister venue to the Boy’N’Cow Steakhouse has one of the most bucolic outlooks on the buzzy strip. The smokehouse obtains its halal-certified grain or grass-fed beef from sustainable farms in Australia. But it’s the locally sourced octopus from nearby Jimbaran Market we’re here for. A single tentacle is charred over charcoal and served coiled in a creamy red pepper sauce alongside crispy baby potatoes and whorls of lemon-garlic aioli. The skin has been charred and blackened over the grill and basted with spices. It’s as sublime as the view.
4. Kala
Kala means “good” in Greek and “time” in Bahasa, and what better way to manifest a good time than to make it your moniker. It’s not the only reason to pop by Kala, where the lights grow dimmer and ambient doof-doof gets louder as the night wears on. Sit with a view of the kitchen so you can see the food being tended to by chef Zarrukh Farkhodovich, whose CV includes a stint at three-Michelin starred Arzak in Spain. The rustic interior of the Uluwatu eatery is warm and inviting with wooden tables, rattan chairs, potted olive trees and polished concrete. Worth noting, too, is the sustainable dinnerware, which is crafted from industrial by-products. Order the lamb shoulder with hummus and baba ghanoush and a wood-fired pillow of pita on the side.
5. Mama San
The menu at Meyrick’s Mama San is loaded with dishes such as crispy soft-shell crab and beef rendang that are so popular they’ve become staples at the Seminyak venue. The space has a mural of the fictional Mama San who oversees the action in the dining room, which presents like a swanky 1920s supper club. Ask your expat mate what to order and he’ll likely say bun cha, which has its roots in northern Vietnam. The popular dish comprises four pork patties and crisp bacon pieces in a small moat of nuoc cham, a sweet, salty, spicy dipping sauce made fragrant with Vietnamese mint.
6. Origen in Pererenan
Be it Baja or Bali, there are ingredients – coriander, chilli and avocadoes – that make sense to enjoy in the tropical climes where they are grown. It’s no wonder Alvaro Rosales Machado (formerly of Mexicola) and Casandra Escamilla Frutos feel at home in Indonesia. The Mexican-born co-owners have invited executive chef Alejandro Urbina Andrade (ex-Michelin-starred Maison Couturier, Veracruz) on board at Origen in Pererenan to produce the kind of Mexican fare favoured by his abuela (grandma). And the food in the homey hacienda-style venue is not to be underestimated. Listen for the thwack of handmade tortillas hitting the griddle. That’s your cue to order a mix of tacos, which arrive with a stack of tortillas, to be folded around strips of carne asado or pollo and slathered with guacamole and salsa.
7. ST. ALi
You’ll find the best coffee in Bali at ST. ALi, the brand at the forefront of the specialty coffee movement in Australia for decades. Add to this a menu with smashed avo and free wi-fi, and you’ve discovered the formula for drawing digital nomads to this Pererenan treasure in their droves. ST. ALi was founded in Melbourne in 2005 and now has outlets in both Brisbane and Bali. The cafe on the ground floor of Further Hotel is led by executive chef Daniel Dobra (ex-Dunkeld’s Royal Mail Hotel), who has amassed a following in his own right through his @dobbers social media account. Follow the Aussie coffee geeks here for a perfect piccolo followed by crepes loaded with fried eggs, mushrooms, gruyere cheese and shallots.
8. di Mare
di Mare is a destination diner, perched on the Bukit Peninsula on the southernmost tip of Bali. Although it’s only a 20-minute drive from Uluwatu, there is no passing foot traffic, which makes it feel like a hidden gem. Apart from pops of colour from flowers and foliage, di Mare’s colour palette draws from sea and sky, all electric blues and brilliant whites. It’s a glorious backdrop to get a selfie, but foodies who aren’t staying at the Karma Kandara resort will also cling to the back of a Gojek to get here to enjoy the freshest local seafood prepared with minimal fuss. You can’t accuse the resort of false advertising: di Mare means “of sea”. The butterfish aburi is cured in salt and bathed in a peppy broth made up of coconut vinegar, matoa fruit and curry leaf.
9. Restaurant 369 by Luna Beach Club
While the dining room at Restaurant 369 by Luna Beach Club has been designed like a chic bamboo gastrodome, it still feels informal. That might have something to do with the impossibly beautiful clientele who flit from the pool to the waterslide to the day bed to the dining room and back to the dancefloor. The architecturally designed playground in Tabanan follows the mathematical Fibonacci sequence, honeycombed with bars, platforms and playful spaces that encourage movement and flow. Wait for the daylight to fade before taking your seat in the vortex-like structure and ordering the banging hummus as a prelude to the all-day roasted suckling pork with a cauliflower puree and sticky pork jus.
10. Hotel Indigo Bali Seminyak Beach
Bali’s evolving culinary scene can be best felt along the wild stretch of coastline just metres from Hotel Indigo Bali Seminyak Beach. Being able to wander from your room to a local warung within minutes is a huge plus for foodie travellers craving a flame-cooked satay ayam. But epicureans staying at the five-star hotel will also appreciate having access to eight distinctive dining choices, including spectacularly varied options on the cosmopolitan buffet at the Pottery Cafe (pictured) to all-day dining at Makase, and Kiosk for cocktails. Access to the freshest seafood means a simple lunch of grilled fish and salad at SugarSand is flat-out (by the pool) fantastic. The hotel also gets kudos for its sustainability initiatives, from recycling waste to working with NFP local organisations.
Carla Grossetti was a guest at Hotel Indigo Seminyak Beach.
