After being trapped on the ground for more than 2 years, APERTUS team members have been itching to travel and that is exactly what many of them did. Some flew out to the land down under, others traveled to Europe, there were visits to South Korea, and one of our foodie enthusiasts made a trip down to Bali.
Most of us in the team live to eat, but our Singaporean team member, Victoria, is passionate about her 3 (or 5) meals of the day, and this is her Top 5 restaurant/cafe recommendations in Bali that you have to visit!
Penny Lane - Canggu
These restaurants are not listed in any particular order, and we begin with Penny Lane. Given that it was highly recommended by food blogs seemingly for its aesthetic, I didn’t have as high an expectation for their food, because I thought it would be just like every other ‘looks good, taste mediocre’ type of restaurant (way too many of those in Singapore).
However, the food really was up to standard, we had the mac n cheese balls, loaded P.I.G. fries, buttermilk fried chicken (my favorite), and vegetarian pesto gnocchi.
Food was great by cafe standards, portions were amazing - we were so full, and my vegetarian friend could not stop raving about how this was truly the best gnocchi he’s ever had.
Sista Dumpling - Canggu
Friends who followed my social media throughout this trip know that I am obsessed with this restaurant. The best part is that we almost dismissed this for just being some shady bad chinese food place, we were so wrong.
We passed by this hole in the wall restaurant on our way to our very first massage and my xiao long bao (XLB) obsessed self said that we absolutely have to check it out at least once before we leave, and this was probably one of the best decisions made.
When you walk in you actually step into a really cute interior with more accurate Chinese phrases than English ones. We technically only had 2 items (for the meat eaters), their pork XLB and pepper chicken siew mai, while Somesh had the vegan scallion noodles, mapo tofu XLB, and beetroot crystal dumplings.
We just had to order the 2 meat options a second time because it was that good.
When I tell you that pork xlb has soup, it has s o u p, and that pepper chicken siew mai sent me to heaven, I loved it so much that I had it grab delivered to our airbnb one night again.
If there is one tiny drawback, this place is on the slightly pricey side compared to the other restaurants we’ve been to by Bali’s standards.
El Merkat Bali - Uluwatu
This was my favorite food find on this trip. This place, so darn unassuming but hands down one of the best steaks I’ve had in my life. Initially I was quite worried about the food quality because the restaurant was fairly empty, needless to say, looks aren't everything.
This is a restaurant set up by a really established chef in Bali however, because of the pandemic business has not been the best so if you are in the area do give this restaurant some support.
We wolfed down everything, though I attempted to take my time to savour every bite of the wonderfully done medium rare steak. For such quality food the prices are so humble, the steak dish only costs 19SGD, 12SGD for the classic burger, and 12SGD for the falafel.
Mason - Canggu
This restaurant is on the pricier side compared to other F&B establishments you could dine in within Bali but it is completely justified. I had one of the most juicy roast chicken in my life, I never thought breast meat could be that soft, pork loin is not to be missed too.
This was a good friend’s recommendation, and I already knew there was no way we could have a bad meal as he is a professional chef and Mason had earned his stamp of approval.
And even as a restaurant known for its meat, the restaurant still remains inclusive for its vegetarian friends, and the vegetarian dishes are just as good as the meat heavy ones.
Lena’s Kitchen - Canggu
This was the final meal I had in Bali and I’m glad that we ended on a high note. By the end of the trip we wanted to dine somewhere close to our accommodation as we had to catch an early flight home, so we settled on this little restaurant a stone’s throw away.
We had lowered our expectations because we didn’t want to be disappointed, but there was no need to, the noodles, meat, and soups were amazing.
The homemade noodles were so bouncy, the meat juicy, and the soups - both clear and creamy - were really flavourful.
I really need to applaud Bali for its vegetarian and vegan friendly food options, they weren’t just on the menu just to make it inclusive on paper, you can tell that there was thought and effort put into creating those dishes. As my first holiday in over 2 years, my stomach was truly satisfied and I’m sure yours would be too if you visit these restaurants.
Let us know if you want more recommendations as you plan your travel itinerary, the APERTUS team is made of travel enthusiasts who only seek out the best and would be very happy to share their insights with you!