The Best 5 Dinner Spots in Seminyak
I have to say finding good dinner spots in Seminyak was challenging, when you look up food recommendations in Bali it’s full to the brim with breakfast and brunch spots but not much about dinner. I really wanted to share my top 5 places with you where we found the best food for late in the day. We had some hits (and misses) during our trip, and to reiterate what I said in my Bali Breakfasts post, restaurant’s social media can be quite misleading. Whoever they have running their accounts deserves a medal! Keeping that in mind I try to do as much research as possible before I arrive in a new place and ,of course, go off all of the wonderful suggestions you guys give me on social to make sure I get to sample the best a place has to offer. For me, it’s important to pick places that cater to both vegans and meat eaters because like most groups of friends or couples travelling everyone has their own preference. If you guys go to Seminyak make sure you hit these places up. Like always, I have added my dish recommendation below each restaurant along with some additional important information to make your food planning that little bit easier.
Sea Circus
You can’t miss this place for more reasons than the food, the interior inside and out! The exterior is covered with circus motifs with animals painted in the colours of summer the perfect spot for an outfit picture 🙂 The interior a mix of a circus theme with elements of a calming sea blues , sounds a little bit mad but I assure you in the flesh it fits perfectly together. The café is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner serving great dishes throughout the day, I just particularly loved it for dinner. The menu, well, here’s a quote from them “someday’s we drink coconut lattes and eat scrambled vegan tofu. On other days we indulge in tasty tacos and drink way too many margaritas….we’re all about that #balance” I think that pretty much sums up the menu! It’s got something for everyone, no matter what mood you’re in. One thing I have to say is for a place that manages to cater for a lot of dishes they manage to execute them all really well. Note the portions are large, the tacos arriving in 2 or 3 pieces and are very generous – I’m not complaining! 🙂
Recommendations
Savoury – Fish Taco or Jackfruit Taco
Sweet – Spiced Banana Fritters
Avg. Price per dish – Tacos €3.50-4
€4 for dessert
Opening hours;7.30 am- 10pm
@seacircus
Wins Best Margarita award of the trip!
Sarong
One of the best meals we had in Bali. Sarong was recommended to me by you guys on social, so thank you. The restaurant itself is a little bit fancier to anywhere else around it so I would recommend it for a night where you fancy washing your hair and putting something other than flip flops on. Arriving at sarong you go through a wooden door following a path through an outdoor garden into the restaurant, a traditional decor with opulent furniture and comfortable couches and lounge chairs surrounding the dinner tables. The menu was large but not overbearing, and catered for everyone. The waiter helped us visualise and understand some of the traditional dishes and what to expect which was really helpful. Everything that came out looked mouth-watering, thankfully with a huge group of us it was the perfect way to sample lots of dishes and I can assure you I don’t think anything you order would leave you disappointed.
We opted for dessert here and I would recommend saving room for it, I won the best dessert order with an Indian pavlova and I don’t think I could have a regular one again. In comparison to other places we ate it was more expensive but see the prices below I mean coming from Dublin its great value, the food was of the highest quality and the portions were large.
Note – Book in advance
Recommendations
Veggie – Pakora Cauliflower
Savoury – Snapper curry
Sweet – Indian style pavlova
Avg Price per dish – €12
€7 for a starter
Opening Hours;6.30 pm-11.30pm
@sarongrestaurant
FYI their sister restaurant Mama San is a more relaxed version of sarong, owned by the same group it offers exceptional southeast Asian food in an industrial Colonial style setting. Note – not a huge amount of vegan options on their lunch menu but a place I didn’t get time to check out, however I heard nothing but great things about it. Book in advance.
BATIK
Fancy some Asian food but dishes you’re familiar with? For a casual, cheap and cheerful dinner in the heart of Seminyak, Batik is the place for you. The restaurant is large with lots of open space and natural light beaming through from the tall ceilings. Like most places in Bali it has a stunning interior but also matched with traditional tasting food. The service was super-fast although we were early for dinner (5.30pm) so I think we just got ahead of the queue and for a while we had the place to ourselves. The menu is broken into sections from light and raw to Asian bowl’s and curries. I did find it helpful to look up their Instagram to see some of the dishes before ordering and as an FYI the portions are generous, I think we went a little overboard ordering and waddled out of there!
For dessert, head to Mad Pops nearby for delicious Vegan ice cream and an Instagram pic with the neon sign – completely over done but yolo.
Recommendations
Savoury – Nasi Campur (mix of everything)
Avg Price per dish – €6 main
€2.50 starter
Opening Hours;11 am- midnight.
@batik_restaurant_bar
DA MARIA – Pizza and Drinks
Fancy just some drinks and pizza? Yep well we did and I’m so glad we found this place! Owned by the same people as the well-known Hotel Mexicola, Da Maria is a restaurant/club. It is grand in its exterior standing out with its clean white walls and large dining area centred around a fountain, it’s almost like travelling to the Almalfi coast for a meal. It’s a popular place go early or stay late.
The Pizza is delicious and real Italian style, the menu hosts lots of other plates from pasta to fish dishes. I would recommend the pizza. Just go for it, it’s by far the best thing. Really great for a group of people.
Recommendations
Pesto Pizza
Avg Price per Pizza – €10
Opening hours; 12:00pm – 3:00pm
dinner – 5:00pm – 10:30pm
late night pizza + bar from 10.30pm
@damariabali
Merah Putih
First, let me start by saying book this in advance, and I’m talking weeks before your trip. It’s one of the hardest spots to get into in Seminyak and for good reason. I’m sure by now you’re sick of me talking about interiors so I’ll just leave it with telling you it’s stunning, the perfect setting for a dinner date or special night out.
One of the best places to try Indonesian cuisine catering for vegans and gluten free go-ers. I would put this down as a place to have dinner maybe the last night of your holiday to really spoil yourself and have your last taste of Indonesia being the best and of course washed down with a few drinks from the impressively large bar that overlooks the restaurant. Chope is a great App to make your pre-bookings for places like this before travelling, especially if there’s a big group. of you.
Recommendations
Savoury – Jamur Gejrot (tofu dish)
Nasi Jagung (creamed corn)
Avg. Price per dish – Ranges from starters at €2 to mains at €10 -12
For a sweet treat afterwards I would advise checking out RivaReno gelato bar nearby, it’s proper gelato.
Opening hours
Monday- Sunday: Noon-3pm & 6pm-late
@merahputihbali