Barbacoa — Restaurant in Bali

An absolute MUST visit place to eat when in Bali. Conveniently situated in Kerobokan it's only a short trip from anywhere north of Kuta, and well worth the taxi ride if staying further away. While there is no sunset view over the ocean, there is a lovely chilled vibe especially for a romantic dinner for two. Think wood fires, roasting pits, wine cellars and European castles meet Wild West Saloon. It is a bit dark, but you are supplied with teeny book lights to help read the menu and they clip neatly onto a glass or candle holder to give a bit more light during your meal if you need it.

Both the food, and service is second to none and the drinks list is extensive. Upon returning to our table after wandering around taking photos and checking out the fire pit, our waiter asked if the table was to our liking and offered to move us if it wasn't.

We had the seared USA king scallops, with lemon chive butter sauce and trout roe and the Yellowfin tuna tartare, charred leek dressing, and smoked yucca crema. We specifically added the woodfired sourdough bread with roasted garlic, chili, olive oil and balsamic vinegar specifically to mop up the smoked yucca crema as it was too delicious to waste and I felt it would be rude to lick the plate clean in such an upmarket establishment (although I would have if needed).

For mains we had char grilled octopus, jalapeño salsa verde, labneh, guandilla peppers and the 8 hour woodfired pork asado, with roasted grapes, and chimichurri with char grilled asparagus, and the Spanish style potatoes as sides. Both dishes were perfectly cooked with flavours I have not experienced anywhere before - roasted grapes??? Amazing! guandilla peppers? Sweet and salty with just a hint of heat behind them.

Dessert was the burnt meringue with frozen lemon curd, marshmallow, vanilla cream, passionfruit and strawberry and of course the nitro sundae and all the pizazz that came with it. Be aware that the desserts listed on the online menu are not the exact same as the ones on the current restaurant menu but I'm sure just as good.

For beverages, we had the Chipotle Piña Margarita chipotle infused tequila, a pale ale plus the Chocolate Margarita which is the perfect after dinner cocktail. The wine list is the most extensive I have seen in Bali - 3 pages of wines from Australia, New Zealand, South America and Europe, and considering wine is so difficult to find there, it's worth a visit for that reason alone if you love a good wine.

To be perfectly honest, I would absolutely make it a life goal to come back here every year until I have tried all the dishes and a great many of the cocktails and wines. If you are in a group, my recommendation would be to order a wide variety of different meals and ensure you taste them all, they are that good.

Prices are very reasonable and well worth the quality of the food and the experience as a whole. As we were ordering and converting to Aussie $$ we did start to sweat a bit, but the bill came to a very reasonable $290.00 including taxes which was a nice surprise to...

Gorgeous place, it was a mix of a Mexican hacienda and an old fashion winery. We absolutely loved the vibe, the decoration and the ambience. They put a lot of effort in the details!! This restaurant is a mix of Latin American flavours (mostly Mexican and Peruvian) and everything is cooked using charcoal, so you can expect that smoky flavour in all your dishes. As always we tried to taste as much as our stomachs could handle. We gave 4 starts because google didn’t allow us to put 4.5. Let’s begin!! Pollo taco: it was ok but not exciting to eat. The chicken was all we could taste it was very strong in comparison with all the other ingredients. Carnitas taco: Very well balanced, all flavours were enhanced with the lime juice, it was very fresh. Tortillas are really good in texture and flavour, loved the size as well! Tostada: 10/10 creamy and fresh WOW. It reminded us to the Peruvian ceviche. The dressing and the scallops were balanced, it was delightful to eat, all the flavours, acidity and seasoning were very well achieved! Ceviche: Taking the example of the tostada, with this dish the dressing was too much for the fish they used. It’s flavour was lost because of the (amazingly delicious) dressing. For this ceviche we would have used a more greasy fish (even though for ceviche is commonly used a white fish) to overcome the strong flavours of the dressing. Prawns AMAZING. The pesto wasn’t too strong to cover the flavour of the prawns and the smoky taste of it was just the crown. LAMB barbacoa was delicious , it melts in your mouth and it kind of taste to a Mexican dish called Mixiote, the avocado/mint salsa was extremely disappointing, this is actually one of the reasons we didn’t give 5 stars. When you think about a taco the salsa has to be the most important thing and this one was just a decoration on the plate, nothing more. You could guess it was avocado because of the texture but the mint was the only thing we could “taste”. It was missing a lot of seasoning and acidity. Carnitas were delicious, the texture was incredible, so juicy and soft. I would have added to that plate a couple of tortillas and maybe some chiles toreados to make the plate more fun. Corn, bit dry but amazing flavour, DON’T PUT LIME just try as it is as the black mayo and the lime did not go together. DESSERT The grilled pineapple was the best dessert I’ve tried in a long time. ORDER IT! The presentation of the plate was beautiful. You will find different textures that are incredibly well achieved, the flavours are strong enough that get along with each other in the most perfect way. Sundae ice cream was a clever choice for the menu as they took an average cheap dessert and transformed it. They come to your table with the nitrogen and mix it in front of you. Careful though as I got splashed. We decided after the pineapple that we should try another ones and ordered the coconut flan which was very good but the it wasn’t a match with the sorbet. And the ice cream sandwich was very...

I’m informed by our wonderful waitress Miss Dana that Barbacoa has been in operation for at least the last 10 years. Having been a seasoned Bali traveler and self-appointed adopted local, I find this news hard to believe. Why am I only stumbling upon this wonderful restaurant now? It’s fine dining at its best and certainly well worth a visit. First of all, the atmosphere is lovely, once you open the medieval imposing wooden doors, the large restaurant opens up perfectly. Tables are set, glassware polished and the open kitchen is heaving and the open fire is ready to barbecue. I immediately fall in love with the tiled floor which gives a Spanish ambiance. We’re swiftly shown to our seats and presented with menus; cocktails, wines and of course food.

Miss Dana (super friendly and knowledgeable) takes us through the menu which is substantive and there are options catering for vegan’s, vegetarians and those who require gluten free, plus they do ask if you have any dietary requirements when you order. Truth be told everything sounded amazing but we were restrained in our ordering. For starters we the tempura fish on soft taco with whipped avocado and the prawns with jalapeno salsa verde on a toasted tortilla base. Service was fast and these came out quickly.

For our mains, we sought the assistance of the wonderful Miss Dana who helped recommend and explain some of the more popular dishes. Being from Australia, we decided to steer clear of the Aussie Angus and Wagyu but if you like your steak, it’s super impressive. For us, we opted for the super juicy half a charcoal chicken and char grilled king prawns with an Italian dressing of olive oil, lemon, garlic, and oregano. As our side orders reached the table, we realized we were witnessing a moment where ordinary vegetables (the humble potato, cauliflower and corn) turned into extraordinary cuisine works of art. Hands down the Spanish style roasted potatoes and garlic was a winner. So too was the barbecued spiced cauliflower which complimented the chicken and prawns. No room for dessert but not without really wanting to try.

A huge thanks for Miss Dana for the recommendations, we can tell she’s a formidable asset to the high-end Bali hospitality scene.

My only feedback for Baracoa is that, after watching years of Masterchef, I subscribe to one key truth; people eat with their eyes. And Baracoa is not alone here but it feel it’s becoming quite common in Bali to sit in beautiful fine dining restaurants, be served award winning dishes but you sit in the dark on a very dimly lit table. It’s so hard to see, hard to order or even take photos. All I ask for is a little more light (and I don’t mean a pen touch clipped to the end of a menu) so we can really be in awe of the...