Brie Restaurant & Cheesery — Restaurant in Bali

Gosh, where does one start? I’ll start by saying that the DJ/singer, a young woman, was outstanding and probably belongs somewhere on a world stage rather than a warung in Bali. She was the highlight of the night. What an incredible voice and presence. Pity that she didn’t introduce herself.

Tonight the food fell short, unfortunately. Baked Brie hadn’t fully melted, but was tasty all the same and enjoyed by everyone at the table. The liver pate was done really well, with separate balls of paté encased in purple/red hard jelly. Caramelised onions were delicious. Very clever. Great stuff. Great dish.

But unfortunately that’s where the impressions ended (although the cheesecake dessert raised eyebrows at the end - more on that shortly). The prawn balls were okay but nothing special, served on a bed of sweet potato purée with cream and peas. A very odd dish that lacked any semblance to prawns (had the balls not had a prawn tail sticking out the top, you would swear you were eating tuna fish cakes from the 1970s). Sorry, folks. Nothing offensive about the dish except to say that it was, well, “meh”.

The donuts served with icecream and passionfruit were too doughy and dense, and tasted of nothing. Unfortunately the icecream had melted by the time it reached our table, but the resulting liquid gave us something to dunk the donuts in. We ate 1.5 donuts of the 4 served. The cheesecake - at least on presentation - was a highlight, although by this stage the caberet singer was on her 3rd song and was proving the true highlight. Thank goodness there was distraction from the cheesecake that fell short of the mark in flavour. Looked great though. We’d completely abandoned the donuts by the singer’s 4th song.

An attempt to order a mocktail was met with a firm “no”, they don’t make mocktails. Such a shame, really. It would have given the bored bartender something to do instead of dancing to the DJ and singer. And with such an impressive cocktail list, surely the removal of the booze would have delivered any number of wonderful mocktail options, and would have added an extra 300k to the bill of 980k that included no booze.

The waitstaff mostly stand around. Perhaps some training in offering water to the plethora of empty glasses observed around the room, would be an area to improve? Otherwise, our waiter was lively and did his best. He was a star for sure. Shame I didn’t get his name. Nice young man. The night was fun (thanks, caberet singer and paté balls), but with some tweaks here and there, Brie Restaurant & Cheesery might become something truly special. Perhaps less caberet and...

ABSOLUTELY SHOCKING

Reviews were promising, so we thought we would give it a try. Called 15 minutes prior to arrival to ask if there was parking for cars. There isn’t. A nice man offered to park the car for us, so we walked in.

A pink hollandaise was on offer to top the eggs benedict. I was told they add beetroot. I did not bother to ask why, though it does look like cotton candy, which is not appetizing. I ordered the eggs anyway. My wife ordered the English breakfast, she was told there is no bacon…..on a Sunday morning. So she switched to a cheese sandwich. I should add we were the only 2 guests in the place, so the kitchen was not swamped. My food arrived, the eggs were tepid at best, with some rather tasteless cheese on the side with 3 lettuce leaves. I asked when my wife’s food was coming, I was told “sebentar”. I had finished my food before her food arrived. I went to the toilet to check that we were still the only guests. Came back, still no food for my wife. How is it possible a commercial kitchen cannot cook 2 meals at the same time. when it finally came, it had overcooked chewy bacon on the plate. Her cheese sandwich consisted of 3 slices of bread, some cheese, chewy bacon and some French fries. All very odd.

I ordered a juice. They had 4 different kinds, I asked if I could get mixed, and it was delicious but when the bill came, I saw I had been charged for an apple juice and also a carrot juice, but still the same quantity as 1 juice. 160,000 for a mixed juice, are you joking?

Nice friendly staff, their poor head must be baking under that hat they have to wear, but the food is beyond atrocious. I don’t know what people leaving good reviews are eating, but it certainly isn’t eggs benedict and cheese sandwich.

Lastly they call themselves “Brie restaurant and cheesery”. Only cheese on the breakfast menu is burrata and haloumi. Since they claim to be a cheesery, I asked if I could buy some brie to take home. Oh we don’t do that. Why do you call yourself Brie instead of Haloumi? Nervous giggles ensued. After 25 years in Bali, I had my worst and most expensive breakfast ever today. 560,000 for 2 people. You cannot be serious (quoting John...

Myself and my husband ate here based on a reccomendation we received from a friend.

Highs: The mains were fabulous and the portions really generous. We ordered the romano chicken and a burger. Bith dishes were cooked and presented wonderfully. The service was friendly and kind. Our waiter, Adi, was a fun and engaging guy. Their hostesses were also very welcoming and remembered our names. Nice touch for the overall customer experience.

Their wine selections is strong. I tried an Indonesian wine there for the first time and I loved it. We enjoyed the desserts too. We also loved how they present their open kitchen to the customers and their small cheese factory. It looked like the health standards are high at Brie.

The restaurant is open for feedback and caring of the customer needs, which we appreciated.

Lows: Their pate apetiser came with some leaves decorations and a stick (yes, an actual tree stick😂). My husband accidently ate one leaf and that caused him stress, not knowing if that would be toxic or not, as the staff told us after that the leaves are not edible. Common kitchen practices state that nothing inedible should be served on the plate, including platting presentation. Overall their apetisers tend to be a bit dull and not strong in flavour, but this can solely be a taste preference. We had the cheese soup and the pate. The service was a bit slow in the beginning, but addressed itself after the first order.

Our table was on the terrace. Although we appreciated the Dj, the music was very loud and the light very dim. You can't see the food too well. Sometimes the music was so intense and clubby, we felt like we were on a mushroom trip at a rave festival. 😂 Interesting choice for a 7pm dinner.

Overall the Brie experience was a hit and miss for us. The restaurant does offer high quality ingredients, great locally-made cheese and affordable prices. It has great potential. Thanks...