La Cantine — Restaurant in Bali

While researching French restaurants in Ubud, I came across La Cantine and took a taxi over to this restaurant (through the shortcut in the monkey Forest). The atmosphere of the restaurant is very pleasant, the staff is very good and friendly and the food I had was not good but it was excellent. For lunch I had the plat du jour, which was a chicken casserole on mashed potatoes in a special sauce with mushrooms. The taste was excellent and the price at 60k was a true bargain. I can honestly say it's the best I've ever had. For dessert I ordered the lemon waffle and it came as a surprise. It was a waffle with a number of other fruits except lemon but I did enjoy it. After walking around the village and working up an appetite, I went back for dinner and it was Thursday night steak night. I had the tenderloin steak which came with two sides. I had the gratin potatoes and the sauteed vegetables with the mushroom sauce. The steak was extremely tasty. I didn't even use salt on it, the potatoes were good and the sauteed vegetables with the mustard sauce were excellent. For dessert I had the chocolate mousse which I suppose is rather cliché but I thoroughly loved it. I had water with my meal as I do not drink alcohol and I was able to taste the meal much better. Moreover judging from some of the other reviews here, I suggest ordering the French food and leaving the other ethnic dishes for when one is in that particular ethnic restaurant. When I was in the restaurant both times I noticed a number of French people eating there, which led me to believe the food would be good and I was right. Rush down today and have an excellent meal, I intend to go back every time I...

Looks like a nice place from the first sight, however the overall experience is far from nice.

Firstly, the place allows smoking, both outside and inside of the restaurant. There is a very small (2 tables) smoking-free area in the very end corner of the restaurant - but all the smoke from the other tables goes there. It just doesn’t work. And it is just very very surprising (unpleasantly) that in today’s world in Ubud, where such a big focus is on healthy lifestyle, there is a restaurant without a proper smoking-free area. Just How!?

I am now pregnant that’s why it is especially important for me not to be exposed to the smoke.

So we moved to the open area, hoping that there would be no smoking neighbours. We were lucky with that however there was another problem - a smell of sewerage. I understand that it might be not from the restaurant but from somewhere else outside, but it is not pleasant at all to be eating accompanied by this odour. And we couldn’t move back to the restaurant to escape it because of the smoking inside it.

And finally the food. My husband and I took BBQ as it was a BBQ night. His beef skewers were decent. Potatoes and salad was quite nice. However my lamb chops were mostly not eatable. Most of the meet was not chewable at all, and only the very middle part was okay however it was quite pink, thought I asked for well-down as being pregnant I can’t have raw meat.

I left the feedback to the staff, they said...

Debated a few days to write a review about this gem, being selfish & not wanting to let others know about it. When a French restaurant has one of your favourite desserts you always try to order at other French restaurants in Asia ‚on the menu‘ it must be something special - I was served 6 Corona beers instead of 6 Colonel’s at the HK Jockey Club’s top French restaurants with a French Michelin guest chef present before! A light lunch turned into 3 course experience that made us feel - German saying - ‚like god in France‘, even the fair priced pichet of wine was obviously carefully selected and not just what the supplier offered. The homemade fois gras with fresh baguette was a dream, the butchers cut of the day was sautéed to perfection with a masterful created cheese sauce, the carefully selected local (!) charcuterie & cheeses as good as anything you would get in France and to top it up the Creme Brûlée (maybe a bit much sugar, but it cracked well) an experience of hot & cold as it should be. Paired with excellent, friendly service (not what the French are known for), this restaurant is better than 99% you find on the Cote D’Azur - our ‘third’ home. Thank you team, thank you chef & a tres bientot.

…in true French style there is only 1 (one) non smoking table for 2 pax in...