Mamasan Bali — Restaurant in Pulau Bali

Update June 2025: back to Bali and of course back to Mama-san. But this time something was off: the service was not that great, it took some time to get the menus and an unusual big amount of time to get our food to the table, without being a super crowded evening or without ordering anything out of the ordinary

What`s worse is that the food was a hit and miss this time: the octopus in the salad was burned, while the rendang was on the salty side - and I know this because I order it each and every time

I’ll keep the exceptional 5stars for now hope things are better next time when I am there next year. I have been dining here since 2019 - each time I’d visit Bali (that’s once of twice a year).

The service and quality are and have been exceptional. It has expended its space in the past years and now it’s a bigger space but it still retained its coziness.

The menu also changed once from the first time I tried it but the quality and consistency is just amazing. (personal note: I just miss the previous Peking duck dish, although the new dish is also very good)

The cocktails at the bar area are also extraordinary and again, consistent.

Note: they now ask for credit card details when making a reservation.

1 Star – Terrible: Extremely disappointing. Poor taste, bad texture, and low quality.

2 Stars – Poor: Edible but far from enjoyable. Lacks flavor, freshness, or proper preparation.

3 Stars – Average: Decent and passable. Nothing special, but it satisfies hunger.

4 Stars – Good: Tasty and well-prepared. Shows quality and care, with quite a few standout elements.

5 Stars – Excellent: Delicious, memorable, and expertly crafted. High-quality ingredients and...

This restaurant is trendy and happening. The decor oozes European minimalist chic with the accompanying chill music. It’s like a modern version of Buddha Bar from yesteryear.

There’s hardly any walk-in crowd. It’s the place for people who know it via word of mouth or by reputation.

The menu is carefully crafted by selecting one or two most popular dishes from around the Asia region. The dishes are given the Mamasan interpretation creating a fusion version.

Lunch time is relatively quiet and it’s a good time dine there. I have been told that dinner gets busy for them and it’s very difficult to get in on weekends.

The selection of dim sum is small and consists of steamed or fried items. The steamed lobster and prawn siew mai consisted of chopped pieces of prawns and lobster which needed something to bind them together. Taste was ok but the tiny bits fell out of the wrapper. And it was on the dry side.

The scallop and prawn har gows were rather good. The filling was tasty and moist, sitting perfectly in the very thin soft red dough wrapper. Delicious and tasty.

Beef rendang was good. The beef was tender and the gravy was nice and thick. There’s a bit of spiciness in it but tolerable.

Peking Duck was good. The duck was small in size as compared to the same dish in the region. Instead of eating just the skin of the duck, this dish is served with crispy skin and meat together. The meat was super tender and tasty which nicely complemented the crispy skin on top of it. The wrapper was super thin and nicely steamed. Overall a very good dish. The winner of the meal.

Overall a very...

One of our favorite meals in Bali so far. The restaurant was elegant and romantic, service was impeccable, and the food was delicious!!

My wife (vegan) had the spinach dumplings which she enjoyed, though maybe would try something else next time. For her main, she had corn curry which was full of flavor and was eaten down to the last morsel.

For my main I had the drunken noodles, and while I did thoroughly enjoy them, I did find they were overshadowed by the other dishes I had.

Another dish I enjoyed, yet was still overshadowed, was the steamed bao buns. As someone who loves gua bao I can attest that the bao themselves were amazing! They were soft, pillowy and fresh. The duck, which was shredded at the table, was also very good and had a nice little crisp to it. Unfortunately, the cucumbers threw me off a bit; they tasted great but were too thick for the bao.

The two stars of the meal for me were the scallop and coconut pancake & the chicken betel leaf. I might give the slight edge to the chicken betel leaf as it had several flavors I am not accustomed to but all worked so perfectly together.

Overall this was an incredible experience and I would highly recommend going to Mamasan to anyone looking for a good meal! I only wish we had a chance to go back for seconds.

Side note: I did also have the rainforest mule, it was just ok, I expected something a little better given how good the rest of the meal was.

Second side note: forgot that I also had the bone marrow naan. It was also delicious! By itself it was good, but once I stole some of my wife’s curry it...