Mantis — Restaurant in Bali

My second visit here, excited to try every one of their mouth-watering-sounding southeast asian cuisines.

But first, the place. Place is not too big, but really comfy. I came here just for hanging out on a lazy Bali night at their breezy, semi-outdoor second floor bar/lounge. But with a ridiculously fast wifi, I can easily see myself working while dining/snacking comfortably at their indoor, proper dining area setup on the first floor.

Now, the food. On my previous visit, I tried their malaysian buttermilk chicken. Loved it! Creamy, rich and tasty, and the curry leaves were key here, kicking that asian taste up a notch while balancing the creaminess nicely.

On to today's picks, which now falls to their Khao Soi, a Thai santan curry noodle. To be honest, never heard of this Thai dish before, so not really sure what to expect. It's basically curry noodle, but the noodle is made crispy (somewhere between a cheese stick and my childhood's crispy noodle snacks) and with a tangy taste coming from the pickled mustard greens. The broth itself is rich yet very light and less creamy than the Thai curry broth I'm used to. The slices of short ribs are also very tasty and tender. Really a unique, yet comforting taste!

Next is their Tom Yum Fried Rice. Sounds simple enough, but boy is that some perfectly cooked fried rice! Rich taste, generous amount of juicy prawns, a perfectly fried egg and complete with an unbelievably fragrant wok hei. Uncle roger would approve, fuiyoh!

Aside from the mains, also tried their Youtiao (cakwe) which is the best kind of small bites: crispy, creamy (from the garlic aioli) and with a dash of freshness from the cilantro. I want cilantro to be on every recipe, and this place seems to agree, even on their dessert! Chopped cilantro really elevates their Ice Cream Bao: coconut ice cream with chopped nuts served on top of a fried man tao. Liked the man tao's playful texture, not the usual soft one, really nice with the ice cream, though maybe a tad too hard. If it was either soft enough for cutleries, or as is but bite-sized for eating with hands, it would have been perfect!

All in all, homey place with thoughtful, tasty southeast asian food. Adding this one to my Bali...

I guess this place must have been much better when it was new to get such high review. I missed the moment.

The menu was short and efficient with a bit of Thai and Singapore/ Chinese/ Malay food. South East Asian cuisine sans Indonesian food. The dishes were ok. The you tiao/ cakwe was tough and dry. The curry fried chicken and Khao Soi were OK. Although they were not tasting authentic but they were tasty. I had to wait an hour for the rice since the chicken didn’t come with the rice and they had to cook the rice.

The service was nonexistent. One of the girl pick lime with her bare hand from the iced glass and put it in empty glass on the table before pouring sparkling water. I asked her to take it back, I dared not ask for lime anymore. We were the only table but in the course of our visit there were 2 table with 4 waitresses who were totally busy chatting amongst themselves. This level of service was just disappointing being in Bali.

The space was clean, fun, modern, easy to find....

Love Mantis!! All the food is incredibly delicious! We ordered: -Buttermilk chicken (must try!) Its saucy but still crispy. We ordered twice its that good! -Soft shell crab ooh love the sauce its tangy and refreshing love it -Crunchy oatmeal calamari always love a good salt and pepper dish -Mackerel (must try!) topped with sort of sambal matah but with kecombrang its soo good -Momo pancake the pork is juicy -Spring roll (must try!) this one is a surprise because of the century egg and its bomb! Even my husband really like it (we order twice also for this spring roll) -Pork skewer the meat is tender and flavorful. Its soo good! (Mustt try!) -Pomelo salad ooh this one is so refreshing -Cold kale tofu goshh the tofu is delicious its soft, tasty and comforting -Eggplant simple but tasty. We ordered butter rice. Its yummyyy and a perfect combo with all the dish. We kind of over ordered but no regrets whatsoever! Its that good! Will definitely come back to Mantis everytime...