Sawobali — Restaurant in Bali

I have mixed feelings about the place.

Upon entering I felt like this place was open mainly for Buddhist as there were 2-3 monks dining.

The staff didn't care much when I entered, and I had to find a spot to sit down under a fan (there js no AC, so without a fan in the middle of the day is not an option). There were plenty of seats but some fans weren't turned on, so I crammed in a small table next to the kitchen.

Proceeded to go to one of the staff and asked for a menu. I don't think she spoke any English, instead she told me "75". After a few seconds of confusion I realized she was quoting the price for buffet. Asked again if there were a menu to order from as I didn't feel like having buffet, she kept saying 75 without bothering to understand so I said 'well okay Im gonna do the buffet then'.

It's a pay upfront restaurant, and there are so many rules written on the board of the restaurant that made me feel like I was regulated in a school canteen. 'do not fill your bottle with our water', 'if you sit for more than 60 minutes we charge you another buffet price', 'do not use more than 2 plates'. That may be due to some customers abusing their buffet before?

The food options were plenty, although mostly curries and deep/stir-fried stuff that is heavy for the stomach. Some fresh vegetables and salad can be found as addins. I was lucky there was another staff who helped explain to me what was in the food, because there was no label.

After eating for a bit I realized there WAS a menu to choose from, which was... outside in the reception. Anyway, the food tastes okay to me, not the best I've had in Bali but can do for the price I paid.

Overall, I'd recommend this place to someone who enjoys buffets, doesn't mind minimal and awkward interaction with the staff, and can endure eating in a hot and humid small space. For me in particular, I don't eat too much and enjoy smiling and chatting with the local staff, so this restaurant is a bit of a...

After reading a little on the reviews and a recent visit, I felt compelled to add my own views here. We ate here for dinner, expecting nothing. The price is now 75k/person (kids, babies, toddlers everyone needs to pay the same).

It wasnt very busy at 19:00h (they close at 20:00), but there was a decent selection of dishes. I mostly came for the salad. There wasa bowl of lettuce (some of it spoiled, but most good), shredded carrots, bean sprouts and cucumbers), dressing options with coconut oil, balsamic, salt, pepper, chilly. No tomatoes or onions, which would have been nice.

The soup was tasty, but unfortunately not hot. The other dishes were nice (around 8 choices), and five deserts. Although the rice felt like it was a leftover.

We came thinking it was 50K/person, and like others said, were immediately pestered (that is the word I would think most appropriate here) to pay - although the only staff working was busy taking payment from some other customer at the time. Didnt feel good. What we gonna do? Eat and run away without paying?!

One of the only two customers was playing his phone on full volume, and we kindly asked them to use headphones - and they apologised and turned it down. But then the manager (owner?) sitting at the other side started playing with his phone and also without headphones. Its a spreading dissease of disrespect for others I believe.

The next day I had a bad belly. No food poisoning, but I guess something wasnt that clean or fresh (thats after eating out in various places for three months).

Food prices have gone up, sure. Does it mean a 50% price increase is necessary? mmh. At 60-65K the price would be about right. 75K, not for me. You have to be really hungry to pay that and come out even.

Location is probably not cheap for the rent, but the way the owner responds to criticism is just sad. I think we will see the ratings of this place...

I came here with a friend looking for some vegan and gluten free cakes. Their cakes are yummy and it’s worth the money. However, the service is the opposite. I wish it’s not because we are the locals. We received an unwelcome greetings and we experienced an uncomfortable situation during the payment too. We were not informed prior that we have to pay first before siting down and enjoy our cakes. A lady approached our table and urged us to pay first, with an attitude. At last, we lost the appetite to finish the cakes we have there (it was untouched) and we decided to just do a take away for that cake that we couldn’t finish. I asked help from them to pack it but they refused to pack by saying: what’s ordered to be eaten in the restaurant must be eaten there, and what’s ordered for take away is for take away. They refused to pack it. At first, I thought they might not have any container to do so and I was okay about it. But before I wanted to go back to my table and tried to finish my cake, thankfully there was a kind man who called me from the kitchen and offered help to pack it. Surprisingly, they have a lot of boxes back there. So I didn’t really get it why they refused to help at the first place. If I need to pay for the box, I think it would be better if they communicate it with me and of course I’m okay to pay. I hope this can be a good feedback to move forward as this restaurant...