Shelter Restaurant — Restaurant in Bali

Is this the best restaurant in Bali? Certainly it has to be in the conversation and must be in the top 3. Right from the first step into the tropical garden setting and the warm smiles at the front desk, the journey begins. We sat on a corner seat on the elevated decking which is surrounded by greenery, afforded a view into the kitchen and bar. The ambiance is heightened by the great choice in tunes and soft lighting. The wine and cocktail selection are excellent with some outstanding uncommon varietals available at a reasonable price (the trebbiano blend was a ripper!) as were the martinis! The menu, designed either to share or have as a traditional 2 or 3 course has something for everyone. The service is incredibly efficient and friendly. At no time would we ever need to ask for wines or water to be refilled. The kitchen, though busy, had every meal out on time throughout the venue.......and the FOOD!!!Very impressive: great produce and delicious fresh seafood, poultry, and beef combined with culinary genius and creativity and you'll soon be in a foodie trance. We chose to share to experience as much of the menu as possible between the four of us. A no-brainer & thoroughly recommended. There is clearly elite level hospitality training and attention to detail here to rival the best restaurants anywhere in the world. An industry I love and have been in for 36 years. What sets Shelter specifically and the broader scene in Bali apart, is it's people. They are just beautiful in their friendliness and professionalism. I cannot speak more highly of this incredible operation. It was an honour and a privilege to dine here. I regret not taking and being able to share images but I was living completely in the moment every second I was here!!

Well, we have just had another shelter experience. (05.12.23) It can be an apprehensive time when contemplating a return to a venue for which 'perfection' would be an understated descriptor for a previous visit. But I won't hesitate to acknowledge a true measure of class..... Consistency. Yet again, the front of house team, from the Maitre d's, to all of the floor staff who played a role at our table were absolutely on point and irresistibly charming. I wondered if I was generous in my perception of the food last time? That concern was erased at the first taste of the stracciatella with julienne slices of crispy sourdough. Just wow!. The rest maintained the standard. We ordered a special flatbread which changes frequently but was spectacular with prawns, cherry tomatoes, chilli, garlic, labna and citrus rind (OMG!) and led beautifully onto the octopus with labna and lemon oil and wood roasted 'moon' scallops with sumac, chilli oil and cress. The kitchen are food alchemists of the highest order.

Yet again, I am blown away by this operation. Take a bow Shelter....

A really uncomfortable experience, feeling super nauseas and have a big migraine from the pounding speakers and loud club type music blasting all night at dinner, it started off chill and the speakers were a comfortable volume but progressively got louder as the night passed until it was at the point you could not hear the person right next to you… even the bathrooms are blasting with music and feel like a trashy night club environment, after many times of asking the staff to turn the music down, the host said yes and told me she turned it down, and then after 10 mins it was back on full blast… then we enquired if it could just be turned down a little tiny bit so that we could hear each other while speaking (but still keeping a fun vibe) the other lady said no it wasn’t possible and that this WAS the intended volume which is way above the decibel of what’s healthy for human ears. Unfortunately we were also seated in front of the blasting loud speaker, when we asked to move to a table in the back that was empty the staff refused… so we were stuck. It was an anxiety filled experience as we awaited our food and I ended up having heart palpitations from how loud it was. The music really ruined what was a beautifully designed environment and amazing food as well, truly the scallops, the chicken, the yummy potatoes were all lovely but it was so hare to enjoy it in such a intensely loud environment.

The alcohol flavor was not to our liking as it was way too strong so the staff offered to exchange the drink for us BUT then charged us for both at the end which was unethical - when we saw the bill we asked why as we only drank one? thought there was a typo error but no, there was a whole push back from the staff saying they never knew about the exchange etc and said they don’t do exchanges then questioned who was our waiter etc which just became a pain and really frustrating that we just decided to pay both as they clearly weren’t budging or going to take responsibility. So our bill went from 800k to 1 million +.

The fat bill plus being charged extra for the drink we didn’t consume at the end it really bad business practice, just was not worth it for us and honestly disappointing. We would not return or recommend for those looking for a romantic, enjoyable dinner experience or for the staff to care about your wishes or needs… If you’re here cause you really want to feel apart of some “trendy vibe” bar feeling and enjoy club type music and service is secondary to you, then place...

I'm talking to the restaurant owner first now!!! The service provided and the conflict solution of the restaurant manager was simply disgusting. She worked on 5 October evening time, I asked for her name and she didn’t even introduce herself because she was afraid that I might write her name in the review. The table in the restaurant that I booked 1 week before was not provided, the restaurant changed the table themselves and we could not sit at it because we were with a child and the table was high, like in a bar with the bar chairs. I asked to change the table but the restaurant refused me. The evening was ruined as we supposed to have an event. I asked to call the manager and then there was a scandal, caused by the restaurant manager. She started by first words with saying: “Calm down!”, raising her voice very high instead of starting by saying at least “Hello”. I asked her to introduce herself but she refused. Even now, when we called the restaurant, the employees refused to give her name because, of course, she is afraid that making the scandal with the client - she may have problems with the owner of the business. Instead of being polite and giving the explanations she arrogantly noted twice that the table we wanted is not available and they are not going to make another table. She also noted that perhaps we should come another day. We were frequent guests of this restaurant, but I have never seen such a rude attitude towards guests by restaurant Manager in any other restaurant in Bali. Hostesses who took an example from their manager, because subordinates always take an example from their boss - also behaved quite aggressively. In fact, even messages sent in chat nowdays are quite impolite towards guests. It feels like we owe something to the person we write to on restaurant’s WhatsApp when we are late for a restaurant, they scold us as if we were children. I ask the owner of the restaurant to look into this situation and at the very least, reprimand this manager. A poorly educated restaurant manager regarding customer service greatly affects the image of the restaurant in a bad way. I haven’t seen such a terrible attitude towards customers for a long time even we’ve lived in Bali for 7 years and know all the...