Ulekan Berawa — Restaurant in Bali

I had already visited this restaurant twice before and always enjoyed the food, the atmosphere, and the service – I had nothing to complain about. Unfortunately, during my last order on Saturday, September 27, 2025 (including Gado Gado, Sate Tahu, Jagung Bakar, Sambal), I suffered a severe case of food poisoning. With high probability it came from the Gado Gado or the Sambal. I am only now slowly recovering.

This was not only a terrible health experience for me, but it also had financial and personal consequences. Afterwards, I found out that similar incidents have reportedly happened at this restaurant before.

I am writing this review with respect, as my previous visits were positive. Still, I believe it is important that the management is made aware of this, that proper steps are taken, and that future guests are informed – so that no one else has to go through the same experience.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………. Update after the owner’s reply:

Dear owner,

Thank you for taking the time to respond to my feedback. I truly appreciate your polite and considerate reply.

However, I struggle to understand how the “richness of your spices and ingredients – combined with Bali’s tropical climate” could result in the clear symptoms of food poisoning that I experienced, lasting for more than five days. I will spare the unpleasant details here, but I trust you understand what I mean. Of course, I am not a doctor.

What I can say, however, is that as the child of an Indonesian mother, I am very accustomed to and fond of the richness of Indonesian spices – it is, so to speak, in my DNA. This is also why I ordered double portions of your spiciest sambal without hesitation. Likewise, I am well familiar with Bali’s tropical climate and with traditional preparation methods of Indonesian dishes such as Gado Gado.

For that reason, I find it far more plausible that the issue did not come from spices or climate, but from the preparation process – in particular the handling of the Gado Gado sauce. It is no contradiction that my portion could have been contaminated while others were not.

I also cannot ignore that there are several other public comments on different platforms reporting similar experiences of food poisoning at your restaurant. This, unfortunately, underlines the seriousness of the matter. At the same time, I do understand that in the online space it is not easy – or even possible – for a business to openly acknowledge such issues or admit to mistakes.

I share this not to assign blame, but to reiterate my original point: that it would be valuable for the restaurant’s management to finally critically review the internal standards, so that future guests are...

The food was incredibly delicious, and so were the drinks. However, it took 50 minutes for food to arrive. After 30 minutes of waiting and seeing other tables being served we kindly reminded the waiters to check on our order, they served us 20+ minutes after that with a few main courses. The starters came even later. The drinks however were served really fast, so us being hungry we had to order more drinks. After finishing our food and getting the bill we asked why it took so long, the excuse was that this is “high quality Indonesian food, so it takes a long time to cook”. Sure maybe for the slow cooked beef cheek (which was very tasty) that’s a valid excuse, but it doesn’t take 50 minutes to make skewers, corn or rice. They clearly forgot about our order, but instead of apologizing the staff just assumed us as dumb foreigners who haven’t tried Indonesian food before. After talking to the manager he kept trying to convince us that “they are not a fast food restaurant and need time to make their food” but I still refuse to believe it takes almost an hour to make dishes. According to the manager all high quality Indonesian food takes this long. On top of that the bathroom was always out of order. The staff kept trying to convince us that it was just in use (the only stall) but after we knocked and asked ourselves there was no response, so I (and some other customers) had to use the bathroom in a restaurant across the street. I just wished that the slow service would’ve been warned before hand, and if it’s authentic Indonesian food that takes that long to tell that beforehand, so we would’ve known what was coming, and wished our complaints were met with understanding. If you are ready to wait almost an hour for authentic Indonesian food, then go for it, because once again the food was indeed good. The restaurant was decorated nicely and had an aesthetically pleasing atmosphere, but the smoke coming from the windows made our seats near the window insanely foggy and we smelled of...

The first time we went to Ulekan in 2019, we stumbled upon it whilst we were out and about looking for dinner. Not kidding, we literally followed the scent of mouth-watering barbecued meats wafting out from the restaurant, before ending up there. Much to our pleasant surprise, we found out that Ulekan served halal meats as well (at the time).

The design and ambiance of the restaurant feels pretty luxurious. The atmosphere there is buzzing yet somehow still intimate. As gorgeous as the place was, the food was even more amazing.

Among our party of four, we shared an assortment of sate, the nearly melt-in-your-mouth Rendang Sapi, Ayam Lalapan, Karedok (a favourite of mine), a side of fresh ulam (raw salad) and an assortment of spicy, fresh sambals to our choosing; all of which went along with steamed rice. Everything looked immaculate and tasted heavenly. Ulekan doesn't just do authentic Balinese food well, they elevate it to a whole other level. All of us at the table took turns mewling, groaning and whimpering with each bite we took.

We came back for lunch the next day for the Nasi Campur and another serving of the Beef Rendang. Best Nasi Campur I've personally had in Bali. Definitely a must-try.

Wahyu was our server for both our dinner and lunch, and his service was impeccable. His sunny yet calm disposition was so warm and inviting, and so typical of Balinese hospitality. He remembered how disappointed we were when we couldn't order the Signature Balinese Banofee (which was excellent, by the way) the night before, and offered it to us on the house for lunch. The attention and care shown was totally unexpected and blew us away.

It's hard to find such amazing halal food experiences and certainly hope they continue to serve halal food (although from recent knowledge, it seems that they sell pork now). Couldn't rate this place more highly. Easily one of my most enjoyable dining experiences. We hope you guys can go back to halal meats again!...