Rockfish at The Uluwatu — Restaurant in Kuta Selatan

We were genuinely excited to dine at Rockfish, having booked in advance from Australia and anticipating a fine dining experience in a stunning location. Unfortunately, the evening turned out to be one of the most disappointing dining experiences we’ve had.

From the moment we arrived, we felt invisible. There was no one at the entrance to guide us, so we wandered through the chapel area before eventually finding the restaurant. Even then, no one greeted us. We had to actively seek someone out to ask about our reservation, and the overall impression was that we weren’t really meant to be there. At one point, what appeared to be a hostess asked if we’d like a photo taken. We said yes, but instead of helping, she walked away to take selfies with her boyfriend.

While we were seated with a beautiful view of the sunset at 6 pm, the service was disorganised from the start. I ordered a margarita but was given something completely different that I couldn’t drink. The staff did not seem to be familiar with the menu at all. By 6:50 pm, despite asking twice about being moved to our reserved table, we were still left waiting and had to walk around the restaurant ourselves to get someone’s attention. When we finally managed to order margaritas again, the waiter returned to inform us that they had already sold out (at just 7 pm) while we watched the table beside us being served theirs. On top of this, the menu we were presented with was not what had been advertised online, which added another layer of disappointment.

I want to note that the Balinese wait staff were very pleasant and polite throughout the evening. However, they seemed under-skilled and unsupported, clearly lacking the training or direction required for this kind of establishment. The chefs, on the other hand, seemed incredibly experienced and the food itself showed real promise. Unfortunately, we never had the chance to try it. After an hour and a half of being ignored, asked once “how is everything” without ever having been served food, we decided to leave.

It leaves me questioning the experience of the managers or owners, because while the back of house may be strong, the customer-facing side of this restaurant is in desperate need of leadership and professionalism.

Having experience in industry, it is natural to expect some minor challenges, especially on a venues opening night. But attentive, professional service and delivering on what is advertised are the foundation of any quality dining experience, and both were glaringly absent here. What should have been a highlight of our trip ended up being frustrating, disheartening, and memorable for all the...

My girlfriend and I arrived for dinner after making a reservation. First, we had nowhere to park. There was practically no parking. The nearest available parking was somewhere in the middle of the road (it's quite narrow), 200 meters from the restaurant. Second, there was no manager to help us find our reserved table, so we had to search around the restaurant for the manager. It turned out our table was occupied, and we were asked to wait. We waited for over an hour!!! We managed to order food another half hour later, and then one waiter came halfway through our order, left, then another came. There was tremendous confusion between personnel. Waiting for about another 40 minutes we had a host coming to apologise that the gas in the kitchen has finished and all food was delayed which led to many customers disappointedly left. We just reconfirmed if our order was taken correctly which they had to check and while they did I started receiving my food and my girlfriend’s order was missing and not taken at all . She pointed she would wish to eat together and returned starters until all is being sorted. Later we finally understood order was not placed though taken apparently by manager. She had 3 glasses of Prosecco which I asked to pay since we politely said perhaps it’s a bad time and it’s best for us to leave. The manager just told us many people left because of that so I quote “you don’t owe us for drinks just leave” I am speechless of this though I believe it has great potential in being a great place. And I would give it a future try but the feeling I left with two hours later no food and no service is just a total unprofessional. You can’t promote such high class place and not be prepared for ANY customer. We don’t mention those “lucky” ones. Perhaps owner and management have no idea what hosting business is like. Owning myself 6 restaurants in Europe not called high class I am...

We were so excited to go to Rock Fish as we had seen so many amazing reviews on TikTok. We arrived and were shown where to park and was guided through to the front desk. We had a booking for 7pm but arrived early to grab a drink at the bar/seating area.

We ordered drinks and food around 6:40pm. The drinks came within 10 mins. We decided to order another round of drinks at 7:30pm. We still had no sign of any food coming to our table. People who ordered after us were receiving their food.

We asked the waiter about the food, but they did not seem to have any idea. It was 7:50pm and we asked the owners who were there how far the food was. They were apologising and had our 2 of 3 plates of food come out straight away. Once we had finished the 2 plates we had were still waiting on our last dish. After 10 mins the owner came to collect the 2 finished dishes. We told him we were still waiting on one but “if it had not been made yet, to please not worry and we will get the bill”. He insisted on our last dish to come and brought it out within 5 mins of us asking.

Once the owner brought the last dish out he said “sorry this was taken to another table” and in addition brought out another free dish for us.

By the end of the night the owners were still apologising and provided us with removing an item from our bill, not charging us for the additional plate given and a 20% discount.

Their staff did not seem to know what was going on with any of their customers and were hanging around the bar. We had called a waiter over but got no response from them.

The food was good although, I would not recommend Rockfish to anyone who does not like feeling invisible to staff or slow table service. This was such a beautiful spot but not fine dining or the experience I saw online and hoped for. For now I would not come back until the service becomes better. Such a beautiful spot for not...