Poppies Restaurant — Restaurant in Kuta

Thoroughly average food + below average service - they appear to be cashing in on former glory.

Pro: Nice atmosphere

Cons: Reviews RE long waiting times are accurate - place is busy, kitchen struggles to cope - ~30min for my “appetiser” of guacamole. The assurances from the chap that took my order that it was coming didn’t seem to actually make any difference to the speed. When it eventually arrived it did so with my main - the chicken had sub-par seasoning although the fresh salt and pepper (pictured) was a nice touch to remedy this although you shouldn’t be expected to season your own food entirely, particularly after such a long wait. The food did arrive before one thing - my placemats and cutlery - resulting in the lady having to ask me to pickup my own food for her to remedy the situation - I think by this point they may have noticed I wasn’t having the promised excellent experience. Also worth noting that I was asked to eat at the bar (I had no reservation on a weds evening just after 7) - this was fine but worth noting a number of people were kept waiting at the bar either for their tables or to eventually eat there. To top it all off they then had trouble with both card readers not being able to complete a transaction on a mastercard I’ve used in many shops in many countries - I ended up having to pay with cash and put a reminder to myself to ensure the pending transactions on my card are reversed. WiFi impossible to connect to as overloaded - they need a better router for that number of customers. Towel at the end was cold rather than hot - this could be normal in the climate?

Having found this in the Lonely Planet City guide app under one of the best places I don’t hold out much hope for the rest of Kuta’s culinary offerings and will likely stick to the street food venders such as at the Kuta Night Market where you can eat for an 8th of the price for not...

Tried this place because its one of the highest rated restaurant in Bali.

Suffice to say that if you're looking for an authentic Balinese cuisine spot, turn away. However, if you're a tourist looking for a non-spicy rendition of Balinese cuisine at the expense of it's authenticity, by all means this is the place for you.

Their food are sweet even when it's supposed to be spicy. Their sambal and sauces I would think is mostly made from tomato sauce. I told the waiter whether they could get me some sort of sauce or sambal with some spice (as I couldn't possibly finish a sweet Nasi Goreng), I was given a sweet sambal.

As I was alone, I've decided to eat slowly, enjoy the ambiance (food aside, ambiance was great, candle lit with people talking softly) but my chill was disrupted by the waitress who after asking me have I finished (rice still left half and I said I'm still eating), she came around a second time within 5 minutes to ask again with my rice still almost the same level (I was enjoying my drink).

Fed up, I gulped down my drink and left the place leaving my half eaten meal. The place was not even full yet (Monday night). Not sure why I was being pressured to vacant my table.

Price wise, it is one of the most expensive Nasi Goreng I've had in Bali but for the ambiance, I reckon it's at the right price point.

Highly recommended for non-spicy tolerant tourists and ambiance but not for authentic Balinese cuisine experience.

Side note: the place might have mosquitos but I didn't get any bites as one of the waiter (I think supervisor) kindly gave me a mosquito repellant spray to use...

An absolute disappointment and I do NOT recommend. We booked our table and we’re seated in a pleasant corner of the restaurant, but unfortunately we’re a bit forgotten and that’s when it all started to go wrong.

Drinks: we ordered a Ginger Martini, and although martinis are considered “small but strong” cocktails, these were just tiny and nothing special. After which we ordered a Long Island Iced Tea which turned out to be undrinkable. For the price we payed there could have been a greater effort. (15min wait)

Entrees: guacamole and spring rolls.. nothing special and plain. Peanut sauce was quite nice (40min wait)

Main course: one of the signature dishes of the restaurant is the Fishersmans Basket (alongside the Rijsttafel). We were told they were out and that we couldn’t order either sharing plates. We soon found out that all tables were ordering the Rijsttafel and that we got false information. This is unacceptable. After a 1h40 (!!!!) wait I decided to complain at the counter.. suddenly our food arrived lukewarm. My sister got the ratatouille and my mother and I took the Seafood à la King. Absolutely disgusting. Bits and pieces of fish DRENCHED in butter with some raw cauliflower and carrots.

The table next to us went to complain for the wait as well.. Absolute ripoff and nothing special. The only positive here is the HUGE disappointment. Do...