Sangsaka Restaurant — Restaurant in Pulau Bali

Hello all. A PSA for those looking for a tasty meal. Best to avoid Sangsaka.

To preface my thoughts, I find that google reviews are generally ill-informed and therefore misleading and not helpful. When you scroll through a google listing and the reviews are 95% 5 star ratings, this is not helpful. The reality is, most restaurants in the world are 2-3 star establishments (or lower). 4-5 stars should be reserved for something truly special. People just seem to be easily pleased. If you agree with this sentiment, please consider this review.

Unfortunately, there is nothing special about Sangsaka and there were some very basic errors in terms of protein preparation that completely ruined our meal. I am very leery of fusion cuisine at the best of times as it is often poorly executed and therefore doesn't elevate any aspect of the individual cuisines. This was the case with Sangsaka.

Service was absolutely lovely and attentive in the face of many many mistakes coming from the kitchen. We ordered a broad range of dishes including: Starters: Fried Calamari, Grilled Octopus, Chargrilled Quail and Prawn and Scallop Dumpling. Mains: Slipper Lobster and Prawn Noodle, Whole fish of the day (chargrilled) and sides of Nasi Goreng and vegetables.

There were issues with protein preparation in 3 dishes. The Octopus was overcooked (therefore moosh), the quail was undercooked (i.e. rare as opposed to medium-rare, and therefore needed to be sent back), and the fish was so burnt that an acrid taste permeated the whole dish and it could not be eaten (also sent back). Sending back 2 dishes due to poor execution of proteins is simply unacceptable and shows a lack of knowledge and expertise in the kitchen. The remaining dishes lacked flavour or were extremely one note (requiring adjustments to seasoning, more spices and fresh herbs). The only item which was prepared well was the Nasi Goreng side dish.

I do not want to be overly harsh. Bali is recovering from years of isolation and tourism is the heart of its economy. Our server was absolutely lovely, actively enquired about why dishes were left unfinished and took on constructive feedback which was passed on to the kitchen. The Octopus and Quail were removed from our bill without asking and a complimentary dessert was sent out. This was appreciated and handled well, unlike in many Western restaurants where you provide feedback and it is simply ignored. We got the sense that the staff genuinely cared and wanted us to enjoy our experience. The staff is the reason I have allocated 2 stars for this review - however please be clear that the food itself was a 1 star experience.

I hope Sangsaka is able to take on this feedback, focus on the basics and improve. However, if you are looking for a delicious meal with Indonesian flavours, I cannot recommend Sangsaka especially if you are visiting and have limited...

I love curry and I love a good fusion and went I chanced upon Sangsaka on google maps I knew I had to check it out.

I went on a Monday night around 8pm and the restaurant was still quite full. Tables are nicely spread apart and the venue isn’t particularly big. The dim lights and enchanting paintings on the walls created a cosy yet sophisticated Balinese atmosphere. While there’s no white table cloth, it feels like a pretty formal atmosphere with doors opened, chairs pulled for you, and warmly greeting you at every opportunity.

The menu is not large, but well divided into amuse bouche, starters, carbs/soups and mains being mainly the curries. There’s also a comprehensive drinks menu and a less but decent dessert menu. There’s also a tasting menu but I wanted the proper experience so as a solo diner, I went with the scallops and oyster amuse bouche, lobster bisque for soup, octopus for starters and beef cheeks for mains.

The waitress did warn me it is too much food but I felt I could manage. There was also a complimentary amuse bouche in the form of a beef croquette if I’m not mistaken, simple yet delicious. The scallops was served next, it’s a raw version, and it was light and refreshing. In pictures I thought I saw some form of cream served with it but the one I had didn’t have it. The oyster was served cooked in a brown butter sauce. Not the largest oyster but still tasty with the sauce. Next up was the lobster bisque served with a dumpling stuffed with seafood. This was exceptionally good and enjoyed every drop of it. For 90KIDR, this was a steal.

At this point I was still relatively hungry. Going strong, the octopus came next. Nicely plated, great flavors and firm texture of the meat. I’m no expert to tell the difference in the spices in the curry but it was a light curry that was served in the dish.

Moving on to the mains, at this point I wasn’t hungry anymore but I was still looking forward to the dish. The beef cheek was served hot, freshly cook which was great. Beef cheeks was tender but not the most tender I’ve had. However the issue is the curry was too heavy to have by itself so I had to order a side of coconut rice to go along with it. This helped me ensure no curry went to waste. Excellent dish but difficult to finish without sharing.

I felt it would be a waste not to give the dessert menu a shot so I went with the passionfruit Marisa which is a dessert using kueh lapis. A refreshing dish but not a must to order.

Total damage came up to around 800KIDR. I think it’s reasonable for...

Incredible meal - must go if in Seminyak. We were glad to have over-ordered so that we could have second rounds back at our hotel.

After searching far and wide before our trip to Bali, and hoping to find some good Indonesian food for my day trip to Seminyak, I finally made a booking at Sangsaka and it did not disappoint.

Highlight here is the food. We were off to a good start with a flavorful amuse bouche, followed by two appetizers: yellowfin tuna and octopus. I'm a big fan of tuna dishes so we were pleased for the fresh taste while the chili and herbs added a good kick and spin to the common dish, while the octopus again was very flavorful with local ingredients and taste, itself extremely tender. The sauce was magnificent, which helped to clear the dish despite my reluctance to finish the filling potatoes.

For the hot dishes, the Pangsit Laksa (lobster dumpling) with the shellfish bisque was creative and tasty, a must-order especially considering the price for this. The Mie Udang Kipas (lobster, clams, and noodles) was probably my favorite dish - the lobster was easy to eat and tasted fresh, the chewy noodles cooked to perfection, and the whole plate was just filled with umami. We also had the chicken & prawn fried rice with poached egg which, despite being very simple, was as much a delight as the noodles.

The weak link may be the drinks as it did not seem to have many choices of wine available, and the one I picked ultimately did not really taste the best, but this definitely does not take away from the actual food.

The ambiance is comfortable with a relatively dark setting for dinner, great for a date night, while the many dishes to offer is also perfect for friend groups so you can try as many...