Manta Taqueria — Restaurant in West Nusa Tenggara

We had the fortune of stumbling on to this gem of a Mexican-fusion restaurant on our first night back to Gilli Air. We were so hungry and hot and were craving something fun with a good view of the ocean. We could immediately tell from the menus and the sweet attention to the decor that this place must have a special story behind it. We are all three gluten-free and were delighted they had several tasty options for us- from some of their freshly made drinks to an array of wildly creative tacos all freshly made. The staff were really friendly and service was fast. I ran into the manager Charlie on my way to the restaurant- a super affable Brit who’s a chef, world traveler, and ocean lover. This new restaurant was based on his concept of locally made dishes inspired by Mexican cuisine with some Asian influences. We went there as often as we could and devoured everything that they made for us. He also went above and beyond to try out some new dishes for us that were gluten-free. It was hands down one of our most favorite restaurants to eat at during our time on Gilli. The prices are also really reasonable and it’s in a great location on the East side of the island.

Some of our favorites were: ~ the very refreshing cucumber, lime, mint Fresca served in Day of the Dead glasses ~the Cajun Fries ~ the Ensalada Manta with a delish coriander lime dressing ~the grilled chicken tacos ~the chicken tikka tacos (cool Indian-Mexican fusion twist) ~the beetroot tacos with eggplant salsa

We highly recommend this place! It became one of our fav...

It takes a lot of hard work and dedication to run a restaurant. The food in particular in no way lives up to some of the comments posted here. Where one review posted 1 star, the feedback was laughing emoji's. The owner should take note. After 10 nights on the island, this was our final dinner. I won't mention the other eateries, but this was our least favoured. To be clear, it wasn't bad (the others were excellent), but it sure wasn't what other reviews pump it up to be. Hence the 3 stars from my perspective.

For more detail, the concoction of food was odd. The chilli sauce that I guess was supposed to be some sort of Tabasco was plain weird. Gristle in my chicken taco and overall, the taste was nothing more than mediocre. The Baja fish taco was decent, but seriously, I can make far better Mexican rather than pay for something that's run-of-the-mill and expensive compared to some of the local gems.

As for the atmosphere, to have a dart board in a Mexican restaurant with a group of people playing darts right behind you where you're having dinner with the family was just bewildering. To be fair, if an outdoor table was available, then there'd probably be no issue. But it summed up the vibe of the place. This spot had a vibe that doesn't fit with the island.

I've just had a bowl of vegetarian nachos in Bali and the flavours were awesome. Can't say the...

Wow! If you love Mexican food come here! Simply amazing food.

We found manta taqueria on instagram and thought we would try it out. We got frozen margaritas (lime & passionfruit) which were both delicious - my partner choosing to add extra hot sauce which made it very spicy indeed.

We got a few starters including salsa & chips, jalapeño tequitos, chicken poppers, corn on the cob , and 3 tacos. Every single bite of food was delicious and the tacos were 100% the best I’ve ever eaten 👌🏻.

The restaurant looks like an extension of the diving school but that doesn’t take away from the quality. The vibe was very relaxed and everyone seemed to love it here.

The staff were very friendly and welcoming and even gave us a taste of some of the locally produced spicy sauce. The only small complaint I would have of this place is that the staff could have been a bit more attentive, as we had to get up a few times to get their attention. However this was just a minor thing!

I would recommend Manta Taqueria to anyone...