Bali Nights — Restaurant in Waitematā

I’ve been here for 2 times and their food still tastes amazing even their restaurant always so busy but they are really good at maintain the quality. They’re bit busy at dinner time esp at weekend so better to call/online book first before come.

So far for me, they are the only restaurant which served really authentic taste of Indonesian food which is I always missing for. All my friends also enjoying the vibes and food as well, until one of them decide to celebrate his gf bday in here.

Usually I always went to It’s Java which their first Indonesian restaurant & also specialized at Indonesian food but has different menu varieties. In It’s Java they’ve simple comforting street food while in Bali Nights you will find mostly rich & complex in flavor just like how Balinese food taste. So its really worth to try and explore the menus, trying something new every time come there. Another good stuff that I found is you can do BYO Drinks (Alc). only $10/bottle of wine/6packs of beer. Good place to celebrate special event while you have some friends who don’t drink and some wants to drink.

My recommendation in here try their Royal Ayam Bakar (Grilled Chicken), Ikan Bakar Jimbaran (Grilled Fish) or Beef Rendang. Their sambal is also bomb like in It’s Java, try Sambal Matah or Sambal Mangga for something different! 😏 Salute to the kitchen’s team for make a good food! 🍷✨

The owner/team, Adriana & team is having amazing services, they’re friendly, nice & helpful. Accommodate every guests so well. 😊 Can’t wait go back again & thank...

hygiene : 1/5 ⭐️ we found a metal sponge for kitchen scrub in between our salad dish. we found one strand, not sure how many of them we had swallowed. when we told our friend this story, apparently my friend ever found a flat round size battery inside her dish as well.

service : 4.5/5 ⭐️ some staff are very nice, they tried their best to serve you. some are just straight to the point. it is not a fine dining after all, so i would rate 4.5.

flavour + price : 3.5 ⭐️ I honestly love their grilled fish (mainly because you cant find it anywhere else in Auckland). With reference of the price, the size of the fish sometimes fair, sometimes smaller, which is understandable. I appreciate how they provide an extra topping sauce on the side this lately, as actually the bottom side of the fish will be quite watery after a while (as they have not much time to grill it till dry on the both side) and without extra sauce it would taste quite fishy. The sweet soy sauce chilli on side are mostly come in 40% sauce 60% cooking oil. I sense that they try to target high end western customers instead of the local Indonesians / asians hence their price is above average.

satay (skewer) prawn and chicken are too expensive with not much flavour / the burnt-BBQ-ish taste of it.

The chilli provided on the side table is not consistent. sometimes spicy, sometimes not. sometimes the garlic part is flavourful, sometimes looks like they only blend the raw garlic and mix...

Firstly, The staff were kind.

Tried this on Friday night. Had the Nasi Campur Bali ("Chicken satay lilit, corn fritters, sayur urap, shredded chicken sambal matah, Balinese egg, crackers on rice") - there's no description of what the Indonesian parts mean in translation. It was way too loud to ask the waiter and they seemed rushed to take our order.

The corn fritters were very nice.

My main concern was that the shredded chicken was cold with no flavour or seasoning. Unsure if the chicken was supposed to be cold, if it is it should be stated on the menu. Not what you want on a cold winter's night.

The "Balinese egg" was just a hard boiled egg.

Googled what "sayur urap" is ("Indonesian salad made with steamed/boiled vegetables dressed with spiced grated coconut topping") but only received boiled shredded cabbage with no salt or anything (see picture).

Had the Pastel ("Indonesian style empanadas - chicken & vegetables filling in crispy puff pastry" - nowhere in the description did this say it had vermicelli noodles in it as it was 95% vermicelli. Unfortunately was bland and chilli oil sauce on the side had no flavour or salt.

I think this place 100% lacks flavour and SALT.

Atmosphere was extremely loud, overcrowded and can barely make your way through to get out. Also very cold wind coming in if you sit by the windows.

Restaurant was very busy and reflected on the quality of the food. Maybe better to try during a...