Bali has some fabulous restaurants both up-market and those that are reasonably priced but still serving quality fare. Naturally, being surrounded by the ocean, seafood is prominent on the majority of menus. However, for feasting on the tastiest and freshest fish then the iconic Jimbaran Bay is the place to go. The place has changed dramatically compared to the first time I went there when people used to sit on the beach in front of an open fire whilst a Balinese guy would grill the delights of the ocean as your mouth watered.
Located only a 15 minute ride from Kuta, along the length of the beachfront there is a plethora of restaurants and warungs serving grilled seafood of varying quality and style. Running from Kedonganan in the north to Jalan Bukit Permai in the south, diners are spoilt for choice with over fifty places. However, if your wallet is fat then when you get down to the beach road, turn right. This is where you will find the expensive places. My advice; turn left for some of the greatest fish feasts on the island.
The seafood warungs do good business in the evenings. The accepted method of ordering food at Jimbaran is to check out the fresh fish at the front of the warung, choosing the items you want and asking the price. Most seafood is priced by the kilo, with lobster by the 100gr. Prices vary. Every thing that is caught in the sea you can purchase, literally!
After you have ordered your fish feast choose a table on the sand; my favourite being next to the shoreline. I like the warm ocean lapping over my feet The food generally takes around 25 minutes to appear and will include other items such as potatoes, rice, kangkung (green vegetables) and sambal. The whole beach BBQ atmosphere is also aided by the fact each warung cooks its seafood over huge grills fired with coconut husks, generating tremendous heat.
Some of the most popular seafood warungs are Roma Cafe, Jimbaran Beach Cafe and Bamboo. Jimbaran Seafood Warungs are also okay during the wet season as most can squeeze you inside if a shower suddenly hits.
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{ 4 comments }
Watch out for the very common scam of staff at the Jimbaran restaurants weighing the fish, prawns etc using a dish on the scales. In our case the dish was adding an extra 300 grams to every item weighed. Now assuming you had 6 items on a bill at say 70,000rp per kilo it would be costing an extra 126,000rp. If they 50 tables a night the rip off could be more than 6 million a night particularly if you are having prawns and other expensive items.
When I queried the accuracy of the weighing procedures they deducted the weight of the dish but did not adjust the scales for the next customers.
I took a ‘left’ at the road and went to the last of the establishments. Had a great diner, loved the smell and mist of the husk fueled fires. We listened to great musicians and dined amidst equally satisfied guests. The price was beyond fair and the service perfect. We sat further back, away from the laping waters, on the edge of coconut smoke that rolled in from the busy open aired kitchen. The beaches to our right were dotted with a galaxy of small candles, two per table, buring holes in the dark shoreline. The flickering light made out faces stuffing themselves with the delicious seafood.
Loved the place.
Pan
I took a ‘left’ at the road and went to the last of the establishments. Had a great diner, loved the smell and mist of the husk fueled fires. We listened to great musicians and dined amidst equally satisfied guests. The price was beyond fair and the service perfect. We sat further back, away from the laping waters, on the edge of coconut smoke that rolled in from the busy open aired kitchen. The beaches to our right were dotted with a galaxy of small candles, two per table, buring holes in the dark shoreline. The flickering light made out faces stuffing themselves with the delicious seafood.
Loved the place.
Pan
good pictures with representative information
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