I tried out 5 of Bali's best new bars and you'll want to too
While you’ve been locked out of Bali, these cracking new drinking venues have opened and are setting the scene for beach, beats and beverages Bali-style.
St Tropez is one of the new wave of hot spots to be seen in Bali.
Beach Love, Kedungu
DJ tracks and sun-kissed faces give this outdoor bar on a grassy hillside in the quiet beachside village of Kedungu a music-fest vibe. With tables and beanbags perfectly angled towards the west it’s also THE place to catch a sunset. The story goes that Beach Love, which opened in July 2021, is a collaboration by friends in the hospitality industry who were locked out of F&B jobs in the “closed-due-to-Covid” neighbourhoods of Kuta and Seminyak. So the bar is something of a Covid lovechild – the huge outdoor space allows for 50-plus tables to be socially distanced. Full table service ensures the crowd doesn’t intermingle. It’s a bit of an adventure too. Park your scooter roadside, then access is via a 1km dirt walking track through rice paddies. Sadly, the spectacular setting has been earmarked for development, but who knows, Covid might keep that at bay, at least for a little while.
Sunset Park, Seminyak
True to the name, Sunset Park is only open between 5pm and 8pm when the sun is setting and Seminyak’s Petitenget Beach is washed in swirling gold, pink and orange hues. That it is only open on Saturdays, gives it that special spark. It’s located in one of the best spots for the view – on the rooftop of Potato Head Studios, the latest hotel addition to the Desa Potato Head “village”. These guys known their party beats and tropical cocktails if neighbouring Potato Head Beach Club is anything to go by, but Sunset Park is a little more casual cool. Mixologists specialise in tropical takes on the classical Italian spritz aperitifs in full view of guests sitting along the central full-length bar. A soundtrack flirting with disco, house, experimental and jazz island music plays on the seabreeze without dominating the conversation. And there’s no need to go anywhere else. Each week, a new local chef takes residency putting a different spin on barbecue favourites. It might be wagyu sticks one week, chicken satay the next.
Saturday night at Sunset Park on the rooftop at Potato Head Studios.
Telu, Jimbaran Bay
“Established in 2021” is not something we’re going to see on a sign too often, but Telu, a new minimal-waste cocktail bar at Four Seasons Jimbaran Bay is proud of it. Even Bali’s most luxurious resorts have had to pull in the purse strings and this bar was born out of a grateful staffs desire to keep active during lockdown at minimal cost to employers. According to head bartender Sufian Mahmoud, most of the staff, from hospitality to house-keeping, chipped in to help convert a formerly disused eatery into a lovely open-sided bar with a 1920s Singapore vibe. Mirrors and the marble bar top was repurposed from elsewhere in the resort, furniture was dusted off from the storage room, and the fittings – inexpensive rice trays from Ubud, and cut-off wine bottles for light shades, were inspired by staff. The focus now is on cocktail workshops using minimal-waste techniques such as homecooked marmalades and spirits infused in-house. In April 2022, the bar will fully open to hotel guests and the public, seating 30 tipplers.
New bar Telu was a Covid shutdown initiative by staff at Four Seasons Jimbaran Bay.
St Tropez, Berawa Beach
Picture the scene at St Tropez: towering coconut trees strung with fairy lights, hip hop DJs, cane tables packed with bronzed bodies, a swimming pool with an edge that drops onto panoramic Berawa Beach where surfers walk in silhouette as the sun goes down. This is Instagram heaven, a show-offy place that you can’t help loving, especially on a Friday night when everyone is in the mood to party. The pool might ostentatiously have VIP written under its turquoise depths but this former adults-only area of Finns Beach Club has moved with the times to become a place anyone worth their designer sunnies can enter (but it’s best to book a table). The drinks menu has all the trimmings – Champagne by the bottle and top-shelf wines from Marlborough to Bordeaux, but the jovial staff are quick to push two for one margaritas and Mosco mules when happy hour comes around. An ab fab menu, channelling the French Riviera, includes entrees of garlic snails and bone marrow and mains along the lines of duck confit and lobster Thermidor, but there’s a new plant-based menu and crispy wood-fired pizza too. St Tropez offered a generous food discount on my visit, this might change as the tourists return, but I hope not.
Sure, it's the beach, but you need to dress to impress at St Tropez.
Rusters, Ubud
Ubud’s lush rice paddies are the setting for this Dutch-owned multidisciplinary venue that invites more than one visit to experience all the lovely offerings. On street level a warehouse size space is curated with beautifully crafted “pieces” of Rusters-designed furniture – just the thing to furnish your extravagant villa. A boutique (or concept store) inspired by Indonesian design has quality written all over it, from silver jewellery and silk masks to linen dresses and Balinese antiques. Towards the rear, separate buildings reminiscent of Balinese compound living quarters, include a cafe and coffee roastery with a reputation for Bali’s best sourdough, and a ceramics workshops where you can sign up for pottery courses. The eatery and bar makes the most of the rice paddy views with the most coveted seats lined up under market umbrellas on the balcony. You can go local on signature cocktails including a Raja Ampat with blue-pea infused gin and tonic (blue peas grow everywhere here), but the menu dances around the planet, from shakshuka eggs and beef rendang porridge to vegie lasagne and Parisian steak. Perhaps surprisingly, the dish that has caught the most attention is the Greek falafel wrap (which strikes me as very Bali).