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On my last visit to Canggu, almost a decade ago, most people here had an appetite for surfing, Old Mans was a quiet beach bar not a party spot and you came here to get away from the Bali traffic.
Now, this beachside village is making a splash in the world of food with an outsized reputation for bang-on brunches, fabulous fine-dining and a refined cocktail culture. If you wipeout in Canggu these days, it means you can’t squeeze in dessert.
“There are so many things going on in Canggu right now, you can try a lot of different food,” says Yudha Permana, executive chef of MeiMei, one of Canggu’s shining lights. “The fact there is a lot of competition is good, but a lot of places do not know the local culture, they don’t know the people and that is important.”
Yudha says that places like MeiMei that work collaboratively with local chefs and produce suppliers have the best chance of success.
This is where to go for a mere taster of the exciting world of food in Canggu.
Where to Eat in Canggu
MeiMei
It’s fitting that when you walk into MeiMei the backlit vases and wooden cabinetry along the walls create an amber glow that resembles warm embers. MeiMei is all about wood-fire cooking, a technique familiar to executive chef Yudha Permana.
“Balinese people love doing woodfire cooking at home,” Yudha says. “Twenty years ago, we had no gas, no stove and that’s my background and my speciality. At MeiMei we try to finish 70 per cent of our meals on the charcoal grill.”
You can smell the grill as you walk in the low-lit space and there is plenty of spice heat on the South-east Asian-inspired menu – a style Yudha describes as “punchy” (though a new MeiMei menu leans into more refreshing flavours).
Punchy is right up my alley, so when handpicked crab “opor” (from Central Java) on toast gives me a spicy left hook it is a great start to proceedings. Cured fish in peanut nam jim keeps me on the ropes but it is the line-caught fish of the day in Jimbaran butter and sambal matah that is the knockout.
“Our fishermen always bring us line-caught fish fresh every day so every day the fish that comes into MeiMei is different,” says Yudha. “Every single fish has a different characteristic and has a different way of cooking”
The Jimbaran butter is inspired by this regional specialty where fish is simply cooked on the beach in a mix of soy, garlic, turmeric and oil.
“Not everyone understands the woodfire,” says Yudha. “The secret is you need to make friends with the fire, you need to understand about the soul of the fire and that different charcoal and different wood all have different characteristics.”
Longtime
Located in nearby Berawa, Longtime is the work of Jordie Strybos and Pablo Fourcard, founders of Bali’s Milk and Madu groups along with Randa Assi.
Longtime has a high wooden ceiling with diners seated under a Bacchanalian triptych where women cavort with tigers while balancing glasses of wine where Kim Kardashian balanced that famous Champagne glass.
They are serious about cocktails, so when I order a Love You Later Martini, a classic concoction with just a hint of green mango, I am impressed to get a half pour with a mini ice bucket and glass carafe holding the rest of my drink. The last time I was served a tini this way was in Musso & Frank Grill, the Hollywood legend, and it is even more practical when you are in Bali’s tropical heat.
The menu is playful, so a “fillet-o-fish” is a steamed bao filled with deep-fried scallop, tartar and a slice of American cheese and a parcel of signature burrata comes swimming in Chef Tyler’s housemade chilli crisp with roti to scoop it all up with. Mains, like a rich red curry of tiger prawns, also add extra oomph with a serve of prawn head oil.
La Brisa
Entering La Brisa, an ecologically friendly beach club right on the shores of Echo Beach, it feels a bit like walking into the Lost Boys camp in Peter Pan; hammocks are strung between swaying palms, fairy lights twinkle from almost every angle and wooden balconies seem to grow out of the foliage. Look closer and you see the nautical theme: framed photos of salty old sea dogs, random wooden chests filled with seashells and fishing line and walls covered with wooden oars and fishing nets.
La Brisa means, “the breeze”, and that is just what you get on a topside table looking over the black sandy shore. Cocktails lean into the regional warmth with a Tropical Harmony proving very moreish with vodka, lemon juice, yuzu, elderflower and pineapple; a Mango Coriander Sour sees tequila, mango liqueur, passionfruit and mango juice topped with fresh coriander. Poke bowls and salads get pride of place on a menu with a healthy vibe but I opt for a dark beer-battered fish and chips with burnt lemon and bitey tartare sauce, perfect for a lost beachside afternoon.
Where to Stay in Canggu
The Cali
The Cali is a little slice Palm Beach chic in the centre of Canggu, which makes it the perfect place to base yourself to explore the restaurants and bars of the area.
The Cali villas are bleach-white, two-storey stays that channel the desert chic vibes of Coachella with breeze-block planters packed with cacti, vintage advertising prints and pink pool umbrellas.
The main bedroom is downstairs with doors opening onto the private pool with a big pink double daybed; off the bedroom is a kitchen pre-filled with drinks and snacks and a living space with coffee table art books and Swinging Sixties-inspired bean-shaped couches and poufs.
The best thing about The Cali is you step out the door and into Canggu’s food and drink playground. Turn left and you are a few minutes from Echo Beach and the party spots of Old Mans and Motel Mexicola; you can also walk to MeiMei and La Brisa, though Longtime is a bit further off so you will likely need a cab. When it comes to cafes you can’t go to wrong with The Cali’s recommendation list with classics like Revolver (get the brekky burrito), now so famous it has outlets in Bali airport.
Discover Bali
This feature was originally published in Issue 11 of Dream by Luxury Escapes. Images: Supplied.
