Let me start with a little background on myself and my love for Indonesian food. From the age of 11 to the time I left London to live in Thailand, I eat as much Indonesian and Malaysian food as I possibly could due to one particular restaurant named Melati (21 Great Windmill Street) in Soho, London. In my early teens I would tag along with my Dad and his friends after work for dinner and the most common choice of getting some grub was to visit Melati. Over the years my Dad and I would hold our birthday’s, Christmas parties and even new year parties at this wonderful Indonesian restaurant nestled in London’s red light district. I then visited Bali in 2005 mainly to sample more of the food :)
I knew finding a replacement here in Bangkok was going to be very difficult, or was it? With only one Indonesian Restaurant located in Thailand (that I know of)… my quest was narrowed down to one place… Bali Restaurant.
Bali is located on Soi Ruamrudee, which runs parallel to Wireless Road, a few meters from the 7-11 store (coming from Phloenchit Road). Their number is: 0-2250-0711
In a basic, but cozy house lies the restaurant which was completely empty when we arrived. After dribbling over the photo’s of dishes such as Beef Rengdang, we ordered way to much food for the 2 of us. Here’s what we had:
Roasted chicken Indonesian style – 135฿
This was very bland, basically roasted chicken breast with peanut sauce on top.
Beef Rengdang – 180฿
Waaaaaaay to much oil! I’m surprised they couldn’t at least drain some of the oil out of the plate. The beef was tender and the sauce was very thick, not like a gravy I am used to having with Beef Rengdang (I prefer the gravy variety!).
Fried Potato and chicken Patties – 70฿ and Fried Beef with chilli – 165฿
Again, the potato patties needed patting with kitchen towel to soak some of the oil off – Rather bland and lacked flavor. The Fried beef (again with to much oil) was excellent… good combination of chilli and stringy pieces of beef.
Fried Fish with Chilli Indonesian Style – 175฿
The fish was to dry for me, but my missus gave this dish the thumbs up.
Chicken Noodles – 120฿
These reminded me of factory produced noodles (go on, imagine what they would taste like!) – Very gluey and lacked any real flavor.
Beef Satay – 90฿ Chicken Satay – 80฿ Lamb Satay – 100฿
I’m presuming they used local Thai beef as it was very chewy, the chicken a little dry while the lamb didn’t really taste of lamb?, but was the better of the 3. The peanut sauce was good, but needed a little more umph for my likening!
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I got to say, it didn’t live up to my high expectations. Perhaps if you haven’t tried Indonesian food before, you may like it and with the affordable prices, good service and a very homely atmosphere, it might be worth a shot. But for me, I won’t be going back.
All the above with fried rice (nasi goreng) and drinks came to a very reasonable 1,600b (including tip).
Unfortunately it is closed now. The owner gave leadership to his son and he changed it into a normal bar.