Chandi Restaurant, Seminyak Bali - Review

Location: Seminyak, Bali
Cuisine: Pan-Asian/Indonesian
Price: ££
Value for Money: 5/5
Overall: 5/5
Perfect for: Classy interiors, relaxed dining, happy hour cocktails

Chandi restaurant is a calm oasis located in the bustling neighbourhood of Seminyak.

Established in 2008, Chandi has become a well known, Pan-Asian restaurant which is popular with locals and tourists alike.

The Decor

Chandi is a classy restaurant with a relaxed vibe which is fitting for its location. There is a glamorous bar with sprawling bas-relief light sculpture adorning the wall behind the bar, which immediately catches your attention as you walk in. At the front of the restaurant there is an outdoor style dining space with bar style seating that looks out onto the street.

The high-ceilings, open air dining feel lends a relaxed but chic style to the restaurant and makes it a beautiful space to spend a few hours in.

The Menu

The menu at Chandi primarily showcases local Indonesian dishes which are created with sustainably-sourced local produce.

Although the restaurant markets itself as a Pan-Asian restaurant, the majority of the dishes are inspired by Indonesian cuisine, and these are the ones that you’d want to try.

The menu is large and varied, and there are multiple starters, mains and desserts to choose from, including various vegetarian options too.

We dined here for dinner and ordered from the a la carte menu, which had quite a few dishes we were eager to try.

To start, we ordered fragrant Balinese chicken sisit, which consisted of delicious shredded chicken breast, ginger flower, and lemongrass. This was a great start to our meal, and it was evident that the meal was fresh and of a high quality as it was full of flavour

We then moved on to try the highly recommended Balinese crispy duck served with Chinese water spinach, yellow rice, sambal matah. This is a popular dish in Bali and he had tried it a few times, and this was definitely one of the best ones. The side dishes of yellow rice and mildly spicy sambal matah really elevated the dish.

Chandi restaurant have an impressive sate selection too, and we decided to try the

Chicken sate, which arrived on a sizzling hot stone with chicken breast, chicken lilit, pineapple and rice. This was a fantastically flavourful and fun dish too, as the hot stone was still cooking the chicken so the onus was on us not to let it overcook!

We couldn’t leave without trying the dessert, so I ordered the salted butter caramel onde onde as well as the roasted cashew nut baklava with ice cream. Both dishes were very enjoyable, and thankfully not to large a portion size, so we were able to easily finish it.

As well as the a la carte menu which we dined from, there are also various set menus for diners to choose from, including Chef’s tasting menus such as the Ceremonial Tasting, Duck Betutu and Chandi Shellfish tasting too.

Cocktails

We also tried a few cocktails over dinner at Chandi restaurant, as they same really highly recommended.

My favourites were the chilli cucumber basil cooler, which had a little bit of a kick to it, as well as the pomelo pomegranate gin gin, which made for easy drinking.

The menu also includes classics such as the Pina Colada and Espresso Martini. Best of all, there is a popular Happy Hour, which runs daily from 12 noon until 6pm, and it includes some starters/sharing plates too.

The Price

I found the prices at Chandi restaurant very reasonable for the quality of food served. Starters cost approximately 60K IDR (£3.50) and main courses are approximately 200K IDR (£11). This is fantastic value for money and certainly worth a try.

Sustainability

Chandi appeals to the healthy and organic eating trend which is popular in this part of Bali, as all the fresh ingredients they use are grown organically and locally sourced from Bedugul farmers.

They also only use the highest quality meat available, which means diners can be sure they won’t suffer from Bali belly by eating here.