Bali’s Best Restaurants 2017 Announced

The NOW! Bali Best Restaurant, Bar & Café Awards 2017 came to an official close at the competition’s official Gala Night on Thursday, 5 October 2017. The winners of this 2-month long online campaign were finally announced, setting the new title holders for Bali’s best dining establishments in the coming year. 

Started over 4 years ago, the Bali Best Restaurant Bar & Café Awards (BRBCA) was launched to fill a large gap; the island’s restaurant and bar scene was growing quickly with no one singling out the best of them in a fair, transparent manner. So we at NOW! Bali launched an open platform allowing any legitimate restaurant to join and any guest or diner to vote freely for their favourite establishments – this is to avoid any bias in the resulsts, leaving real guests to decide. Now matured, the awards are a trusted source, both for the industry and consumers. The awards are split into three sections:

The Readers Choice Awards is an online competition (best.nowbali.co.id) where venues register in specific categories (e.g. Best Café, Best Fine Dining Restaurant, Best Sports Bar, etc) and fight to win the votes of guests and diners. 

The Editor’s Choice Awards sees NOW! Bali Magazine’s editor handpick 6 venues noted for unique traits and triumphs that patrons will love or find particularly interesting. 

Finally, the Industry Choice Awards, where 100 selected food and beverage experts and professionals choose for their top 3 venues in Bali. Results are then weighted (first choice, 3 points; second choice, 2 points; third choice 1 point) and the venue with the largest amount of points wins, with first, second and third place being announced. 

BRBCA 2017

This year, both the Bali and Jakarta BRBCA competitions had the strong support of American Express, dubbed the official card of the BRBCA. With that, in Bali 175 establishments joined the Readers Choice Awards, competing in one of 18 different titles/categories. The campaign garnered over 70,000 live votes and over 1,000,000 page views on the voting website. It was an electric race to the finish.

New in 2017 are the Sustainable Restaurant Awards, this is NOW! Bali’s initiative to reward venues making a conscious effort in creating a business that is environmentally friendly – a growing need on the island. For this, we partnered with 2 eco companies, Avani and Eco-Bali Recycling, to give their professional input. 

The Gala Night

The BRBCA always ends in a glamorous Gala Night, where the winners are announced on stage during a full night of food, drinks and entertainment.

This year’s Gala Night was held at the Mangupura Hall of the Bali International Convention Centre, hosting 270 prestigious guests from Bali’s food and beverage community. Warm welcomes were given by NOW! Publisher, Mr. Alistair Speirs; the General Manager of the Westin Resort Nus Dua, Mr. Bipan Kapur; and guest presenter for the evening, Mrs. Wina Bisset, a celebrated Indonesian cookbook writer based out of Jakarta. Guests enjoyed a three-course dinner prepared by resident Executive Chef Manoj Rawat, and many libations from Stark Beer, Plaga Wine, Emporium Gin, Iceland Vodka and a special Nitro Martini from Bootstrap Coffee. 

Of course the focus of the evening was the announcement of the winners and runners up, who received their distinguished trophy plates, made by leading tableware company Royal Doulton. Between awards and dinner, guests enjoyed entertainment by the El Salvadore Band and a unique dance called “Mie and You”, an original piece by group Kita Poleng inspired by Indonesia’s “mie ayam”. The event could not have been possible without the support of Focus Productions and AVB Media. 

To finish, NOW! Publisher Mr. Alistair Speirs announced the start of a brand new platform called NOW! Eat, a directory of Bali’s top restaurants, which he informed all guests that everyone’s businesses would be invited to take part in this new online venture. Thus, another year of the Bali Best Restaurant Bar and Café Awards finishes, before the campaign begins again next July 2018 for winners to hold their titles and newcomers to fight up the Bali F&B ladder.

THE WINNERS OF BALI BRBCA 2017 ARE AS FOLLOWS:

All results can be seen www.best.nowbali.co.id with full addresses and contact numbers

READER’S CHOICE

BEST FINE DINING RESTAURANT

1^st Kubu Restaurant
2^nd Restaurant : Kayuputi Restaurant
3^rd Copper Kitchen & Bar

BEST FRENCH RESTAURANT 

1^st Ju-Ma-Na
2^nd Métis 
3^rd SIP Wine Bar

BEST ITALIAN RESTAURANT

1^st  : Cucina
2^nd Prego Italian Restaurant
3^rd Da Maria

BEST SPANISH RESTAURANT 

1^st La Finca
2^nd Breezes Tapas Lounge and Bar
3^rd Velada Tapas Bar & Kitchen

BEST MEDITERRANEAN RESTAURANT

1^st Soleil
2^nd The Pool Cafe & Bar
3^rd Sands Restaurant

BEST MEXICAN AND LATIN RESTAURANT

1^st Unique Rooftop Bar & Restaurant
2^nd What the Truck!
3^rd Motel Mexico

BEST INTERNATIONAL RESTAURANT 

1^st Tamarind Mediterranean Brasserie
2^nd The Restaurant
3^rd  Sateria Beachside Restaurant

BEST PAN-ASIAN RESTAURANT

1^st Kwee Zeen
2^ndThe Tao Bali
3^rd Ginger Moon Canteen

BEST BALINESE/INDONESIAN RESTAURANT

1^st Bale Agung
2^nd Raja’s Balinese Restaurant
3^rd Bejana Indonesian Restaurant

BEST JAPANESE RESTAURANT

1^st Ji at Bale Sutra & Ji Terrace by the Beach
2^nd One Eyed Jack Bali
3^rd Hamabe Japanese Restaurant

BEST CHINESE RESTAURANT

1^st Ah Yat Abalone & Seafood Restaurant
2^nd Chopstick Chinese Restaurant
3^rdGolden Monkey

BEST INDIAN RESTAURANT

1^st Queen’s of India
2^nd Queen’s Tandoor
3^rdBumbu Delhi

BEST STEAK AND GRILL RESTAURANT

1^st Wahaha Restaurant
2^nd Dava
3^rd Hog Wild with Chef Bruno

BEST VEGAN/VEGETARIAN
RESTAURANT

1^st  Kafe Ubud
2^nd Alchemy
3^rd  Herb Library by Alaya Resort Jembawan

BEST BEACH CLUB

1^st Sakala Beach Club
2^nd Sunset On Seminyak (S.O.S), Anantara Seminyak Bali Resort
3^rd S.K.A.I. Beach Club, Padma Resort Legian

BEST CAFE

1^st The Harbour Cook & Brew
2^nd Folk Pool & Gardens
3^rd Mövenpick Café

BEST COCKTAIL AND WINE LOUNGE

1^st Above Rooftop, Lounge & Bar
2^nd  The 18^th Rooftop Bar
3^rd  Frestro & Bar

BEST PUB AND SPORTS BAR

1^st Nu Lazer
2^nd The Best Brew
3^rd Centerstage

EDITOR’S CHOICE

CASCADES RESTAURANT Viceroy Bali – Outstanding Kitchen Collaboration
RU YI CHINESE RESTAURANT Awarta Nusa Dua Luxury Villas & Spa – Intimate Oriental Setting
THE SAYAN HOUSE Excellent Fusion
BLOW BAR BALI Original Concept
SUNDARA Four Seasons Resort Bali at Jimbaran Bay – Inspiring Mixology
BIKINI RESTAURANT BALI Innovative Food Creation

INDUSTRY’S CHOICE

1^st Locavore
2^nd Cuca
3^rd Mamasanw

MOST SUSTAINABLE RESTAURANT

BALI BUDA
SEASALT, Alila Seminyak Bali

NOW! Jakarta

The article is produced by editorial team of NOW!Jakarta