Bali Bistro

dont ask what is excellent about the place, but what is NOT BAD. As someone familair with this intricate cuisine, the food skirts all Indonesian aspects and Sichaunizes everything. The prawns were watery, the rendang too light, the gado to less peanutty and too sweet. Gout out, First and last visit. They do well anyway. For what do Shanghainese know of this complex cuisine?! Nice location so must be pulling in unsuspecting, dull crowds

Bali Bistro,

What a disappointment, we went with a group of 6 guys on sunday for a quick bite, arriving at 12:30 and receiving our food at 1:45 pm. we ordered all the same dishes and we get all different sizes portions and presentation. the staff just laughing and not carrying at all. no manager to talk to.
we where upset , sitting at the first floor look in to the Kitchen and seeing the kitchen staff smoking inside the kitchen, WTF happened with this restaurant, we just loved to go there every week but last couple weeks food get worse taste not same and service is just terrible.

I want to retract my previous review. Haven't been there since last summer, had the chance to go to Indonesia since then - but before that had tried many of the Malaysian versions of the dish so my tastes haven't changed that much.

I'm not saying the food was bad, but it was a terrible disappointment from previous visits. The Beef Rendang was not red, spicy or tasty. It was more like stewed beef you'd get at a Dongbei place. An egg plant dish we've loved in the past was really lacking as well. After the Rendang I had to ask the server if we were given the correct dish and we were told they've changed chef. Well it really shows, and we won't be returning when we want a taste of Malaysian/Indonesian flavour.

After reading the reviews here 3 days ago, my boyfriend and I decided to have lunch at Bali Bistro today. The location is strategic, plus they have a big sign infront of the building.
I really liked the room decoration, it made me feel like home :)

After a few minutes debating about what to order, we decided to have the Soto ayam, Tahu isi, Ayam penyet and Tumis kangkung and I also ordered Es cendol for old time sake :D

Soto ayam is Indonesian version of Chicken soup with glass noodle, cabbage, bean sprout along with celery, fried shallot and belinjo crackers on top. They put the chili sauce and a slice of lime on the side (if you love spicy, then this sauce/sambal is definitely for you!)
We had to ask for additional salt because the soup was lack of it.

Tumis kangkung is basically sauted morning glory with garlic, I would say that I could cook better of this dish because it did not taste or look like how it supposed to be. They were lacking of garlic , shallot and chili (chopped chili) plus they put more stems then the leaves. But I still loved it anyway since its one of my favorite veggies.

The Ayam penyet was actually the highlight of all. It was the bomb! and by that I meant it was so spicy that I had to keep on drinking my Es cendol (which was good :D )
Deep fried chicken (they marinate the chicken before hand so that the meat is tender and they dont need to fry it for a long time) with spicy sambal ( Indonesian chili sauce made from chili,shallot,garlic,salt, palm sugar and shrimp paste then ground in a traditional grinder until it forms a smooth paste or sometimes its still in chunks,, deepends on how you like it) poured all over it. They served fresh cut cabbage and cucumber on the side, they go very well with the sambal aswell.

Tahu isi is deep fried tofu in a batter with filling in it, usually they put vegetables such as carrot, cabbage, bean sprout and spring onion. But in BB, they also put prawn inside. It was lacking of some spices, but it was good enough to make my belly happy as I did not have it for almost a year.

Over all, this is the best Indonesian you could have in Shanghai. And I would come to this place again for the Spicy chicken! They should have " Spicy chicken challenge" here!!

My boyfriend and I went there on a friday night for dinner. It was our first time there and had great expectations as a friend recommended the place... The moment we went in the staff there did not bother to show us a decent table, she just pointed towards a table next to the door even the place was near empty. In the end we sat at a table next to the cashier, I sat facing the entrance of the kitchen. When it came to ordering food , we asked about certain items on the menu for further information as in whats in the dish . The waiter could not answer me one question and he looked as if he did not have a clue what the restaurant was serving at all .But the WORST was yet to come. We ordered a basket of prawncrackers for starters and I saw this waiter bringing it to the table next to us, who had just asked for the check a few moments earlier. I already had this feeling they brought the crackers to the wrong table, as they already asked for the check but that did not stop the people from that table eating it.... One of the waiters realized this like after 5 minutes or so and informed the rest of her collegues. They were debating and giggling who did the mistake and who were to bring it back over to our table. Finally one one of the moronic staff took the crackers from the other table and walked into kitchen and back as to pretend that he was changing a fresh basket for us. All I saw this idiot do was a u turn before he entered the kitchen. He was back withing 2 seconds with the same basket. I was furious when he put it on my table! I yelled at him if he was giving me food when some else touched and ate from it ! He admitted that it was the same crackers from the wrong table. The manager kept apologizing but we cancelled our whole order even though the food was just being served .We walked out of that place paying only for our drinks. My boyfriend and I were utterly digusted by the whole experience and the staff ! Don't go there unless you want recycled food on your plate !

Went there last night, not a bad place, very convenient location, tons of foreigners, decent service. Food is just okay though beef redang was better than okay. I like the fact it's round. There should be more round restaurants.

I've been there a couple of times and it's the closest thing to the original Indonesian cuisine that I miss so much after years of studying in China.

First, let's talk about the food.
My favorite：
1. Spring rolls or Lumpia Goreng there is tastily stuffed with vegetables.
2. Stuffed Tofu or Tahu Kipas/Isi where you can savor the light taste of fried tofu with vegetables and shrimp stuffings.
3. Sayur Asem (Indonesian sweet and sour soup), a spicy sweet and sour vegetarian soup filled with cabbage, corn, peanuts, turnips and flakes of hot chilies.
4. Otak Otak, a tasty fishcake grilled in banana leaves simmered with tasty homemade peanut and sweet chili sauce.
5. Sate Ayam (chicken satay) grilled to excekkebce and accompanied with rich peanut sauce.
6. Rendang (traditional spicy beef curry)
7. Nasi Goreng (traditional fried rice) topped with fried egg, along with two additional chicken satays covered in a delicate coconut sauce.
8. Nasi Campur (traditional mix yellow rice) this tasty and fragrant yellow rice is accompanied with various meats and vegetables toss, with peanuts, eggs and crackers.
9. Soto Ayam (Traditional Chicken Soup) yum yum yuuummmm.... shreads of chicken meat with rice noodle in a blend of herbs-n-broth thicken soup.
10. Sop Buntut (Ox Tail Soup)... what more can I say, this delicate oxtail served in a rich soup with a blend of traditional herbs and served with rice.
11. Fried Gurame Fish with Sambal... see picture to understand the beauty of this dish.. :)
12. Gado Gado (Traditional Salad) - a mix of vegetables, potatoe, tofu and egg simmered generously with thick-n-rich peanut sauce mix with herbs.... AAAAHHH.... my all time favorite... Good for diet sensitive ladies too :D

The extensive dinner menu provides a happy dilemma when choosing your meal and inexpensive lunch rice set dishes (ranging only from 25-38 RMB) are cause for a smile. Lunch set varieties include: Fish Curry Rice, Lamb/Beef/Beancurd n Egg/Chicken Curry Rice, fried rice/noodle, etc).

WONDERFUL!!!

The service is so so.. but the ambiance of the place is lovely, with subtle yet elegant expression of Indonesian culture here and there.... Aaaahhhh... I miss home already....

Since the location of bali bistro is close to my office, i often go there for dinner with some friends...
I love the ambiance there, especially 2nd floor... sometimes me and my friends spend more than 2 hours only for having meals and chit-chatting :-) then ended up with ordering some Indonesian sweets (Cendol, Kolak, etc)
The food is authentic, and so far... the best Indonesian resto in Shanghai.
i love their Rendang, Telor Balado, Gado-Gado, Cah KangKung, Gurami Bakar....
oh gosh... mentioning about these foods make me hungry :-(
and also, you can take FREE Indonesian magazine there (if they still have some stocks) ;-)

Do not understand the mixed reviews below - especially on the note of decorations. I thought it was a great place for a date. The decorations/atmosphere is not overdone, nice lighting and well chosen music. Downstairs was very original and went upstairs to find it startling large and well laid out.

The food was delicious. I've never been to Indonesia and I have a hunch it has been toned down a little, but really liked everything. Highly recommend the Eggplant & Chilli.

the previous reviewer (who spoke about 'gangster restaurant') must have confused the location; maybe she or he went to another place, but not to Bali Bistro. The Bistro has no fake decoration (it hardly has any decoration). It definitely has more than one sauce (possibly he/she ordered only 2 dishes with accidentally the same sauce; that can happen in the best of all places). The staff never says the the food is Balinese; in fact the food is Indonesian, not specifically Balinese. The staff never walks around talking loudly in my observation. Of course speed of service can have been a problem; that happens.

It's the worst restaurant I've ever seen. I was so disappointed.

It took 30 minutes to finally get our food. The waiter and waitress were just wandering around chatting & laughing loudly. When we talked to them, they were rude and unprofessional.

The decor looks cheep and fake. And the food was cold and oily. They just put everything with the same sauce and called it "Bali" style. The waiter put a wrong dish on our table without announcing its name and left quickly. We touched it and tried to find out what it was. The waitress suddenly showed up and said "you didn't order this", rudely. Then she took the dish quickly and walked away with it even without a "sorry".

We have nowhere to file our complain because the supervisor lady was talking even ruder. The way there were acting was like gangsters. It really scared me. To be honest, I would never step my foot into this place again.

Bali bistro is one of my favorite place to lunch with friends. The food quality is good, especially the spicy stuff. Love it. Mmm.. my female friends said that the boss/GM is handsome and warm person. I don't really care about that, i just like to go there because the place is nice and the food is good with reasonable price. My favorite is satay.. try their spicy stuff, ask 'sambal' ;)

Great for us, Indonesian who miss the home country. Love the food, the traditional drink and snack. Nicely decorated more over the VIP part. Nice price and nice hangout place. Recommended indeed!

Great food, great prices, and actual Indonesians running the place.

The decor isn't as fru-fru as Bali Laguna, but hey, if I wanted to impress someone, I wouldn't be taking them to eat cuisine so spicy it leaves sweat stains on the seat of our pants now would I??

I went here at the advice of an Indonesian friend who claimed this was the most authentic Indonesian restaurant in Shg. Overall I was quite satisfied with the quality and value but it's nothing that exceptional.

A hearty dinner can be had here for about 120 a person. Interior is nice but lacks character and the florescent lights in the dining room make it a terrible place for a date. They're also quite cheap with the heating ....everyone was wearing their winter jackets and the food got cold quickly. Had a better time at Bali Laguna ...but it's twice the price there.

Been there several times and it's getting worse and worse. Don't believe the pictures in the menu, because they have changed their style anyway. Food has been cold (of course waitress said "this is the Indonesian style", but we have ordered this food before several time). Waitress lost her interest after we had to complain. Have been there with 2 friends and they also felt it wasn't good anymore, though it was good before.

Never again!

Experience Shanghai’s most authentic Indonesian restaurant. Located in Jing An district, Bali Bistro (75 Wanhangdu Road) has a chicly Balinese-Dutch colonial décor with window booths overlooking the busy city streets. Try the Ayam Penyet (a spicy fried chicken only for the bravehearted), and the pandan jelly dessert, Es Cendol. Come at night for a romantic and adventurous date, or in the afternoon for a friendly chat over a cup of freshly brewed Sumatran coffee beans.

We were seated on the ground floor as there was a private party being held on the upper floor. Ambience was okay, well-lit but not too bright ... not dim like Batman's cave like some other places. We were pretty disappointed with the pale-looking otak-otak which seemed to have been boiled or steamed rather than barbecued over a charcoal fire. The satay and the accompanying peanut sauce was quite bland and ordinary ... I think it lacked the bite of galangal which would be impossible to locate in Shanghai anyways. Luckily the beef rendang and mutton curry more than made up for the earlier disappointments. The beef rendang was moist and each piece had fully absorbed the flavour of the rendang ... a must-try! The mutton curry base could probably have gone better with chicken but it was a welcome change from the pseudo-Jap sweetish curry that permeates all the other local curry eateries. The gado-gado was localised to suit the ingredients available here and was pretty good although the peanut sauce could have been a tad spicier.

All in all, the food was good and reasonably-priced. Ambience and service was okay. I would recommend this place to my friends.

Bali Bistro is definitely the best Indonesian Restaurant in town. There are just a few Indonesian restaurants here in Shanghai, but I found Bali Bistro to be the place where I will come again and again.

My first experience there was great. It was not just the food, but also the overall atmosphere that added to it such as the decorations (which were done in a simple yet beautiful manner) and the helpful and friendly staff, as well as the other customers. The food was done just right, not too spicy and not too mild either, it just had the right touch of spices in it.

During my frequent repeat visits there, as I was honestly impressed with the food quality – it remained just as tasty as my first time there. It is also very reasonably priced for its portions and is a great place to chat with friends and enjoy a yummy meal.

Great homecooking
After some decades of experience with Indonesian food I would not hesitate to certify that Bali Bistro is the real item. I have been there several times since it opened, and while one or the other item may not always perfect, the general experience is absolutely pleasing.
The claim by a dissatisfied customer (monyetputih) that BB serves deepfried satay is either a statistical fluke, or a deliberate misrepresentation. My satays at BB have always been fresh and delicious. (Claiming that Rijstafel is more genuine is a very odd statement. I have tested it, and know better.)
I took a group of 11 to Bali Bistro for a relaxed dinner recently and the experience was absolutely satisfying and will be repeated.

Bali Bistro is conveniently located only a short block from Jingan Temple and its metro station. The light, airy space on the second floor, simply decorated, leaves ample space for diners between tables and contributes to a laid-back feeling. The food was very good and reasonably priced and includes some Chinese as well as Indonesian selections. Typical Indonesian dishes like Gado-gado, fried Ikan (fish) and beef Rendang were all very tasty and in generous portion. Also welcome, in these days when more and more restaurants are raising their drink prices to stratospheric levels, was the very reasonable price for a large bottle of beer around 20 yuan. The waitstaff, while occasionally literally stumbling, were friendly and responsive. All in all, Bali Bistro is a comfortable experience that will leave you (and even your wallet!) feeling like you just visited its namesake.