The Best Restaurants
in Pererenan

Bar Vera is three minutes from the villas and the restaurant we eat at most. The menu is modern European bistro cooking with clear Spanish roots, and in all our visits we have not had a bad dish.

Start with the croquetas de jamón and the pan con tomate y jamón. The beef burger, the charcoal chicken and the pork tomahawk are the mains we order again and again, and the chocolate tart is how every dinner here should end. The indoor dining room has just been enclosed and air-conditioned, and it is elegant without being formal.

Shelter is the busiest restaurant in Pererenan because the food is that good. The cooking is Mediterranean, built around a wood-fired oven and an open charcoal grill: grilled meats, wood-fired chicken and pita bread baked to order.

One of the owners is the head chef and is on site every night, which shows in the timing and the consistency. The menu is long, weekly specials keep it fresh for return visits and the desserts deserve room. The setting is a wooden joglo filled with tropical plants.

Riviera keeps the menu short and puts product quality first. The pasta is made in house and the pizzas use a dough fermented for 48 hours. The tiramisu is one of the best we have had in Bali.

The space works as a modern Italian tavern: a patio outside and a fully enclosed, air-conditioned dining room inside, which makes it our pick on humid evenings. The manager is always on the floor and the service is warm.

Origen takes Mexican food seriously. There are more than eight kinds of taco, so order three or four to share, plus a wider menu beyond them. The staff T-shirts read “Aquí se hace todo con amor” (everything here is made with love), and the kitchen backs it up.

The venue is large, with an air-conditioned room inside and a breezy terrace outside. Upstairs there is a bar that hosts Latin nights from time to time, a good place for a cocktail after dinner. The owner is usually on the floor. Leave room for the pay de limón (lemon pie) and the churros.

Pescado opened nearly eight years ago, when Pererenan was only beginning to find its identity, and Chef Rubén has cooked uncompromising Spanish food here ever since.

The paellas are the main event and come in several versions. The octopus is outstanding, the croquetas belong on every table, and if you have never tried a cachopo, this is the place to do it. The room is small, quiet and fully air-conditioned, closer to a neighbourhood restaurant than a destination. Finish with the cheesecake.

Mostly is one of the most striking restaurant spaces in Pererenan: tall timber structures, high ceilings and dramatic lighting at night.

The menu is a long Asian and Western mix, which is exactly why it works for big tables. In a group of twelve where one person wants sushi, another a steak and a third a proper vegetarian dish, everyone eats well at the same table.

Arte is where we go for Italian without the formality of Riviera. It recently moved to a new, larger and more polished venue.

The menu is broad: good pasta, pizzas you can customise, salads, sandwiches and a long dessert list. It suits a casual dinner for two as well as a bigger table, on any day of the week.