Flame-grilled seafood and prime cuts with a creative pan-Asian twist beckon here, as do fiery ocean sunsets.
Akasa’s Japanese-inspired lamb rack with yakiniku sauce. (All photos courtesy of Jumeirah Bali)
The Uluwatu area on southern Bali’s Bukit Peninsula has no shortage of fine restaurants for visiting gourmands, not least the newest addition to the culinary lineup at Jumeirah Bali. The hillside resort recently opened a signature restaurant, Akasa, on its uppermost level, where patrons can enjoy sundowners and an alfresco dinner on the terrace overlooking the Indian Ocean, or take their meals in an elegant dining room.
Akasa’s Asian-fusion menu was created by chef Joan Achour, who relocated to Indonesia from Jumeirah Maldives; her globe-trotting career thus far has included a stint at one-Michelin-starred Italian venue Il Carpaccio in Paris’s Hôtel Le Royal Monceau. Achour drew inspiration from the rich, smoky flavors of Bali as well as Thai, Japanese, and Korean cuisine. The menu focuses on dishes that are ideal for sharing: expect to see starters of wood-fired veal katsu and a crudo selection that includes flame-grilled tuna tartare with Timut pepper from Nepal. Other appetizers include grilled Jimbaran prawn, charcoal wagyu beef salad and fresh oysters, and various robatayaki.
Firepits and front-seat views of the Indian Ocean surf await at the restaurant’s outdoor terrace.
An appetizer of wood-fired veal katsu.
Entrées range from chili-marinated spring chicken and giant blue river prawns with mango and passion fruit to local seabass cooked in banana leaf with freshly grated coconut, turmeric, mustard seed, and lemongrass. Carnivores will want to try mains such as lamb rack slathered in a yakiniku sauce and premium T-bone and tomahawk steaks served with a choice of sides and condiments. Guests can even customize their pepper sauce by choosing from a selection of peppercorn varietals sourced from places like Indonesia’s Lampung province and the Vietnamese island of Phu Quoc.
Desserts, meanwhile, spotlight local ingredients and French cooking techniques: think pandan crème brûlée with homemade kaya jam, pain perdu, and ice cream flavors that venture beyond the usual suspects to tickle the palate with ginger and sesame. Patrons also have the chance to taste a number of signature dishes by booking the Chef’s Table experience — a set menu featuring seaweed foie gras, lobster ravioli, chicken ballotine with truffle jus, and a selection of cheeses and desserts. As for the drinks list, there’s an array of craft cocktails and fine wines from the underground cellar, which is accessible via a glass elevator. Akasa at Jumeirah Bali is open Tuesdays to Sundays from 5–11 p.m.
Inside the main dining room at Akasa.
The New Age Colada, one of Akasa’s signature cocktails.
