Bali Restaurants: Elegant French at Tapping Shoes

Above: Chandeliers at Tapping Shoes.

Lovers of Bali’s Seminyak neighborhood might have missed the fact that Potato Head Beach Club — noted for its eclectic mix of bars, shops, eateries, and entertainment — has a French restaurant on its second floor.

Called Tapping Shoes, the venue offers Japanese-tinged fine French dining in a setting of 19th-century refinement and crystal chandeliers. Its doors have been open since last year, but the restaurant’s “official” grand opening was in April.

In late May the Tapping Shoes team overtook Jakarta’s French restaurant Emilie for a few nights to let the capital’s foodies — including a few from DestinAsian — sample its fare. On the same nights Emilie also hosted French vintner Matthieu Cuvelier of the Clos Fourtet and Chateau Poujeaux estates in Bordeaux as he visited Jakarta before the big Vinexpo Asia-Pacific 2012 in Hong Kong.

As it turned out, the wines from Cuvelier’s vineyards matched beautifully with the courses prepared by Tapping Shoes, which roundly impressed despite the crew working in an unfamiliar kitchen and lacking some of their usual ingredients. Below, pics of the Tapping Shoes restaurant in Seminyak and its fare.