BELLA Canggu: wood-fired dinner that turns into a party

BELLA is a contemporary Mediterranean and Middle Eastern restaurant on Jalan Pantai Berawa, in Canggu, run by The SEN Group. The kitchen cooks a wood-fired menu made for sharing, the room is built around an open kitchen, a long bar and a DJ booth, and every night dinner turns into a party. Mondays belong to Taverna: mezze on the table, music, and plates smashed on the floor.

BELLA

Restaurants · Berawa

BELLA is a contemporary Mediterranean and Middle Eastern restaurant on Jalan Pantai Berawa, run by The SEN Group. Executive chef Oğuz Karadoğan, formerly of Lokanta 1741 in Istanbul, cooks a wood-fired menu made for sharing: lamb meatballs in rich tomato sauce with Hokkaido bread, a Mediterranean ceviche of seabass, kefir and gremolata, a whole roasted cauliflower with tahini. The room is built around an open kitchen, a long bar and a DJ booth, and the evening turns into a party, with weekly Taverna nights and Kitchen Party.

What BELLA is

BELLA describes itself as the place "where exceptional dining naturally evolves into unforgettable evenings". It is owned and run by The SEN Group, which presents itself as a European creator of nightlife experiences; its sister restaurant, SEN, is in Warsaw. The name, the restaurant says, comes from a beautiful woman everyone is in awe of — young, energetic and full of life.

The room was designed by Europe-based designer Kinga Mostowik and is full of commissioned artwork. It is laid out to build energy from every side: the open kitchen in the middle, the bar running along to the corners, the DJ area at the back, and Parisian-style seating facing the street at the front.

What the kitchen does

Executive chef Oğuz Karadoğan worked at Lokanta 1741 in Istanbul — recommended in the Michelin Guide 2023, BELLA notes — and before that at Aheste in Istanbul and Kurkcu Dukkani in Izmir. His menu at BELLA is billed as "wood-fired soul food". From the current menu:

• The basics: BELLA's house bread with za'atar butter, hummus with crispy spiced chickpeas, hand-chopped babaghanoush with spiced butter, a new-style tzatziki and Spanish anchovies on grated tomato.
• Small plates: the signature potato and caviar with truffled yogurt; a whole roasted cauliflower with tahini, miso and coriander gremolata; a Mediterranean ceviche of seabass with kefir and gremolata; dry-aged steak tartare; balsamic-glazed octopus; and grandma-style shrimp dumplings with thick yogurt and tomato sofrito.
• Wood-fired: Papuan prawns on creamy orzo, champagne chicken with morels, lamb meatballs in a rich tomato sauce with Hokkaido bread, a hand-chopped Wagyu shish kebab with tomato foam and tahini, and slow-cooked lamb shank with za'atar.
• Desserts: baklava with Sicilian pistachio gelato, Turkish coffee tiramisu and a Basque cheesecake.

The cocktail list mixes classics with house creations: "It Was All a Dream", created by the head mixologist at SEN in Warsaw and served with Prosecco on the side; Geisha, a sweet sake-based drink; and a Kopi Martini made with Balinese coffee. The wine list, by the glass and the bottle, comes from wineries across Europe and celebrates classic winemakers alongside newer biodynamic and organic ones. The restaurant's sommelier helps with pairings.

The evening format

From Monday to Sunday, BELLA turns into a high-energy dinner: the lights go down, the restaurant becomes a dance hall, and you can dance after — or during — dinner, with resident and guest DJs. The nights the restaurant itself lists:

• Taverna Late Night, every Monday. "Dinner first. Party after." Order a main and the kitchen surprises the table with a spread of its signature mezze — hummus, babaghanoush, tzatziki, muhammara, spinach borani, tabbouleh, pickles and stracciatella. Live oriental music sets the tone over dinner, then the plates are smashed, the crowd rises and the DJ moves into a high-energy set.
• Bella Wednesday, a weekly DJ night.
• Kitchen Party, which BELLA lists among its regular nights.

The line-up changes every week; ask the concierge what is on for your date, or check the events page.

How to book a table

BELLA opens for dinner every night of the week, and Taverna Mondays are the night to book ahead. Tell the FirstBali concierge your date, the number of guests and whether you want to be close to the action or at a quieter table. We ask BELLA on your behalf; the table is yours once the venue confirms it. For a group, the whole restaurant can be hired privately — say so in the same request.

What to wear

BELLA does not publish a dress code. Dress for a dinner that ends on the dance floor: smart, comfortable shoes you can dance in, nothing that belongs on the beach.

Getting there

BELLA is on Jalan Pantai Berawa, the road down to Berawa beach — the same road as MOI, Finns and The Shady Pig. The road gets busy towards sunset; leave earlier than you think, and have a driver wait for the way home.

Moi

Restaurants · Berawa

MOI Canggu is a Mediterranean restaurant on Jalan Pantai Berawa, inspired by the Aegean and by Bodrum, home of its sister address MOI Bodrum. The kitchen works with fire and Mediterranean flavours, for dinners meant to be lingered over, and the cocktails draw on sun-warmed botanicals. After sunset the mood shifts and the evening turns into a party. Themed nights include Monday Society and Bazaar MOI, an Eastern Mediterranean dinner spectacle with dancers and costumes.

The Shady Pig

Bars · Berawa

The Shady Pig is a speakeasy on Jalan Pantai Berawa and the original bar of The Shady Family, the group behind The Shady Fox, The Shady Flamingo and The Shady Bunny. The theme is 1920s Birmingham bootleggers: the bar hides behind an unmarked door, and you need the password to get in. Cocktails lean experimental, using distillation, barrel ageing and fermentation, from the Shelby to a barrel-aged Negroni. Small plates, pinchos and sandwiches come with the drinks, and DJs take over later in the night.

Read next: MOI, the Aegean party dinner on the same road, where to eat in Berawa, Canggu nightlife, area by area and a birthday in Bali.