Best steakhouses in Bali: dry-aged beef and charcoal

For a steakhouse in Bali, the two addresses built entirely around beef are Aged & Butchered in Berawa, a dry-ageing steakhouse with Japanese-style grills at the table, and Akar north of Ubud, a charcoal steakhouse in the jungle. Several seafood and Mediterranean restaurants also put a serious steak on the menu, listed at the end. Every dish named here is on the venue's own current menu.

Aged & Butchered — dry-aged beef in Berawa

Aged & Butchered Bali is the island branch of the Jakarta steakhouse of the same name, run by MDA Restaurants inside The Komu hotel on Jalan Pantai Berawa. It keeps a meat library of dry-aged cuts, grills over coffee-wood charcoal, and adds Japanese yakiniku-style grills at the table, where the chefs cook in front of you. The room is moody, with a sake fountain, an extensive wine collection and an outdoor bar area.

The menu is long and reads like a butcher's chart. What stands out:

• The aged signatures: a Camembert-aged ribeye of Australian pure-bred wagyu, a Mortlach-aged bone-in wagyu ribeye, a koji-aged kainomi, and a Sendai-style wagyu tongue set.
• The classic cuts: US Prime ribeye, New York strip, bone-in striploin and filet mignon, alongside Australian wagyu picanha, Denver steak, tri-tip and onglet.
• Large cuts to share: a US Prime porterhouse, a cowboy tomahawk, and a tomahawk of orange-peel-fed Australian wagyu.
• Japanese wagyu by the cut: chateaubriand, misuji, zabuton, rib-deckle and more, plus Kobe beef from Hyogo. Nikutama is wagyu thin-sliced and served with bulgogi sauce and an onsen egg dip, and other cuts can be done the same way.
• Butcher's platters, Ichi-Ban and Ni-Ban: assorted Japanese and Australian wagyu, or dry- and wet-aged cuts, for a small table to share, with no substitutions.

Around the steak: marrow tartare and tongue pastrami skewers to start, seasonal oysters, beef-fat fries, creamed spinach, mac and cheese and grilled broccoli with a dry-aged XO sauce on the side, and a Valrhona soufflé or a "Camembert" cheesecake to finish. For guests who do not want beef there is an aged fish called Catch of Last Week, an aged Pekin duck breast and a lamb tomahawk. The menu notes that every steak is cut to order.

Aged & Butchered

Restaurants · Berawa

Aged & Butchered Bali is the island branch of the Jakarta dry-aged steakhouse of the same name, run by MDA Restaurants inside The Komu hotel in Berawa. The draw is its meat library of dry-aged cuts, grilled over coffee-wood charcoal, with Japanese yakiniku-style grills at the table where the chefs cook in front of guests. The moody, stylish room adds a sake fountain, an extensive wine collection and an outdoor bar area. An address built around the grill, for an evening of serious steak.

Go here for a meat-focused evening with friends who want to share several cuts and watch them cooked. Read more in our Aged & Butchered guide.

Akar — charcoal and jungle near Ubud

Akar, meaning "root", is the K-Club Group's steakhouse in Kedisan, Tegallalang, north of Ubud. It grills Australian and Japanese beef over charcoal in a two-floor building open to the jungle, with two bars and an open kitchen. Akar says it has won Best Luxury Steakhouse at the World Luxury Awards.

On the current menu:

• From the land: grain-fed Black Angus striploin, Australian Black Angus tenderloin, Stockyard wagyu striploin and a grass-fed hanging tender.
• Premium cuts: a Royal wagyu tenderloin and a wagyu rump cap from Australia, and a Miyazaki picanha and Miyazaki tenderloin from Japan.
• The Land Journey: a five-course steak menu for two.
• To start: charcoal-roasted bone marrow, a selection of wagyu beef tartares and a truffle wagyu carpaccio.
• On the side: coconut rice grilled in banana leaf with green sambal, brown-butter mashed potato, and truffle fries with black truffle aioli.

Akar's FAQ names its grain-fed Australian Angus OP rib as a signature. On Friday and Saturday dinner turns festive, with DJs, dancers and a laser show. Akar asks for smart casual, and singlets are not permitted for men. It welcomes children, with a kids' menu and high chairs.

Akar

Restaurants · Ubud

Akar, meaning “root”, is the steakhouse of K Club in Kedisan, Tegallalang, north of Ubud, set in the greenery of the jungle. Spread over two floors with two bars and an open kitchen, it grills Australian and Japanese cuts, Wagyu included, over charcoal, alongside seafood, charcoal-roasted bone marrow and a curated wine list. On Friday and Saturday nights dinner turns festive, with live DJs, dancers and a laser show. Akar has won Best Luxury Steakhouse in Indonesia at the World Luxury Restaurant Awards.

Go here for steak as an occasion: a long drive, a jungle setting, and either a quiet weeknight or a show at the weekend. Our Akar guide covers the rest.

Aged & Butchered or Akar?

• Aged & Butchered if the beef is the point: the widest choice of aged and Japanese cuts, grills at the table, and Berawa's restaurants and bars around it.
• Akar if the setting matters as much: charcoal, the jungle, a romantic dinner menu, and an evening that turns into a show on Friday and Saturday.

A good steak on another kind of menu

These restaurants are not steakhouses, but their official menus give steak a real place — useful when half the table wants fish.

• Sardine, Seminyak: a charcoal-grilled Australian Black Angus tenderloin, and a Tokusen wagyu tomahawk for two on the sharing menu, next to the seafood.
• Ina Ré, Canggu: wood-fired grilled meats, including the Stockyard tomahawk, beside paellas and ceviches.
• El Kabron, Uluwatu: its oceanfront Mediterranean restaurant lists steak alongside seafood, oysters and paella, with the sunset in front.

Sardine

Restaurants · Seminyak

Sardine by K-Club is a seafood restaurant on Jalan Petitenget in Seminyak, set in an open-air bamboo building that looks over a stretch of rice paddies, with a terrace for lunch or dinner. The kitchen cooks the daily catch (yellowfin tuna, scallops, snapper) in a modern Mediterranean style, with vegetables from its own farms and a vegetarian set menu. Evenings can run late: Les Toilettes, the hidden club on site, hosts DJs, and once a month The Gates of Bali brings fire dancers and aerial acts.

Ina Ré

Restaurants · Canggu

Ina Ré is the restaurant of Desa Kitsuné, the lifestyle village on Jalan Munduk Catu in Canggu. Chilean executive chef Cristian Encina brings together Mediterranean flavours and Latin American street food: paellas to share, ceviches, tacos, empanadas and wood-fired meats such as the Stockyard tomahawk. The space draws on Balinese arts and crafts, with handmade materials, weavings and traditional motifs, and includes private dining rooms for groups. Sunday brunch has its own menu, and so do Courtyard Saturdays.

El Kabron

Beach clubs · Uluwatu

El Kabron stands on the limestone cliffs of Pecatu in Uluwatu, above the Indian Ocean, and has been open since 2011. It has three parts: the Hedonism Lounge, an adults-only infinity-pool area with daybeds and sofas; the Sunset Theater at the cliff edge, set up for sunset dinners; and a Mediterranean restaurant serving seafood, oysters, paella and steak. Its sunset parties bring DJs with live saxophone, violin and trumpet, with the White Sunset Party, the Afro House Sunset Party and pool parties among the weekly regulars.

Booking a steak dinner

Book ahead for Friday and Saturday at both steakhouses, and say if you want something specific — a table at the grill, a private room, the five-course menu for two. Tell the concierge the date, the number of guests and any dietary needs. We ask the restaurant on your behalf; the table is yours once the venue confirms it, and prices come from the restaurant, never from us.

Read next: Bali's seafood restaurants, a romantic dinner in Bali and Berawa's restaurants.