MOI Bali: Aegean dinner and late nights in Berawa

MOI is a Mediterranean restaurant on Jalan Pantai Berawa, in the Berawa part of Canggu. It takes its inspiration from the Aegean and from Bodrum, on the Turkish coast, where its sister address, MOI Bodrum, sits. The idea is a long dinner of mezze, seafood and fire-cooked dishes — and then, once the sun has gone down, a room that turns into a party.

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.

What MOI is

MOI describes itself as "born from the soul of Bodrum": a dinner meant to be lingered over, where a table becomes a gathering. Its own menu, headed "where the Aegean meets soul", puts it more simply — good food, sea breeze and long nights: simple, fresh and made to enjoy. The cocktails draw on sun-warmed botanicals. After sunset the mood shifts and the evening turns into a party, which makes MOI one of Berawa's dinner-and-party addresses.

What the kitchen does

The kitchen works with fire and Mediterranean flavours, with an Aegean and Turkish accent. Its current menu makes a point of what is not written down: in the evening, part of the meal is chosen directly from the mezze and seafood displays. Bread comes first — homemade focaccia and grilled sourdough with an Aegean tapenade.

From the current menu:

• From the display: hummus, muhammara, tzatziki, dolma, melitzano salata, smoked bonito and baby artichokes in olive oil.
• Cold starters: oysters, sea bream crudo, salmon pastrami, Wagyu pastrami and Wagyu tartare.
• Hot starters: seafood fritto misto, butter rock shrimp and MOI's meatballs.
• Pasta: truffle tagliolini, lobster linguine and a seafood orzo.
• Mains: slow-cooked lamb shoulder, Wagyu shashlik, rib-eye and tenderloin.
• Salads: an Anatolian salad, a Greek salad and a beetroot salad.

It is a menu built for a table that shares: a spread of mezze in the middle, one or two mains, and a long evening.

The evening format

MOI is a dinner first, and the dinner becomes the party: after sunset the venue says it "awakens into something else entirely". Its own events list announces party nights with guest DJs, and themed nights have included Monday Society and Bazaar MOI, an Eastern Mediterranean dinner spectacle with dancers and costumes. The programme moves, so the venue does not publish a fixed weekly calendar on its site — the concierge checks what is on for your date. You can also look at the events page.

If you want a quieter dinner, book earlier in the evening; if you want the party, book later and stay.

How to book a table

MOI takes reservations, and a table booked ahead is the way to plan a party night there. Tell the FirstBali concierge your date, the number of guests, and whether you are coming for dinner, the party or both. We ask the venue on your behalf and pass on its answer, including any minimum spend or deposit it sets for that night. The table is yours once MOI confirms it.

For a birthday or a group, say so when you ask: it changes which table the venue proposes. Our birthday guide covers the rest.

What to wear

MOI does not publish a dress code. It is a dinner that turns into a night out, so dress for both: smart, comfortable, nothing you would wear to the beach. If you are going on to a club afterwards, check its door rules before you leave the villa.

Getting there

MOI is on Jalan Pantai Berawa, in Tibubeneng, the road that runs down to Berawa beach — the same road as BELLA, Finns and The Shady Pig, which makes it easy to build a whole evening in one place. The road gets busy towards sunset. A driver who waits is the easiest way to get there and home; ask for one in the same request.

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.

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.

Before or after

Berawa is compact enough to start or finish elsewhere: a sunset at Finns, a cocktail behind the unmarked door at The Shady Pig, or a second dinner-party next door at BELLA on another night. Our Berawa restaurants guide lays out the street.

Read next: BELLA, the other Mediterranean party dinner in Berawa, where to eat in Berawa, Canggu nightlife, area by area and how table booking works in Bali.