The Shady Pig Bali: the Berawa speakeasy explained

The Shady Pig is a speakeasy on Jalan Pantai Berawa, in the Berawa part of Canggu. It hides behind an unmarked door, you need the password to get in, and inside it plays the Birmingham bootleggers of the 1920s: craft spirits and experimental cocktails, with small plates alongside and DJs later in the night. It is the original bar of The Shady Family, and FirstBali books a table there through the concierge.

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.

What The Shady Pig is

The bar calls itself "an experimental sipping lounge like no other". The story behind it is told in its menu: a family of bootleggers in Birmingham who built a secret lounge inside their contraband laboratory and opened it to a select crowd of spirit lovers. That is the room you walk into — a hidden world, as the bar puts it, "reserved for those who crave something extraordinary".

The Shady Pig is the first bar of The Shady Family, the group behind The Shady Fox in Pererenan, The Shady Flamingo in Petitenget and The Shady Bunny, each themed on a different era. The group also lists a second Shady Pig in Uluwatu; this guide is about the original on Jalan Pantai Berawa.

Getting in: the door and the password

There is no sign over the door. Finding it is part of the game, and so is the password: without it, you do not get in. The bar does not print the password on its website, and we do not either. If you book through FirstBali, ask the concierge how the door works on your night when you send the request.

The cocktails

The bar's line is that its bartenders have "thrown out the traditional rulebook". Its menu explains the method: the team makes its own spirits, tinctures, syrups, mixers and garnishes, using distillation, infusion, barrel-ageing, fat-washing and fermentation. The point, they add, is not the technique but what ends up in the glass.

The four drinks the bar puts forward on its own page:

• Shelby: cognac, Campari and Cinzano Rosso.
• The Chester: whisky, port wine, distilled cherry, aromatic bitters and smoked cinnamon.
• Barrel-aged Negroni: gin, Campari and vermouth, rested in oak.
• Sexy Colada: rum, pineapple, coconut and whey.

The menu book linked from that page is written in chapters, like a story. There are the house originals, a tea-infused "world tour" in honour of British tea, clarified cocktails, savoury drinks for those who like to explore, and The Shady Family's classics, which the group serves the same way at each of its bars. A "high rollers" page uses prestige spirits, and the barrel-aged cocktails are matured in oak barrels before they reach you, some sold by the bottle as well as by the glass. Beyond the cocktails come a long list of spirits — vodka, gin, tequila and mezcal, Scotch and Japanese whisky, bourbon, rye, cognac and rum — and a short wine and champagne list. Menus change: if one drink is the reason you are going, ask the concierge to check it is still on.

Food and the night

The Shady Pig is a bar first, but you do not drink on an empty stomach: small plates, pinchos and sandwiches come with the drinks, and the bar shows off its crispy signature bites. Later in the night the mood shifts and DJs take over, so the same table can do a quiet first round and a louder last one.

That makes it an easy part of a Berawa evening. Many people come after dinner on the same road — BELLA and MOI are both on Jalan Pantai Berawa — or after a sunset at Finns.

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.

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.

Finns Beach Club

Beach clubs · Berawa

FINNS Beach Club stretches along the beachfront at Berawa, in Canggu, under a bamboo structure designed by PBM Architecture. It is adults-only and divided into several party zones, from FINNS Beach Party and FINNS Garden Party to FINNS Grey Goose Party and FINNS VIP Party, with pools, swim-up bars, private cabanas, dance floors and restaurants spread across the site. Resident DJs and live singers keep an all-day party going every day, and the club also hosts private events, birthdays and corporate groups.

Dress code and age

The Shady Pig publishes no dress code and no age rule. It is a cocktail lounge rather than a beach bar, so most people dress for a night out rather than for the sand. If anyone in your group is under twenty-one, ask the concierge before you go. For door rules across Bali, read the Bali club dress code.

When to book

The bar takes reservations. A table is worth asking for at the weekend, for a group, or for a special occasion such as a birthday or a stag or hen night. On a quiet weeknight you have more choice; on a special-event night, ask as soon as it is announced. If you are flexible on the night, say so — the bar answers on what it has and you choose.

Getting there

The Shady Pig is on Jalan Pantai Berawa, the road that runs down to Berawa beach in Canggu, on the west coast — the same road as Finns, BELLA and MOI. The road is busy in the evening, and the door is easy to miss, so a driver who drops you at it and waits is the simplest plan; see our cars or add one to the same request.

How FirstBali books it

Tell the concierge your date, how many you are, and whether the bar is the main event or the end of a dinner elsewhere. We ask The Shady Pig on your behalf and pass on what the bar answers; the table is yours once the bar confirms it.

Read next: where to eat in Berawa and Canggu, Canggu nightlife, area by area, MOI in Berawa and a bachelor party in Bali.