Zai Cafe Bali: Mediterranean breakfast to dinner in Canggu

Zai Cafe is a modern Mediterranean and Middle Eastern restaurant on Jalan Pantai Batu Bolong in Canggu, open every day from breakfast through dinner. Mornings mean flatbreads, shakshuka, bowls and dips such as hummus, beetroot hummus, babaganoush and tzatziki; evenings turn to grills, octopus with harissa and orzo, and grilled prawns with a sweet passion fruit sauce. Each week has its rhythm: matcha on Mondays, a DJ on Fridays. FirstBali asks for a table through the concierge.

Zai Cafe

Restaurants · Canggu

Zai Cafe is a modern Mediterranean and Middle Eastern restaurant on Jalan Pantai Batu Bolong in Canggu, serving from breakfast through dinner. Mornings bring flatbreads, a Greek salad with homemade feta, bowls and dips such as hummus, beetroot hummus, babaganoush and tzatziki. In the evening the menu turns to dishes like octopus with harissa and orzo, or grilled prawns with a sweet passion fruit sauce. Ceremonial matcha goes into drinks and desserts, and on Fridays a DJ sets the mood.

What kind of place it is

Zai calls its kitchen "modern Mediterranean & Middle Eastern cuisine", and it works as two restaurants in one: a breakfast café and a dinner table, each with its own menu. It sits on Jalan Pantai Batu Bolong, the road named after Batu Bolong beach, which makes it an easy stop before the beach in the morning or before a night out in the evening. The same road is home to Regent Bali Canggu, if you want to compare a café dinner with a resort one.

Breakfast

The breakfast menu leans on eggs, dips and bread, with a few sweet plates for the table.

• Eggs: a classic shakshuka with oriental spices and homemade feta, a green shakshuka with tuna, broccoli and spinach, Turkish eggs with chicken meatballs and couscous, and a truffle omelette.
• Waffles and toast: a potato waffle with curried salmon and hollandaise, a courgette waffle with tuna tartare, avocado toast on multigrain sourdough with labneh, and a croissant with tuna tartare and poached eggs.
• Dips and salads: hummus, beetroot hummus, tzatziki, babaganoush, harissa and an avocado salsa; a fresh Greek salad with homemade feta; green and tuna bowls.
• Sweet: mini pancakes, a cottage cheesecake with salted caramel and pistachio, a protein waffle, oat porridge with coconut milk and mango, and a smoothie served in a pineapple.
• The big one: the Big Breakfast Zai.

Dinner

In the evening the menu widens into starters to share, grills and Middle Eastern classics.

• To start: a tuna ceviche with pistachio aioli, an octopus carpaccio with tangerine sauce, burrata with za'atar, scallops with strawberry and passion fruit, halloumi with watermelon, the signature babaganoush and a tirokafteri with feta and Kalamata olives.
• Mains: octopus with harissa and orzo, a slow-confit lamb, a beef rib with sweet potato, duck breast with mango sorbet, a plov of spiced rice and lamb, homemade fettuccine with a seafood bisque, and a truffle risotto with scallop.
• From the grill: tenderloin, grilled prawns with a sweet passion fruit sauce, salmon, and lamb or chicken lule kebab.
• Pide and shaverma: beef or tuna pide, and a lule kebab shaverma with muhammara.
• Desserts: a chocolate lava cake, a Napoleon, apple pie with soursop ice cream, kunafa with pistachios and honey, and a yoghurt panna cotta with passion fruit sorbet.

Vegetarians will find dips, salads, halloumi, burrata and grilled vegetables on both menus. If someone at the table has an allergy or a dietary need, tell the concierge when you book and it is passed on with the request.

The week at Zai

Zai gives some days a theme of their own:

• Matcha Monday: drinks and desserts made with ceremonial matcha.
• Mediterranean Friday: an evening with music from a special DJ, in Zai's words "a night that brings you closer" to the café.
• Sweet Sunday: a day built around desserts.
• Ladies Ritual: a dinner dedicated to women, with refined music, crafted cocktails and desserts. Zai announces it on its own site; ask the concierge which night it falls on during your stay.

For what else is on across the island, see what's on in Bali this weekend.

Who it suits

A long breakfast before the beach; a relaxed dinner with friends; a group of friends on a girls' night at Ladies Ritual; or a Friday dinner with a DJ before heading out in Canggu — see Canggu nightlife for what comes after.

How FirstBali books it

Tell the concierge the day, breakfast or dinner, and how many you are. FirstBali asks Zai Cafe and passes on its answer; the table is yours once the venue confirms it. If you are flexible on the night, say so, and you choose from what the café can offer. Our assistant replies at any hour; the team picks up through the Bali day and evening. Canggu's roads are busy in the evening, so a driver for the way back can be added to the same request.

Read next: Canggu restaurants, Sunday brunch in Bali and planning a hen party in Bali.