Dine like Balinese Royalty
Dapur Raja Balinese Rijsttafel Restaurant brings two vastly different cultures into one experience. Rijsttafel literally translates to “rice table” and is essentially Dutch tapas with Indonesian food. A bountiful number of dishes (traditionally, up to forty) are served in small portions along with rice prepared in several different ways. Rijsttafels are meant to impress with the abundant varieties of flavours, colours, textures and spice levels of the food. A far cry from the vegan and international cafes around Ubud, Dapur Raja is a unique dining experience where you can truly delve into the local cuisine.
Ambience & Amenities
Dapur Raja’s palatial dining room gives off the feeling that you’re attending a court supper hosted by the king and queen. Two majestic thrones sit in the back corner, while gold accents and ornaments sparkle throughout the room. The seating is family-style, as there are only three long tables.
You have to remove your shoes before being seated. Guests sit on the floor, but the experience was made more comfortable with cushions and a well for our feet. Before ordering, there was a traditional hand-washing ritual where the server poured warm water onto our hands from an ornate teapot.
The toilet is outside, through the black door on the back wall next to the shrine. You’ll want to take your shoes and put them on once you’re out there. The space is a roofed back alley behind the restaurant. The toilet room had a clean sitting toilet with paper, but the room was small and got stuffy quickly. A large sink is set up outside with soap and paper towels.
Menu
Dapur Raja’s menu can be intimidating as there are only three set meals with ten courses minimum. There is an a la carte menu, but guests must specifically ask for it. It’s probably the same dishes on the a la carte menu, so you should be in the mood for Balinese food when coming here. Water costs Rp. 25,000 and up for small bottles.
Click on menu pictures to enlarge
Food
We both ordered the Balinese Rijsttafel (Rp. 175,000), the most expensive and comprehensive set that Dapur Raja offers.
The meal began with the Moringa and Grilled Coconut Soup. After we finished the soup, a bowl of prawn crackers with three types of dip arrived. These crisps were not on the menu, so this seemed to be a bonus course. The flavours were chilli, sambal and sweet onion. All of the dips were tasty, but the best was the sambal, in my opinion.
The satay was arranged over a cute clay mini grill with briquettes. The briquettes were cold, so this is just for presentation. The four satays are the ones listed in the vegetarian and non-vegetarian Rijsttafel sets, which are chicken (on a lemongrass skewer), minced tuna, quail eggs, and tofu.
The other seven courses arrived on a beautiful golden and red lacquered platter. Each course contained a two-person serving, so we shared everything on this platter. The best dishes, in my opinion, were the Balinese Spiced BBQ Ribs and, surprisingly, the Tempe and Tofu in Sweet Soya Sauce.
There were two dessert courses, starting with the classic Dadar Gulung. Every tourist who is even remotely curious about the local cuisine has seen these green crepes filled with browned and sugared shredded coconut. The finishing dish was a Black Rice Pudding with Coconut Cream and Jackfruit, another local dessert you’d find on many menus around Ubud. I like chewy textures, so I enjoyed the latter dessert more.
Saturday Worthy?
Every single dish we ate at Dapur Raja tasted great. No dish tasted like filler, not even the rice. It is a hearty meal, so be sure to come hungry if you want to eat here. The price of the set is also impressive for how much food we got. RM50 for an eleven-course meal is a steal. There’s no way we could get that much quality food for that price in Kuala Lumpur. Dapur Raja is the place for anyone who wants to fully sample local Indonesian cuisine, and do it style.
Price for 2 Pax: Rp 519,800
Balinese Rijsttafel Set x 2: Rp. 350,000
Mango Juice x 2: Rp. 50,000
Pot of Oolong Tea: Rp. 25,000
22% Taxes & Service: Rp. 94,800
Dapur Raja
Address: F7Q7+QJ2, Jl. Goutama Sel., Ubud, Kecamatan Ubud, Kabupaten Gianyar, Bali 80571, Indonesia
Opening Hours: Daily, 11:30am – 9pm
Alcohol Served: Yes
