Great Moorish style and hit (or miss) Middle Eastern influenced food at Cafe Cous Cous

COCONUTS CRITIC’S TABLE — While Bali isn’t exactly abound with Middle Eastern fare, a little (but trendy) restaurant on a rice paddy road caught our attention so we dropped by to pay a visit to see if we could get our fix of fresh Mediterranean flavors after a night of drinking out on the town. 
 

 

A photo posted by Cafe Cous Cous (@cafecouscous) on

Cafe Cous Cous is right on Umalas’ Jl. Bumbak, with a patio that’s accessed directly from the main road, which gives way with its big open glass doors to a little inside area. 
 

 

A photo posted by Cafe Cous Cous (@cafecouscous) on

 

A photo posted by Cafe Cous Cous (@cafecouscous) on

Not going to lie, the cafe’s setting is immediately impressive, with Moorish style mosaics, blue and white accents, and oversized wood tables. It just has an overall simple and clean look (always a plus in places where you’re taking food from). 

Even though we occasionally got the unavoidable motorbike and car noise pollution from being right on a small, but main road, the airy cafe overall had a very relaxed ambience. 

Cous Cous offers all day long breakfast and lunch (note: no desiganted dinner), so my friend and I figured it we be a perfect spot for brunch, giving us the best of both menu worlds. 

One thing worth noting: they immediately bring you a free glass of water and you can get refills from their high-tech dispenser. Love it when we don’t have to pay for water!
 

 

A photo posted by Cafe Cous Cous (@cafecouscous) on

Being the type of people who typically order large sampler appetizers to get the feel of a restaurant, we opted for the “Mix it Up Mezze Plate,” which boasted a tasting platter of the cafe’s homemade hummus, tabouli, baba ghanoush, and tzatziki sauce. This came with some falafel and za’atar flat bread. 

The mezze plate was by far, hands down the best order choice we made. Each dip had its own distinct flavor profile with the hummus and its creamy chickpea flavor, the fresh herbal notes of the tabouli, the rich smoky baba ghanoush, and the cooling yoghurt-based tzatziki sauce. And the falafel was served fresh, hot, and outstanding. We were also impressed with the ration of flat bread provided to go along with all these dips: too often restaurants don’t do proportional chip-dip servings, but Cous Cous’ turned out to be just right. 
 

 

A photo posted by Cafe Cous Cous (@cafecouscous) on

mezze plate

Seeing the very important keyword of “cheese” on the menu, we also ordered a plate of zucchini haloumi frittas to get a little bit of fried goodness going on. Great choice: those were crispy on the outside, melty on the inside, and went very well with the marinara dipping sauce provided on the side. 

Unfortunately after the appetizer course, our food selections went downhill. 

For his main, my friend ordered the “Creamy Exotic Spiced Red Lentil Soup,” which sadly for him did not live up to its namesake. 

While it was not so off-putting as to send back to the kitchen, he described it as very lentily, creamy, but not spiced enough. So they got most of the adjectives right when naming the soup, but lacking any strong spices coming through, it was just way too much lentils and overall lumayan

As for my order, I made my selection from the breakfast menu and went for the Cous Cous Special, thinking because it had the word “special,” in it, it had to be one of their best options. 

As they describe the special on the menu, it’s spinach and feta cheese stuffed tomatoes, egg-dipped, pan fried wholegrain bread, and parmesan flakes and you can pay extra to add-on eggs, so I got some poached eggs with my meal. 
 

 

A photo posted by Cafe Cous Cous (@cafecouscous) on

For people as enthusiastic about food as myself, there’s nothing worse than regretting your order and feeling you ordered wrong, which is exactly what happened with me here. The special was not bad, but it felt kind of underwhelming and I immediately wished I had instead stuck with the cafe’s more distinctly Middle Eastern food like the starters that had won me over. Perhaps a falafel wrap or a couscous salad bowl would have been the way to go. 

I repeat, the special was not bad and I appreciated the freshness of it, but it just did not seem that special and could be something found in countless “green,” “fresh,” “healthy,” cafes in Bali and the bread was not that memorable.  

Nevertheless, despite these setbacks, I would absolutely go back to Cous Cous again for the mezze plate and some falafel. 

The food that was good, was really good and the prices weren’t too bad either. 

Coconuts Critic’s Table reviews are written based on unannounced visits by our writers and paid for by Coconuts Media. ​

FIND IT

Cafe Cous Cous
 Jl. Bumbak Gg Pulau Bali, Umalas 2
085101533662 / 082144113800
Monday-Friday 8am – 7pm, Saturday-Sunday 8am – 3pm

Photos at the top: Instagram @cafecouscous
 



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