The new barbecue menu at Seminyak’s Sea Vu Play is an ode to charcoal — it’s all about deep, spice-packed flavors that bring heat and umami. None of that electrical grill cookery here, says owner Sean Lee.
Coconuts Bali visited the Petitenget place, a combination restaurant and bar, for its menu launch event last week, when Lee told a group of us visitors that the new selection is “about bringing it back to old school and grilling it on the charcoal.”
The menu’s pretty straightforward. Just pick your meat (which apparently marinates for at least 24 hours before cooking) from a display, and they’ll slap it over the fire with some spices. The food definitely does have a spice-rich Mediterranean and Moroccan flavor profile (cayenne and cumin, yes and yes), no doubt because their head chef, Abderrahim “Abi” Touqo is from Morocco.
The place itself feels like a colorful beer garden, and is just set a little back off the busy road — which means it’s pretty conducive to having a nice chat over a chilled glass of homemade sangria… or playing golf pong, which is apparently a thing.
Being barbecue, the new special menu (which is offered daily from 4pm) is entirely dedicated to meat, save for the option of a vegetable kebab.
Meat choices include rib eye steak (IDR199k/US$14), chicken breast (IDR139k/US$10), marinated pork ribs (IDR149k/US$10), and our personal favorite of the night, the juicy Moroccan Lamb sausage (IDR119k/US$8).
There’s also a whole kebab section where you can pick any two for IDR139k/US$10 — we recommend the succulent Turkish beef and the lamb kofta.
And because it is a nautically-themed restaurant, they had to have a seafood section, which includes lobster (market price), king prawn (IDR169k/US$11.7), clams (IDR109k/US$7.50), calamari (IDR109k/US$7.50), Balinese style pepes (banana leaf-wrapped, grilled fish; IDR119k/US$8), and tuna and mahi-mahi steaks (IDR129k/US$8.90).
So, first impressions and takeaways. Well, this is certainly not a budget-friendly dinner spot, but the prices are also not bad when compared to the other restaurant choices on Petitenget, AKA “Eat Street.” Plus, that is a whole lot of meat you’re getting.
That was before we realized that salad bar access is also included for customers ordering anything off the BBQ menu. Say whaaaaaat?
There are a ton of salad choices. A ton. Not just mixed greens, but also French beans, potato salad, coleslaw, beetroot salad, yellow rice, pita bread, and pasta salad — we even went back for a second helping of the pasta salad (perfectly al dente and not mushy like we feared for this kind of buffet situation), and the creamy beetroot.
There are a whole bunch of dressings and sauces available at the salad bar, too — and for us, that sealed the deal. Really took this dinner up to the next level, especially since we used them both on our salads and meats. We’re big on chili and tried out all of the ones on offer here — our favorites were the Balinese sambal matah, sambal uleg, and Moroccan harissa.
You can actually opt for a “salad bar only” meal for IDR100k, too — and that option alone will absolutely fill you up on its own, without the barbecued meats. But, we do think that you would get more bang for your buck if you were to order off of the meat menu — or maybe just get the roasted veggie kebab if meat ain’t your thang.
FIND IT:
Sea Vu Play
Jl. Petitenget, Seminyak
11am-1am
BBQ menu from 4pm
