Taste of Bali, Columbus OH

As an Indonesian who's been in the state for more than ten years, I'm pretty happy that there is one Indonesian restaurant here in Columbus. Let's face it, Columbus is not the best place to find authentic food.

Taste of Bali is located at the strip mall in the corner of Bethel Rd and Sawmill Rd. The restaurant is just a few stores away from A Dollar Movie Theatre. It has such a perfect combination of interior design, from pendant lamps with traditional puppet "wayang kulit" attached on both sides, pictures on the wall, bamboo plant, and music played in the background. It definitely screams for its traditional Southeast Asian ambiance, and I personally feel like home.

The food in my opinion is pretty good, although looking back I feel like it's shifting away from its authenticity to adjust with American taste. Some of my favorite appetizer such as deep fried stuffed potato (perkedel), fried veggie (similar to veggie tempura) were being eliminated among other things. They usually have special menu in the weekend, which is the reason I normally go there for. Some of the dish comes in a combination of two sides and a main dish, perfect for those of you who want to try different things.

The price matches with the portion. The food is around $9 - $12 and it's enough for two people. The best part about this place is between 3 to 7 pm some of the appetizers and drinks are half price. They also offers coupon from entertainment.com or gift certificate from restaurant.com. Here's the tricky part. You need to make sure the coupons or all deals valid for specific food/drink you order. On top of that, they keep changing their mind about their discount policy. They really drag their feet when it comes to honoring discount. I've had really bad experience with them giving me the discount for the drink. Some of the drinks are not included in the half price deal. You have to talk to the manager or owner to make sure your order is a part of the half price. One time my husband and I dined in and we ordered the appetizer to go. Knowing their bad habit of honoring discounts, we asked if the appetizer is half price. The owner told us it's half price if we eat those appetizer right there while we dine in, but if it's to go then it's not half price. Make sense? Right.... So what we ended up doing is we went ahead ordered those appetizer, didn't touch them until we finished our meal and asked for a box. Same thing, right? But we got the discount that way. I know, it's the most ridiculous thing I've ever experienced in my life.

Another example would be when my friend came to order her food to go. She came in with her coupon from entertainment.com and she asked if she could use it. The waiter said yes. So while waiting for her food, she ordered a cocktail drink. When her food was ready and she was about to pay, she realized that her coupon wasn't being deducted from the total. When she asked the waiter she was told that the coupon only valid for lunch only and it was after 3 pm. Nothing on the coupon said anything about lunch only. Then the waiter said he will honor the coupon anyway, but then he only deducted the drink, which of course the cheapest one compare to the dishes. My friend came out of that place with smokes coming out of her ear.

All in all, if you simply just want to enjoy some Indonesian dish, Taste of Bali is the place to go. The food is good and it's not outrageously expensive. But if you have any intention of using coupons or taking advantage of the happy hour deals, stay away from that place. It's such a shame that this place has so much potential and it's all gone downhill just because they don't keep their promise when it comes to honoring discounts. I'm not a businesswoman by any means, but you don't have to be one to understand customer comes first.

Taste of Bali
2548 Bethel Rd
Columbus, OH 43220
Hours: Tue-Sun 11am-10pm