There’s a sense of anticipation about Chef Will Meyrick’s latest creation, Buzo. Jalan Oberoi earned its name Eat Street when Seminyak was Bali’s glamour destination. Post-Covid, after the rush to move to Canggu, it’s looking a little tired and many of the glittering destination restaurants have closed, less glamorous offerings have taken their place.
Things are beginning to turn around again and Buzo is a shining example. Buzo positively glows. It’s an imposing establishment with a unique take on dining – specialising in small bites, sharing menus and craft beer, Buzo straddles two food cultures – Japanese and Italian in a space that’s reminiscent of the best New York steakhouses.
A glowing bar runs along the centre with soaring shelves of gleaming bottles. Warm lighting, studded leather banquettes and prodigious live palms fill in the spaces between tables. At the end the open kitchen flames and flavours dishes that are created using local ingredients and international flair.
It’s a welcoming space and brings back a taste of the glamour that made Eat Street a foodie destination in its prime. We like that.
The Japanese menu offers izakaya-style dishes and robatta grills. Izakaya e Birra is the tag, a little Italian thrown into the mix and the menu.
Will Meyrick made his name in these parts as the Asian Street Chef. Venues like Sarong, Mama San, Billy Ho and Hujan Locale reflected his take on Asia’s most-loved dishes. During Covid he returned to his adopte cuntry, Australia to set up a grill restaurant in Perth, and his cooking changed a little. More Western tastes, more flame-grills and a new maturity crept into his menus. He’d mellowed and you can feel it in the food.
That’s a good thing in my mind. Buzo shines in its conception – it’s all about having a good time. He encourages guests to take a seat at the bar and order some of his delicious skewers along with a cocktail or two or a good glass of wine. The menu opens with Kushiyaki – which traqnslates loosely as food on skewers. We began with the deboned chicken wings with Sichuan furikake ( a savory seasoning ), the skin was crisp, the meat delicious. We also had the Nikumaki A5 Beef skewered served with enoki mushrooms, rocket and sesame oil.
Salty, spicy and the perfect foil for a cocktail, or a beer. Craft beer is available on tap here, it’s local and it’s a point of difference. We enjoyed some classic cocktails instead. Smoked tuna crudo is served on watermelon spices with pomegranate ponzu. I loved it, my companion found it a little too smoky. Her favourite was the salmon tartare served on a crispy rice cake with cooling avocado. I agreed it was very tasty and something I would order again.
The mojitos got the seal of approval and manager Shannon points me towards a good red for the next course.
The Italian menu and the Japanese flirt with each other, especially in the way the menu reads but they rarely meet on the plate. That means there’s a menu of Japanese dishes and a menu that offers pizzas, pastas and italian-style mains, the cross over dishes like the Japanese miso mozzarella arancini are the exception rather than the rule. We stuck to the Japanese, simply because that’s how it rolled out. The concept means that groups who have different tastes can all enjoy the same restaurant, it works
Our final main course was the Miso pork ribs, dark and sticky and full of flavour. This is definitely beer territory.
We rarely leave without dessert and we ordered the strawberry and vanilla syphone panacotta with strawberry, elderflower and lemon meringue. I’ve never had a whipped panacotta before – the flavours were fresh but I sort of missed the silkiness of the original. There are five desserts on the menu, so sweet lovers have plenty to choose from.
The dining room, the bar and the kitchen are a well-oiled machine, you expect this from an experienced restaurateur. I’ll head back to try the Italian dishes including the sourdough pizzas and hand-made pasta dishes, and sit at the bar and gaze out to the former Eat Street with optimism that Seminyak will return to its glory days.
With restaurants like Takumi and Mauri, Sumak a new Turkish restaurant open opposite Buzo, the brilliant Sangsaka, the ever-popular Ginger Moon, Saltlick above KuDeTa, Fu House and more offering great food experiences alongside the 5-star hotel restaurants, Buzo is just one of the restaurants that is proving that Seminyak will always be a favourite among visitors and locals. The tables filled with happy diners at Buzo says it all.
Check out the menu here.
