Bali Authorities Launch Inspection Of Bali’s Gourmet Cave Restaurant After Viral Video

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Local police in Bali have been alerted to a cave restaurant in Uluwatu that they say they have no record of. The Cave Restaurant sits under the Edge Hotel property in Pecatu Village in South Kuta. While the restaurant has been open and operational for a few months it seems that the eatery could have be operating without sufficient business permits. The Cave restaurant proudly opened its doors in May this year.

The Badung Regency Civil Service Police Unit (Satpol PP) and Security and Order (Tramtib) South Kuta District were informed about the restaurant after a viral video on Twitter caught their attention. The account user shared a short video tour of the Cave Restaurant that gathered plenty of attention online. According to the video the cave has been there for 250,000 years and is a natural geological formation.

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According to the restaurant’s online listings, they offer a premium subterranean dining experience. Guests can opt for an all-inclusive experience of IDR 1.5 million with a 7-course menu or indulge in a 7-course meal with wine pairing for IDR 3.2 million.

The menus include a luxurious cocktail list with drinks costing upwards of IDR 300,000. The woman in the viral video can be heard saying ‘If you want to come here (The Cave Restaurant), I suggest you come early. So you can explore the place, enter the cave and take photos’.

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The Cave Restaurant is led by Chef Ryan Clift, originally from the UK and who trained under world-renowned chef Marco Pierre-White. He has appeared as a headline chef at food festivals around the world and has even been featured by National Geographic as a part of their food documentary specials. Although the restaurant was not known to authorities the venue has over 13,000 followers on Instagram alone. 

The Head of the South Kuta Police, Ketut Gede Arta, told Nusa Bali that his team went to check the permits of the Uluwatu based business after the viral video caught their eye. They said they were unaware of the cave until this point.

According to Arta, the cave was discovered by the management of The Edge Hotel during construction and they subsequently incorporated the cave into the hotel’s architecture. He said ‘From the initial inspection, the management admitted that the cave was found when building a hotel because the location was broken and found a cave that has existed for a long time. The cave is thought to be a natural formation’.

When asked if the restaurant was operating with the correct permits Arta said that the checks are currently underway and that he was not at liberty to say anything more. He did say that he was calling a meeting between the hotel and restaurant management and Saptol PP, the Public Civil Service, which usually means there is a discrepancy somewhere in the paperwork.

He explained ‘For a long time [the operation] has not been known. This is still being checked first. In the near future, management will be called. Because the restaurant management is the same as the hotel’.

It seems that there is some confusion between the authorities about who is meant to have which sets of paperwork for the business licensing. According to the Head of the Badung Regency Satpol PP, I Gusti Agung Ketut Suryanegara, his teams will be visiting The Cave restaurant early next week.

He said ‘We have gone down to check with sub-district officers. However, the results are not clear yet. It is likely that it will come down again on next Tuesday. Because I haven’t seen it in person’.

The Cave Restaurant remains open and accepts bookings. The experience is only available with prior booking and management does not accept walk-ins. The cave dining experience is only open for limited hours. From Monday to Wednesday they offer two dining sessions, one from 5.30 pm and another from 8 pm. On Thursdays to Sundays, they offer three dining sessions starting at 12.30 pm, 5.30 pm, and 8 pm.