putu always takes us to Kekelvargaan restaurant which is about in the middle of the pack of restaurants.. very good..

eat on the beach on plastic chairs, eating fish you picked out yourself, which is then cooked over open flames and brought to you.. cheap

We ate on the beach several times whilst staying at the Intercontinental and never had a bad meal. We just used to browse and look for the fish/seafood we liked the look of, pick something out, sit down with abeer waiting for it to be cooked. It does help if you know what to look for in checking the freshness of the fish, but all was pretty good and much better than say Sri lanka where, for some bizarre reason the beachside restaurants invariably used to freeze all there fish. A good but not foolproof guide is to look for the busiest place.

Thanks for your input...Believe we will just wander along the beach front and look for some of the places with the most people. Some of the ones I read about include Bali Cafe2,The Cuisine,Dena's,Jaya Semarapura,Pandan Sari. Also heard about Menega Cafe.....does anyone know about any of these?

Bob

The whole "fish dinner on Jimbaran beach" thing is a HUGE ripoff. For one, the food is mediocre and overpriced; for another, the ambience is not at all nice. We went to a place called Sharkeys around 4 years ago; and were treated to a "superb" view of a dirty beach lit by neon/floodlights, with dogs sniffing garbage and local children running around noisily and staring at us as we ate. And it was far from being a bargain.
Such a change from the first time I tried it (in 2002) when it was a truly special experience! Now, I think you would be much better-off going to one of the better beachfront hotels (like The Oberoi) which offers great cuisine and a civilised atmosphere....but at a price. At least you will/should get what youre paying for!

there is nothing lux about it, it is busy, noisy, smokey (sometimes), but a hoot and lots of fun.

i did not think it expensive for fresh fish

It wasnt at all "luxe" in 2002....but it had a special atmosphere, peaceful and romantic, and was incredible value-for-money! Now I feel its just a tourist-trap and a rip-off.

"a HUGE ripoff" you are probably right BT. Any "local" restaurants close to high end hotels and consequently rich tourists, will invariably charge significant premiums for their food. It will certainly be possible to find much cheaper food away from the main hotels but few will venture far from their hotel and it is still probably a lot cheaper than in most western countries.

but the point is this is a unique experience