"Private bamboo cocoons over the Ayung River and a place-based tasting menu at Mandapa, Ubud — fly in for an anniversary."
Kubu is the signature restaurant of Mandapa, a Ritz-Carlton Reserve, set in the Kedewatan hills outside Ubud above a bend in the Ayung River. Its dining rooms are private bamboo cocoons, hand-woven pods strung along the riverbank that give each table near-total seclusion in the forest. The kitchen serves multi-course tasting menus grounded in Indonesian ingredients. It took Bali's Best Awards 2025 for fine dining. See the rest of our Bali dining guide.
The kitchen runs under executive chef Bayu Retno Timur, who oversees dining at Mandapa, with Buahan-village-born chef Wayan Eka Sunarya driving Kubu's Balinese identity. The cooking is place-based and low-waste: ingredients are foraged within about a hundred kilometres, and a root-to-leaf approach turns overlooked produce into refined plates. The flagship is the Earth Harvest degustation, a ten-course read of Bali's landscape from about IDR 1,250,000 (around US$80) a head, alongside a dedicated Root to Leaf vegetable menu. Kubu has held the Wine Spectator Award of Excellence across recent years, so the cellar is worth the pairing. For the global field, see our fine-dining guide and our Bali anniversary picks.
There is no conventional dining room; there are the cocoons. Each bamboo pod seats one party above the Ayung River, lit by lanterns at night with the sound of the water below and the forest all around. The seclusion is the experience, so tables never feel close because they are not. Dress is smart-casual in the resort sense, the pace is slow across the tasting menu, and the lighting is low and warm. Request a riverside cocoon when you book and arrive before sunset.
Book Kubu for an anniversary because the setting is hard to better: a private bamboo cocoon over the Ayung River, lanterns at night and a tasting menu paced for a long evening. The seclusion gives you the table to yourselves, and the place-based cooking turns dinner into the event of the trip. Reserve a riverside cocoon, arrive before sunset for the light, and take the wine pairing. See our anniversary dining guide for more.
Not for a quick or budget dinner. The experience is a paced tasting menu in a remote riverside resort outside Ubud, reached by a transfer, and priced and timed accordingly.
Yes, for a special-occasion dinner with a setting few places can match. Kubu serves tasting menus in private bamboo cocoons above the Ayung River at Mandapa, a Ritz-Carlton Reserve outside Ubud. The Earth Harvest degustation runs from about IDR 1,250,000 a head, the cooking is place-based and low-waste under chef Wayan Eka Sunarya, and it has won Bali's Best Awards 2025.
Reserve through Mandapa on +62 361 4792 777 or the restaurant's website. The private riverside bamboo cocoons are limited and book first, so request one specifically and ask for a table before sunset. Note the resort sits in Kedewatan outside central Ubud, so plan a transfer, and confirm any dietary needs in advance for the tasting menu.
It is contemporary Indonesian, place-based and low-waste. The flagship Earth Harvest degustation is a ten-course read of Bali's landscape using ingredients foraged within about a hundred kilometres, with a dedicated Root to Leaf vegetable menu alongside. Kubu holds the Wine Spectator Award of Excellence, so take the pairing. Trust the kitchen and let the tasting menu lead.
Yes, it is one of Bali's strongest rooms for both. The private bamboo cocoon over the Ayung River gives you the table to yourselves, with lanterns and the sound of the water for a long, paced dinner. Request a riverside pod and arrive before sunset. See our anniversary guide for more Bali options.
Reserve through Mandapa on +62 361 4792 777. The riverside bamboo cocoons are limited and book first, so request one and arrive before sunset.
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Kubu at Mandapa represents Bali on our guide to the world's best hotel restaurants, for its riverside bamboo cocoons and place-based tasting menus.
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