Irma by Bacaro: possibly the best pizza you’ll taste in all of Bali
You know how Australians go to a South East Asian destination for holiday and after eating delicious eastern food for a week, by the end of it they crave a hearty meat pie or a hamburger? Well that’s kind of the same for Italians, except it’s a quality pizza we very much desire.
Now, I’ve tried my share of good pizzas in Bali (indeed Italian cooking across the board in Bali is of a generally high standard) but I’ve got to say the best pizza I’ve come across is only recently from Irma by Bacaro, a pizzeria situated on Jalan Pantai Berawa in Kuta Utara.
Owned and run by Italian ex-pat, Paolo Covati Mohamed, Irma sticks to the basics of Italian cooking but, boy, is the mix of its basic ingredients – like tomato, rocket or arugula, mozzarella or burata – the absolute freshest and best.
There’s a classic rule in Italian cooking that a really good dish should stick to just three ingredients, and it seems Paolo and his culinary team pretty much stick to this rule but then decide to go all decadent on a fourth ingredient.
One particular example is the Emiliana pizza which features a fresh tomato based, topped with rocket, cooked prosciutto, and – only just breaking the three-ingredient rule – a delectable gorgonzola fondue that is poured over the top at your table. This might well be my favourite on the menu.
For the more puritan diner, there is the option of a Campana pizza on which the prosciutto is ‘crudo’ (ie: cured but uncooked) and the choice of cheese is a stringy stracciatella. Other pizzas on the Irma menu include a rich Siciliana (cherry tomatoes, stracciatella, mozzarella, capers, olives, and anchovies – no more rules here!); the Pugliese (Italian pork sausage, mozzarella, dry ricotta, and kale); and the Vegetariana (mozzarella, eggplant, capsicum, and zucchini).
We also sampled Irma’s steak tartare, a fairly indulgent dish (hence the sharing) of tenderloin base, drizzled with truffle oil and topped with egg yolk and gorgonzola fondue for a creamy contrast.
If lighter dining is more suited to your style, you could try the prosciutto crudo on its own but, really, you must, must, must sample the mini deep-fried pizza dough buns (coccoli): so light and airy in texture, they’re like pillowy puffs of heaven.
Irma by Bacaro in Bali offers a warm, authentic Italian dining experience centered on Neapolitan-style cuisine but with so many other regional inspiration shining through. The décor – designed by local style doyenne, Mauricio Alpizar – brings Sicilian classicism to mind, all pleasantly pared back, while the ‘bacaro’ part of the restaurant’s name is traced back to Venetian Italian, meaning a casual wine bar that typically serves small bites (cicchetti) along with quality wines.
Beyond pizza, the menu features a range of classic Italian dishes: think rich Bolognese lasagna, beef tagliata with arugula salad, and inventive appetisers like burrata with truffle. And we’re there for that.
The restaurant also leans into playful creativity, especially come dessert time. Its tiramisu is famously served in a plant pot, adding a quirky, Instagram-worthy twist to the sweet proceedings.
If high-quality Italian at a very fair price is what you’re after in your next trip to Bali, make Irma by Bacaro a definite stop.
Irma by Bacaro is situated at Jl. Pantai Berawa No.77, Tibubeneng, Kec. Kuta Utara. Bookings are best for dining at night as this place gets busier as the evening goes on. Phone them on +62 811-3941-4161 or get in touch through irmabybacaro.shop.
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