Lucky Fish

The Taste That Came Back

For a while, I thought I had lost Lucky Fish. When I lived on the cliffs above Bingin, this was one of those places that had quietly become part of my life. I could eat there three times a week without thinking twice about it. Walk down to the beach, feet in the sand, familiar faces behind the grill and my order becoming increasingly predictable: grilled squid.

Not just good grilled squid. The grilled squid I still compare every other grilled squid to — and so far, none has won.

Of course, squid was never the only reason to go. Red snapper, prawns and whatever fresh fish was available could be chosen and grilled simply, the way seafood should be when there is very little to hide. The old Lucky Fish Seafood BBQ became known precisely for that ritual: choose your fish, let the team put it over the fire, then eat it at a plastic table directly on Bingin Beach while the sun disappeared into the Indian Ocean.

Then came the summer of 2025. In July, the Badung authorities began clearing 48 tourism-related structures along Bingin Beach after determining that they had been built without the required permissions on government-owned land. Villas, restaurants, guesthouses and other businesses disappeared from a coastline that many of us had known for years.

To say that this slightly altered my routine would be something of an understatement. I genuinely thought I would never see the Lucky Fish team again. No more familiar smiles. No more casual welcome. And, much more selfishly, no more of that squid.

Then, wonderfully, they came back. Lucky Fish has reopened inland, tucked away on Jalan Tanjung Simah in Pecatu, at the new Balé Bingin Stay. There is no longer sand beneath the tables or an ocean directly in front of you. Instead, you find it hidden away from the road, in one of those small lanes that still provide some relief from the increasingly dense urban jungle Uluwatu has become. The current property describes Lucky Fish as its on-site restaurant, once again serving fresh seafood BBQ.

And what mattered most to me had survived the move. The faces. The welcome. The taste. There is something unexpectedly moving about finding a place again after assuming it had disappeared. Restaurants are usually discussed as collections of dishes, interiors and prices, but the ones that genuinely become part of our lives are made of something else: repetition, familiarity and people who eventually recognise you when you walk through the door.

Lucky Fish was never sophisticated. That was never the point. It was fresh seafood, fire, rice, vegetables, smiles and the particular pleasure of eating something very simple that has been cooked exactly as it should be. The beach may be gone from the experience. Thankfully, the soul of the place is not. And neither is my squid.

The Address

 

Lucky Fish

Jl. Tj. Simah No.4
Pecatu, South Kuta
Badung, Bali 80361
Indonesia

Price

$$ — Moderate
Seafood prices depend on the catch, portion and selection.

Go for

Fresh seafood grilled simply, familiar Balinese hospitality and a surviving piece of old Bingin in its new home.

Order

The grilled squid. I am perfectly capable of pretending to be objective about the rest of the menu, but not about this.

Red snapper and prawns are excellent alternatives if you insist.

Recommendation

Ask what is freshest rather than deciding everything before you arrive. Lucky Fish works best when the seafood itself chooses the menu. And if you knew the old place on Bingin Beach, forget about trying to recreate it. The sand and sunset belonged to another chapter. Come for what survived: the people, the grill and the taste.