Lantern, Bali

Lantern is an Southeast Asian-inspired eatery located on Jl. Petitenget. It stays true to the process of making every dish from scratch and by hand using the freshest ingredients. When I came here for early lunch at 11am, this place was empty and there was only one in-charge staff.

The place looks cheerfully bright in white and yellow colors during the daylight. Although it has no aircon, the fans were cooling enough to me.

Thai Iced Tea - IDR30,000
The Thai iced tea came in layers, which means I need to stir it up before drinking. The drink was nice and I could taste the fragrant tea aroma. However, I don't think the serving size justifies the price enough.

Holy Basil & Chicken - IDR65,000
Among all kinds of food - from Singaporean, Vietnamese, Indonesian, Thai to Malaysian food - my pick went to Thai food. The portion was enormous! The minced chicken was given in an abundant amount and it was well-seasoned. The fried egg was the highlight of this dish - the saltiness level was just right. And the most important part, this dish was not spicy unlike other versions of basil chicken that I had tried.

Bluntly speaking, the service had a huge room for improvement. I'm a service staff intern in a 5* resort that puts hospitality above everything, so I see customer service as the most crucial element of an F&B business and I get irritated easily with places that implement service charge yet they cannot afford to deliver good service! Since the very first time I stepped inside Lantern, I saw no sign of welcoming. The staff pretended not to see me (I did not know whether she did it purposely or not) and acted if she was busy with her paperwork until I approached her, asking sarcastically whether the restaurant had opened yet.

Well, that's not the end. After my food had come, I politely asked her to help me take a picture. She just nodded her head, took 2 pictures of me, and went away. Yes, she went away without saying any word! Whereas, in some other cafes the staffs would gladly help me take pics and they would ask me to check the pics they took whether I was okay with them or I wanted a retake. They would wait until I finished checking, thanked them or asked for a retake and informed them on how to adjust the brightness, focus, and so forth until it fitted my desired result. I checked the pictures and they did not look nice. Too much exposure and not focused enough. You can see in my pic above that my face was only half bright - I had done my best to edit it. I was damn pissed off, what disappointed me more was the fact that I was the only patron that time - come on, are you that busy mbak?! I would understand if your place was crowded, but it was not! If you are in a hurry to finish your paperwork, that is your own fault, why don't you finish it before opening time?! After I finished eating, the staff casually asked me 'have you done?'. I just nodded and let her clear up my plate. Actually I wanted to ask for the wi-fi password from the very beginning but I decided to refrain myself from doing so upon receiving her frigid treatment. Lazy already.

Overall, I like the food and ambiance here, but my only concern is their service. PLEASE improve it, because in F&B business, good food means nothing without good customer service.

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Jl. Petitenget 17, Kerobokan
Bali, Indonesia 80361
+62361-733192
IG: lanternbali
Opening hours: 10am - 11.30pm