Aged and Butchered: Canggu Travel Guide

Two ways to age a steak, one table

Aged and Butchered made its name in Jakarta, and its Canggu branch now sits inside Komu Hotel. The idea is to put two beef traditions on the same table: Western aged steaks and Japanese yakiniku.

The aging is what you’re paying for, so it helps to know the difference:

• Dry-aged: the beef rests uncovered in a temperature-controlled chamber. It loses moisture, which concentrates the flavour and gives it a nutty, savoury depth.
• Wet-aged: the beef ages vacuum-sealed in its own juices. It comes out tender, with a cleaner and milder beef taste.

Yakiniku means “grilled meat” in Japanese. It usually means bite-sized cuts cooked quickly over high heat and eaten with a dipping sauce called tare.

The menu here is described as Japanese-inspired yakiniku, so the format may differ from a classic Tokyo grill house. When you book, ask who does the cooking. You may grill the meat yourself at the table, or the kitchen may send it out ready to eat.

Finding it inside Komu

The restaurant is inside Komu Hotel, not on its own street-front lot. Give your driver the hotel name, not just the restaurant name.

Canggu has no rail or bus network that works for visitors. Most people use Grab or Gojek, and the app’s map pin is more reliable than a driver’s guess in these lanes. Allow about an hour from Ngurah Rai International Airport, and longer in the evening.

The roads are the real problem. Jalan Raya Canggu and the Shortcut road jam up around sunset, when everyone leaves the beaches at once. If you’re on a scooter, park in the hotel’s marked bays rather than on the verge.

Booking, paying and ordering the grill

Because the restaurant has only just opened in Bali, hours and service details may still change. Confirm opening times on the restaurant’s or Komu’s official channels on the day you plan to go.

• Reserve ahead. A new opening with a known Jakarta name tends to fill on weekend evenings, and walk-ins are a gamble.
• Read the ”++”. Bali restaurant menus often show prices with ”++”, which means service charge and government tax are added to the bill. Prices are on the menu itself.
• Tipping is optional. The service charge covers it, though rounding up for good service is welcome.
• Ask the staff about the aging. Ask how many days each cut has aged, and which method was used. Ordering one of each side by side is the clearest way to taste the difference.
• Share the yakiniku. It’s built for the table to share, which leaves room for a single aged steak.

Smart-casual clothes are fine. The beach-bar dress code of Canggu’s lanes is a notch below a hotel steakhouse, though, so swap the wet boardshorts.

Building an evening around it

Plan the meal for after sunset. Two good beaches are a short ride away:

• Batu Bolong Beach: beanbags on the sand and beginner surf breaks.
• Echo Beach: heavier waves and seafood grills along the sand.

Earlier in the afternoon, Tanah Lot temple is northwest along the coast. Leave plenty of time to get back through traffic, because the drive is slow at golden hour.

From November to March is the wet season, with heavy evening downpours. A hotel restaurant is an easy place to sit out a storm, but leave extra time for the ride home. Allow about two hours for dinner if you’re grilling yakiniku, since it’s a slow meal to cook and share.