This is one of the most popular sunset restaurants on the island of Gili Air
If you ask the old-timers of Gili Aire Island where is the best place to go for sunset, many will probably advise you Mowiz. There are no swings in the water to take pictures in Instagram, no stage with musicians. But this place has its own secret that attracts guests here day after day.
Mowie is the nickname of the beach restaurant's creator, Paul Mobray. He named the restaurant so not out of a vain desire to make his nickname famous, but simply because people went to his restaurant when it first appeared with the phrase: “Let's go to Moey's”!
Mowie came to Gili Air in 2008 as a surfer. He fell in love with the island and soon bought 20 acres of land on which he put a simple hut. After that he built 5 bungalows for guests and a house for himself and finally conceived a restaurant where to gather all the guests. Mowie pitched his idea for the building to a Balinese contractor, who he asked to build the future establishment to resemble both a giant manta ray and an opera house in Sydney.
In March 2018, the iconic building had to be demolished because the government ordered that all permanent structures be removed from the beaches and relocated behind the road along the beach. But the roof of the new restaurant building still resembles a huge straw stingray nestled on the beach.
The wall of the restaurant is adorned with a magnificent mural. Mowie considers it his own “logo” of the institution, because the ocean, the beach and the sunset - this is the visual series that is the mascot of the institution. The painting was created by Australian artist and yoga teacher Rachel Wilkins.
Mowie met his business partner, the brilliant Polish chef Radek, who created the restaurant's menu, on one of his diving trips. Radek had been living and working in London for the past 10 years, but when the opportunity arose to take over the restaurant on Gili Air, it didn't take long for him to jump at the chance because it had long been a dream of his to move to live on the tropical island.
Moey is particularly proud of his menu, which includes an egg benedict with salmon. It is said that people even come to Mowie from other parts of the island for this breakfast. And the dish has its own secret. Instead of toast, the egg is served on a potato patty fried with carrot slices in a crispy breading. In fact, it's hard to choose which version of eggs Benedict is tastier - with smoked salmon or with bacon, because these two dishes are the main favorites of the breakfast menu and they are both equally delicious.
There will be room for the soul of a raw food eater and a meat eater. The restaurant serves raw desserts. Cheesecakes using cacao, cacao, dragon fruit and almonds. Peanut butter brownie with bananas and honey on an almond base.
Meat eaters can indulge in the beef curry, chicken katsu burger. And for fish lovers, there's crispy sea bass cooked in beer, tuna burger, red Thai perch curry, mackerel fillet or shrimp fettuccini.
Moey takes a healthy and organic approach to everything. His restaurant serves bamboo straws. Mowie was the first on the island to use bags made from organic plastic, made from cassava and therefore biodegradable, for packaging. And the fact that there are no photo swings in front of the island's most famous sunset restaurant is not an oversight, but a conscious decision. Mowie believes that installing a swing would change the speed and direction of the waves offshore and damage the beach's ecosystem.
Even so, every sunset, guests come not for the swings, but to soak up the spirit of this place, which is dedicated to preserving the island's nature and the culture of Gili Air.
What to try?
Egg benedict with salmon or bacon
Beef curry
Chicken katsu burger
