The Balinese suburb has become a favourite for Australian travellers thanks to its burgeoning array of bars and restaurants to satisfy a bevy of food and drink demands. Canggu’s latest addition is Billy Ho, a Japanese restaurant launched by restaurateur Will Meyrick. A passionate purveyor of the South-East Asian food scene, the chef’s latest addition to his Indonesian portfolio has been inspired by the surrounding community; he hopes to offer Canggu a space in which the neighbourhood can gather, indulge, and take some (no doubt much-needed) time out.

The space itself is an arresting one. Behind Billy Ho’s design is Rob Sample, who has crafted a restaurant centred around a handful of different jaw-dropping features, each well worthy of an Instagram post. The high ceiling is decorated in black bamboo, while the statement wall behind the main bar resembles fish scales courtesy of a rainbow array of coloured sirap wood. Then there’s the tattoo-inspired mural of native flowers, crafted by local artist Ogude, surrounded by a scattered collection of wicker, leather and hand-woven loom chairs.

Designed as a key gathering place for the community, Billy Ho hopes to offer guests some solitude from the hustle and bustle of Bali outside its doors. There’s both a bar and a dining room in which to choose a seat; the former a seven-metre stretch of bar that sits before Bali’s first ‘beer wall’, which showcases hand-crafted beer as well as a growing number of cocktails. As for the dining space, there’s both a communal table and separate seating offered depending on your preference, in which you can sit an enjoy fare produced by leading chef Tim Bartholomew.

Bartholomew and Meyrick have joined forces on the Billy Ho menu to create a sophisticated take on the cuisine of Hong Kong, Japan and South Korea. Think starters of tuna sashimi with smoked chilli ginger flower and black tabiko, and mains of twice-cooked short rib beef with tamarind and homemade shrimp paste glaze or grilled red miso grouper served with pickled red cabbage, green chilli cashew nuts and white miso crustacean sauce.

Billy Ho sits at Jalan Pantai Batu Bolong, Canggu, Kuta Utara, Kabupaten Badung, Bali; billyho.co