Bali Lax The Garden Shinjuku West

I have walked past this restaurant many a time before without realizing that it is, in fact, not a spa as it appears to be, but a restaurant. A restaurant with a glass floor and water running underneath. A restaurant where you can eat beside a giant fountain. The spa atmosphere is nice, I guess, but a bit over the top, maybe even hokey. The dark mood lighting and spa setting are quite unlike other dining options in the Nishi-​Shinjuku area, and I felt a bit awkward coming by myself and also for being the first (and only) customer in the restaurant during my time there.
I had taken a late lunch from work around 5 pm and was craving Thai food, but the nearby Bangkok Kitchen wouldn’t open until 5:30 so I decided to try Bali Lax instead. It was their dinner service time, so a table charge was tacked onto my bill.
I ordered the goi cuon (Vietnamese spring rolls) and nasi goreng (Indonesian fried rice). As you can probably tell by my order, the menu here is a sort Pan Southeast Asian cuisine. My expectations for Southeast Asian food are always a bit low in Japan, as the Japanese palate tends to shy from the bold «ethnic» flavors of their southeastern neighbors, but I was pleasantly surprised by the food at Bali Lax.
The goi cuon were very fresh and served with a fish sauce that had a good bite to it, as well as some chili sauce that was actually spicy. The nasi goreng was larger than I expected – in other restaurants in Tokyo, it would probably be considered a group portion rather than a single serving. I don’t know if I would call the food authentic since it seemed a bit fusion-​y, but it was certainly delicious.
Although the meal cost a bit more than I had been planning to spend that evening, I walked away full and very satisfied. It looks like Bali Lax has a weekday lunch special for around ¥1000, so I definitely plan on coming back again sometime for lunch.