Bali Travel Guide
The Bali Food Guide
What makes Balinese food different from the rest of Indonesia, the dishes to seek out, how to eat at a warung, where cooking classes fit in, and practical tips on spice, hygiene and plastic-free eating.
Many visitors leave Bali having eaten brilliantly at smoothie bowls, wood-fired pizza and fusion tasting menus without ever tasting the island's own cuisine. That would be a shame. Balinese food is distinct from the Indonesian staples found everywhere, rooted in the island's Hindu culture and its ceremonies, and built on complex spice pastes, slow cooking and a deep love of pork, duck and fresh chilli. Here is how to find it.
The foundation: base genep. Almost every traditional Balinese dish begins with base genep, which translates roughly as complete spice. It is a paste pounded on a stone mortar from shallots, garlic, chillies, galangal, turmeric, ginger, kencur, candlenut, coriander seed, pepper and shrimp paste, among other ingredients, and every family has its own version. Learning to make it is the centrepiece of any good cooking class, and once you know its flavour, you will recognise it everywhere.
Babi guling. The island's most famous dish is spit-roasted suckling pig, its belly stuffed with base genep and herbs and turned for hours over a fire until the skin crackles. It is served as a plate with rice, slices of meat, crackling, spiced sausage, lawar and a little soup. It is a lunchtime dish, best when freshly roasted in the morning, and often sold out by mid-afternoon, so go early. Many specialist warungs serve nothing else.
Bebek and ayam betutu. Duck or chicken rubbed with spice paste, wrapped in banana leaves and slow-cooked for many hours until the meat falls off the bone. Traditionally made for ceremonies, it is now on restaurant menus across the island, though the best versions often need to be ordered a day in advance. Crispy duck, bebek goreng, is a popular alternative, especially in Ubud.
Sate lilit and other sate. Balinese sate lilit is minced fish, chicken or pork mixed with grated coconut, lime leaf and spice paste, wrapped around lemongrass stalks or flat bamboo skewers and grilled. It is fragrant and gentle, and children usually love it. You will also find the more familiar sate of skewered meat with peanut sauce at night markets and street stalls.
Lawar. A festive dish of finely chopped vegetables, often long beans or young jackfruit, mixed with grated coconut, spice paste and sometimes minced meat. Some traditional versions include raw blood; if that is not for you, ask for the white version or a vegetarian lawar.
Nasi campur. The everyday lunch: a mound of rice with small portions of several dishes, perhaps some shredded chicken, a piece of sate, a boiled egg, vegetables, tempeh, peanuts and sambal. Each warung has its own selection. It is the best introduction to local food and usually great value.
Sambal matah. The raw Balinese relish of finely sliced shallots, chilli, lemongrass, lime leaf, lime and coconut oil, served with grilled fish and almost everything else. It is fresh and fiery, and you will want it on every meal.
Seafood. Jimbaran Bay, on the neck of the Bukit, is famous for seafood dinners on the sand: fish, prawns, squid and clams grilled over coconut husks and eaten at tables on the beach at sunset. Choose your seafood by weight, agree the price before cooking and expect a lively, touristy atmosphere. Grilled fish with sambal matah is also a staple of beach warungs elsewhere.
Sweets and drinks. Look for dadar gulung, green pandan crepes filled with palm sugar and coconut; bubur injin, black rice pudding with coconut milk; and klepon, rice-flour balls that burst with liquid palm sugar. Bali grows excellent coffee in the Kintamani highlands, and plantations on the road to Batur offer tastings. Kopi luwak, coffee made from beans eaten by civets, is often produced with caged animals; many visitors choose to skip it for welfare reasons.
How to eat at a warung. A warung is a small, family-run eating place, from a cart to a simple dining room. Many display their dishes in a glass cabinet: point at what you would like, and it will be served on rice. Prices are low and usually cash only. Eat where the locals eat, at busy times, when the food is freshest. Most warungs close by the evening, so make them your lunch.
Cooking classes. A class is the best way to understand the cuisine, especially in Ubud, where many start with a morning market visit and continue in a family compound or on an organic farm. You will grind base genep, wrap sate lilit and pepes, learn about the daily offerings and eat everything you cook. Evening classes suit travellers who want to sightsee by day.
Practical tips. Balinese food can be very spicy; ask for tidak pedas, not spicy, if you prefer. Drink bottled or filtered water, avoid ice in very basic places if you are worried, and wash fruit. Bali has banned many single-use plastics, so bring a reusable bottle and shopping bag. Vegetarians and vegans are well catered for, with tofu and tempeh staples and countless plant-based cafes in Ubud and Canggu. Finally, the international scene in Seminyak, Canggu and Ubud is excellent and good value, so mix the two: a warung lunch and a celebratory dinner make a perfect Balinese day.