Balinese Cuisine - Tips for the Traveller

Restaurants/Local Eats: If you are traveling through Asia, Indonesian food is the best, in my opinion! I thought that it was much better than other places and much cheaper if you eat at the Warung’s - this is the term for the local diners. Most places cook in woks right in front of you. We lived in Central America where food was sketchy to say the least, here we had no problems with food poisoning or upset stomachs even at the hole in the walls. 

            Our explanation of 'A Hole in the Wall'-this looks like a hot dog stand, some have tables and chairs, some don't! Behind a glass panel (with flies included) there are around 10 bowls all with a different local dish. This is called 'Nasi Campur'. You simply say 'Nasi' or 'No Nasi' and then point at which dishes you desire, they either place on a plate or in a piece of paper for take-away. This is very typically local, so if you decide to eat in you will probably be the only non-Indonesian person at your table! Typical dishes for these stands include chicken curry, dried fish, fried/boiled egg, fried chicken, spicy boiled chicken, green beans, boiled cabbage, vegetable or meat broth, corn fritter, satay sticks etc. This should cost you anywhere between RPH10,000 and 20,000. If you don't look like a local you may get charged much more than this. 

           Everything is served with rice. Hint, order a few items with rice and mix and match. I found that the food was not that spicy and for the most part very tasty. Whether in Kuta, Sanur, Amed - we were able to find cheap eats that were delicious. Just go in and look at the menu, they aren’t insulted if you say no thanks. Vegetarians are in luck because the veg and fruit is fresh unlike other places in SE Asia. Food of all sorts of nationalities is served at places, just walk around. The one thing that we did have a hard time finding was good beef, whether hamburgers or steak, the portions small and not the best quality. Go for chicken, pork, or seafood. Squid and fried fish were also big eats. Try to earn the local names for things on the menus, see below for basic words.

            Sanur seemed to have better food for budget travelers, but a cheap filling meal for 2 on the island was about RPH40,000, not bad. As an American I can say this for sure, some of the best fried chicken that I have ever had was at a little warung near the night market in Sanur. The night market in Sanur is mediocre, its worth checking out one night, noodles were 10,000 at some of the places but they were basic ramen noodles, other things weren’t anything special. If there isn’t a listed price expect to pay more than locals, we were charged 30,000RPH for a tiny plate of rice and curry, again we didn’t know better.  

            Our favourite restaurant to eat at on a (hate to say it!) daily basis was just opposite our little Homestay at the entrance to Sanur main street, right opposite McD....! It is a simple little place named 'Warung Kembang'. 

After trying most dishes on the menu, our favourite 3 were 'Koloke', 'Nasi Goreng' and the Mushroom and Chicken Dish which we cannot remember the name of! It is run by a local family, who will cater to your needs and take very good care of you.

On our anniversary night we decided to go out for a fancy dinner. Sanur has some beautiful, fancy looking restaurants so we found a place that had little candles and a romantic aura about it called Mona Lisa. It was wonderful! After ordering our meals, bruschetta style bread was brought out with tomatoes, garlic and pesto. We had beer and some very different, wonderful dishes and it cost us 150,000RPH (aka £8.50!) That was still well within our budget. The service and food was wonderful, I would definitely recommend this place to anyone looking for an up-market meal. If you compare the food, service and atmosphere to other places, i.e. England and the U.S. it is a bargain, we would sit at dinner and laugh at what these places would cost in our respective countries.

TOP TIP: my girlfriend is allergic to chilies and hot food, I am allergic to nuts and shellfish, as with any food allergies tell them before hand. If you are not allergic then you should always try the other persons food first, they seemed to always accommodate or at least tell you if they couldn’t, they were more than helpful, even at the little Warungs. The food is great, and there are options for even the pickiest person in the party.  

Food Translation Help -

Nasi - Rice                                                                                                   Nasi Goreng - Fried Rice

Ayum - Chicken                                                                                       Mie Goreng - Fried Noodle

Mie - Noodle                                                                                            Nasi Campur - Mixed Rice

Celeng - Pork on a spit                                                                   Cap Cai - Stir Fried Vegetables

Sate - Satay Stick with choice of meat                                   Koloke - Sweet and sour Chicken

Nasi Puti - Plain Boiled Rice

If you are a Westerner who enjoys going abroad and eating local Western food, I suggest you skip it here in Indonesia, unless you are willing to pay double what would you at home! Most budget places that serve 'Western' food are really going to disappoint. It mostly consists of small portions, basic ingredients and lack of flavour. Of course, as with anything there are exceptions to this rule, we are just recommending you eat local food, hey! why not, you're in Indonesia, do as the Indonesian's do!