Dining in Bali: A Food Guide

Are you planning a trip to Bali and want to know what culinary delights await you on the Indonesian island? In my Food Guide, you will learn everything about the food in Bali and whether this holiday paradise is also suitable for vegetarians and vegans.

No matter the reason for your visit to Bali - whether you want to learn to surf in Kuta, practice meditation and yoga, or simply party and relax on the beach - it will quickly become clear during your vacation that Bali is also a culinary hotspot. Almost every corner is filled with various cafés, restaurants, and markets enticing you with exotic scents and colorful dishes. To ensure your taste buds don't miss any experiences, I present to you today the comprehensive Bali Food Guide. Whether you're seeking out the true treasures of traditional Indonesian cuisine or looking for places with enough options for vegetarians: Food in Bali has something for everyone. Not to mention for the adventurous among you, who won't even flinch at the sight of grilled insect mixes.

The value for money when it comes to food in Bali is out of this world! For just €15, you can be well-fueled for the day and indulge at each meal! Especially when it comes to traditional cuisine, authentic street restaurants offer the best prices. In these so-called Warungs, usually run by Balinese locals, you'll find the typical dishes that I'd like to introduce you to in more detail. By the way, don't be surprised if the dish you ordered is served on a banana leaf and you're given a spoon and fork - that's perfectly normal in Indonesia.

A meal without rice can hardly be considered a meal in Asia. This could well be the mantra of Indonesian food culture.

Rice is typically served at every meal. Indonesian people refer to fried rice as Nasi Goreng, which can be enhanced with a variety of vegetables, eggs, and sauces, depending on your taste. This simple and inexpensive dish tastes especially good when combined with curry dishes, fish, meat, and exotic spices. Often, people order this dish under the name Nasi Campur, meaning mixed rice. If you particularly enjoy chicken dishes, you'll find them on the menu as Nasi Ayam. You see: A Nasi dish is almost a culinary must on your trip to Bali!

Let's talk about a festive communal dining culture. Unlike our family dinners, it doesn't play a major role in Indonesia. Instead, everyone eats whenever they feel hungry. However, great importance is placed on impressive feasts during holidays. A staple of these feasts is usually Babi Guling, a whole roasted pig that's skewered and grilled. Its striking orange color comes from a rich seasoning with turmeric and coconut oil. If you want to try this delicacy, I recommend visiting the Warung Selingsing Cepaka. Be warned: The pig here is so good that sometimes you even need to place your order a day in advance.

You'll find these grilled skewers in Bali in more variations than you could ever try. Just at the Gourmet Sate House in Kuta, about 22 different types of sate skewers are on the menu - including, of course, the well-known version with chicken garnished with peanut sauce. However, sate skewers, also known as Satay and popular throughout Indonesia, are also available with fish, tofu, or lamb. Simply try your way through the menus of the Warungs; with the prices, you can hardly go wrong!

Now let's get to another classic: Gado-Gado is a delicious salad made from vegetables, sprouts - sometimes potatoes and eggs - tofu, fried soybeans, and peanut sauce, which is among Indonesia's five national dishes. Consequently, you will often encounter this dish during your vacation. Gado-Gado is particularly suitable for vegetarians and anyone looking for something light in between meals. Definitely give it a try!

The fried soybeans that you might find in Gado-Gado are served as Tempe Goreng alongside many Indonesian and Balinese dishes and will thus reappear as a hearty side dish. The compressed beans resemble peanuts or puffed rice a bit, but their flavor is quite neutral and they can be enjoyed wonderfully with rice and sauces.

For those with a sweet tooth, Balinese food offers delicious options as well. If you're in the mood for dessert after eating in Bali, you cannot miss out on the sugar-sweet cakes made from sticky rice. By the way, coffee and tea in Bali are also served sweet unless you request otherwise at the time of ordering.

Since meat and fish are often very expensive, it's not uncommon in Bali to forgo meat during everyday meals. Additionally, most curries are prepared with coconut milk, and rice is essential to Indonesian cuisine. This makes it much easier for vegans than at many other travel destinations, and they can often choose from the majority of the menu. Especially with the wide variety of exotic fruits, some may feel like they are in paradise: mangoes, papayas, bananas in all sizes, and beware: durian, a cheese-smelling (stinky) fruit that many Indonesians swear by.

For the health-conscious among you, countless cafés serve smoothie bowls in coconuts or pancakes in all sorts of colors and styles. You should definitely check out places like Shelters or Cafe Organic in Seminyak. There are also many places offering purely plant-based, if not completely raw dishes. At Earth Cafe in Ubud, you can catch a movie at the first vegetarian cinema after your meal, and at Alchemy, you'll find pasta, casseroles, and cakes made from raw ingredients.

Now let's address the somewhat darker side of dining in Bali. Thanks to some specialties, the Indonesian island could easily be turned into a Jungle Camp. Don't believe me? What do you think about grilled or fried giant bats, which are eaten whole - including the crispy skin and bones? If you prefer insects, you can help yourself to a wide buffet: from fried dragonflies to cocktail skewers made of sago worms, to a mixed salad of bee larvae, the options are truly enormous. The gentlemen among you, who want to garner appreciative looks after vacationing in Bali, should try goat genitals and substitute the protein shake with cobra blood. These rituals are believed by the Balinese to increase male hormones and act like a love potion.

If you want to cautiously dive into Balinese cuisine, it's best to book a cooking class or a food tour with locals. They will introduce you to the culinary diversity of Bali and show you how to easily recreate some typical dishes at home.

You see, just for the culinary experience alone, a trip to Bali is worthwhile. And for those of you who prefer to spend the evening at the hotel rather than sitting in front of a Warung, you're in luck: For roughly €1, the Go Jacks, Bali's food delivery guys, will bring your favorite dish from your favorite restaurant right to your hotel terrace. Now, if that isn't another compelling reason to travel to Bali!