6 Foods To Try For Bali’s First Timer
Bali, arguably one of the beautiful island in the world. Stunning beaches, sunsets, stunning culture, arts, party hot spot, and of course, food! The amount of great restaurants varies from the local stunning dishes, to high quality international restaurants. Not to mention the stunning bars to indulge your holiday. But if you’re a first timer coming to Bali, you definitely need to get your hands on the flavorful local dishes. From duck to pork, Bali has stunning variation of food you cannot miss. For you rookies traveler, here’s the 6 dishes you need to try in Bali!
Babi Guling (Balinese Suckling Pig)
We’re going to start with arguably the most famous Balinese dish in the world. Suckling pig! What can we say about this, America got an awesome BBQ pork, Spain got a mean roast pig, Chinese BBQ pork is insane, but none can compare to the different spices Balinese use to cook this one of a kind dish. Whole pig is roasted on a slow open fire pit, and the skin is basted with coconut water trough the whole process. That process creates a super crispy skin, while the meat is insanely juicy. Served with a bunch of different vegies and sambal (Indonesian chili sauce), Babi Guling is enough reason to travel here.
Located smack dab in the middle of Ubud, Babi Guling Ibu Oka is THE spot to get your hands on this mouth watering dish. Even the world renowned celebrity chef and food expert, Anthony Bourdain claims that the babi guling here is one of the best pork dish he’s ever tasted. That’s coming from a person who travels and eat for a living!
Nasi Bali
Not so much a pork eater? Here’s one dish perfect for you to understand the taste, culture, even the history of Bali. For foreigners reading this, rice is always the center of a meal for Indonesian, which includes Bali of course. We eat rice for lunch, dinner, even breakfast, and rice is (and the pretty much the only) the main carbohydrate for every meal. This includes Nasi Bali, this dish consist a bunch of different things like shredded chicken, different vegies, fish satay, and sambal. All cooked with different spices that will indulge your taste buds. Beware, different nasi Bali has different spiciness level!
Although you can find nasi Bali pretty much everywhere, nobody can deny the awesomeness of Warung Wardani. They serve fantastic nasi Bali, decent portion, very affordable price. Oh and don’t worry if you can’t handle spicy food, Warung Wardani is not those places who serve insane sambals. Everything is just… Perfect!
Balinese Coffee
Coffee or kopi in Bali is definitely something you need to get your hands on. Unlike other parts of Indonesia, Bali can be considered the lucky ones, and they can thank the traders from Lombok, as ‘island neighbors’ Bali has the luxury to brought the first coffee plants to the island. With the combination of great plants, fertile volcanic soil and ideal climate, Bali can produce one heck of a coffee. So don’t be surprise if you can find a lot of quality coffee shops in Bali. Forget the green star, and the brown beans, the locally run coffee shop here in the island is AMAZING!
This is the most happening coffee shop in Bali! It’s never not crowded. The place itself has a lovely ambience, not to mention that the coffee tastes delicate. The good thing is that it is located at the heart of Seminyak, so whenever you are feeling like re-energizing yourself while strolling around the area, this is your ultimate go-to spot!
Ayam/Bebek Betutu
This dish is one of the local favorite. There are two different types of Betutu, steamed or grilled. There’s a choice between chicken, and the local favorite, duck. The duck/chicken is heavily marinated with tons of spices such as turmeric before cooking, and the result is super moist and succulent protein that goes super well with steaming hot white rice.
When you’re looking for the beset betutu, here’s a spot for you. Yes, you can find betutu everywhere, and most of them are great, but for rookie tourist, Ayam Betutu Khas Gilimanuk is the place to go. Affordable, easy to find, clean, and definitely delicious!
BBQ Ribs
Quality local pigs, mix it up with western cultures, resulted in high quality BBQ pork ribs. Yes, somehow Bali’s able to produce superb quality BBQ ribs. The fun part is, Balinese BBQ ribs is a blend of different American styles of BBQ. It’s a perfect combination with Memphis style BBQ which idolize ribs, the sweet and tangy sauce of North Carolina BBQ. Not heavy on the smoke, but cooked on open fire like Texas style. The result? PERFECTION.
This joint is so popular that they open a lot of branches in Jakarta. Even so, you still need to try this ribs on their original spot. The ribs is exquisite, totally finger licking! Their sticky sweet and tangy sauce is unbelievable! They can grilled old boots and slather their signature sauce, and it would still be delicious.
Last but most definitely not least, fried duck! Other than quality pork, Bali also has quality duck. They are huge, succulent meat, it’s just amazing! Balinese fried duck is fried to perfection, the skin is perfectly crisp, the meat is always tender and juicy, huge portion, and served with sambal of course.
This is an awesome spot for you to try Balinese fried duck. Great quality duck, fried to perfection, crisp skin, juicy (and huge) meat. The restaurant itself is insanely beautiful, and the view is absolutely stunning. Great food, great setting, what more can you ask for
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