A tapestry of flavors representing hundreds of ethnic groups across 17,000 islands, Indonesian cuisine is one the most diverse in the world.
Yet it remains relatively unknown outside its borders. What’s more, most foreigners who visit Bali, Indonesia’s most popular destination for tourism, rarely venture past staples like nasi goreng, fried rice and satay meat skewers drenched in peanut sauce, taking most of their meals at hotels or the many Western restaurants populating the island.
Adding to the conundrum, in Bali “street food” is generally not sold on the street but rather in warungs – small family-owned restaurants that can be hard to find. Recommendations from locals, expats or Baliphiles like me who’ve visited the island dozens of times are key to finding the best warungs, as well as and more-modern Indonesian restaurants. Here’s a list of mine.
1. Bakso (build-your-own soup) at Bakso Rudi
As in many parts of Asia, there’s not much difference between what gets eaten for breakfast or lunch in Indonesia. My go-to lunch in Bali is bakso, a build-your-own soup featuring white meatballs made from chicken and tapioca flour; served with vermicelli, tofu, noodles, egg, mustard greens, wontons and crackers; and seasoned with soy sauce, chili sauce and sambal, homemade chili relish. My advice is to avoid the bakso handcarts you’ll see throughout the island for food-safety reasons. Instead, try Bakso Rudi in Canggu, the west-coast hipster haven of Bali, which serves 11 variations of soup for the equivalent of US$1–2 a bowl.
How to get it: Bakso Rudi is a casual spot, so you don’t need to book. It’s open daily from 11am until 9pm
2. Anthony Bourdain’s favorite pork at Ibu Oka
Rated by Anthony Bourdain as “the best pig I have ever had. Absolutely the best,” babi guling, Bali’s legendary spit-roasted suckling pig, is slow-cooked after midnight for 5 or 6 hours and eaten for breakfast and lunch. You can try it at the place Bourdain made famous, Ibu Oka in Ubud – though the most popular babi guling specialists are found in Munggu on the western fringes of Canggu. Locals prefer Babi Guling Slingsing Bu Suci in Cepaka village, a warung that also sells blood lawar, a red salad made with green beans, coconut and pig’s blood. Expats flock to squeaky-clean Babi Guling Men Lari on the Tanah Lot Bypass; try their minced pork satay sticks and their super-crunchy pork skin chips.
How to get it: Ibu Oka doesn’t stay open for long. It opens at 11am (though the butchers are usually at work on site from 6am) and then closes at 6pm or earlier when the pork sells out. It’s walk-ins – only so arrive early to secure the best cuts.
3. Steamed crab at Kempoeng Kepiting
Before you fly out of Bali, stop at Kampoeng Kepiting, or ”Crab Village” in Indonesian. Hidden in a mangrove forest under a highway overpass near the large roundabout leading to Bali’s international airport on Sunset Rd, this no-thrills warung is famous for steamed crab drizzled in sauces like sweet-and-sour, black-pepper-and-garlic, Padang curry or “secret mangrove.“ Paired with fluffy white rice, lunch here is filling – yet you mustn’t leave without tasting the crab-and-asparagus soup, a delicious seafood version of Chinese egg-drop chicken corn soup.
How to get it: Kempoeng Kepiting is open daily from 10am until 9pm. Bookings are encouraged via email to kampoengkepitingbali@gmail.com.
4. Everything at Kaum
Kevindra Soemantri, the restaurant critic from Jakarta who hosted the Indonesian episode of Netflix’s Street Food series, describes modern Indonesian food not as a fusion of Indonesian and Western styles, but rather “a fusion of many different Indonesian cuisines.”
My favorite dinner option is Kaum at the Potato Head Beach Club on Seminyak Beach. Here, chefs take traditional recipes from around the Indonesian archipelago and elevate them to the restaurant level: dishes like barramundi filet marinated with tamarind and turmeric paste, based on a North Sulawesi recipe; and babi genyol, or flabby pig, which captures the flavors of a babi guling but plates it in bite-size strips of pork cheeks dusted in dried shallots and chili.
How to get it: Kaum is open 7 days a week until from midday to midnight (food service ends at 10pm). Walk-ins are welcome, but you should book ahead to guarantee a seat.
5. Lobster bakso at Sangsaka Bali
Not far away in the backstreets of Seminyak is Sangsaka Bali, a modern Indonesian restaurant led by Keiren Morland, an Australian chef raised in Indonesia. Morland’s braised duck breast with red cabbage and star anise, and his quail satay with soy, peanuts and palm hearts, are outrageously good. Yet his lobster bakso with homemade vermicelli and Jakartan laksa noodle soup – an off-menu item that must be ordered a day in advance – is on another level yet.
How to get it: Sangsaka Bali is open seven days a week from 5:30 until 11pm. Reservations are essential, especially if you want that lobster.
6. Dishes you’ve likely “never seen or heard of before” at Home by Chef Wayan
For modern Indonesian cuisine that’s a little less pricey but just as good, try Home by Chef Wayan, a tidy little warung in Pererenan a bit further along from Seminyak on Bali’s west coast. Standout selections include rujak ikan, a fish salad with pomelo, cherry tomatoes and passion-fruit vinaigrette; ice roti, a warm cinnamon taco served with ice cream and vanilla crumble; and ledok nusa, a porridge traditionally made of cassava reinvented with sweet corn, tuna and brunoise potatoes. “The biggest challenge,” says Chef Wayan, “is trying to explain it to foreigners because the best dishes are things they have never seen or heard of before. Even locals aren’t used to modern Indonesian cuisine. They think it’s street food and because my restaurant looks quite humble, it perpetuates the misconception.”
How to get it: Home by Chef Wayan is open daily (except Tuesdays) from 11am until 10pm. Walk-ins are accepted but if you want to secure a seat, call ahead to make a reservation.
7. Creamy cups of coffee at Kopi Bali
Indonesia is the world’s third-biggest grower of coffee beans – yet until the Bali-led tourism boom that kicked off in the 1990s, consumption was limited to black coffee, most of it instant.
Trading since 1935, Kopi Bali on Gajah Mada St in the island’s little-visited capital of Denpasar is the oldest operating coffee shop on the island. The baristas there take their time, but they make incredibly creamy cups of coffee using in-house blends made from beans grown in the cool highlands of Bali.
How to get it: This late-night coffee spot opens from 9am until 11pm every day.
8. Espresso martinis (and coffee and cakes) at Seniman Coffee Studio
In Ubud, the spiritual, artistic and now cafe capital of Bali, is Seniman Coffee Studio, a bustling retail coffee destination that blends and roasts its own coffee and makes its own cakes, sweets and desserts, plus espresso martini cocktails with vodka, Kahlúa and espresso. Seniman also hosts coffee-making workshops, during which you can learn the intricacies of cupping, and how to manually brew coffee and create latte art. Coffee tourists may want to take home a copy of Bali Coffee: Origin’s New Wave, a coffee-table book about Indonesian coffee co-authored by Seniman’s Australian founder, sculptor Rodney Glick.
How to get it: Seniman Coffee Studio is open daily from 7:30am until 10pm. You’ll have to book ahead if you want to join the workshops.
