Chapter Nine
Eating & Drinking
What to order, and where the good stuff actually is
Reviewed August 2026 · Fees, forms and fines change. Ask us to confirm before you fly.
The best food in Bali is rarely the most expensive. A warung — a small family kitchen, often one room and a few plastic chairs — will nearly always beat the restaurant next door for a fraction of the price. The rule is simple: eat where it is busy. High turnover means the food has not been sitting, and busy with Indonesians is better still.
- Nasi campur
- The default lunch: a plate of rice with a spread of small portions around it. Point at what you want.
- Babi guling
- Balinese suckling pig, spit-roasted with turmeric and lemongrass. A Bali speciality, and not halal.
- Bebek betutu
- Duck packed with spice paste and slow-steamed for hours in banana leaf. Order it ahead where you can.
- Sate lilit
- Minced fish or chicken with coconut and lime leaf, moulded onto a lemongrass stick and grilled.
- Gado-gado & urap
- Vegetables with peanut sauce, and vegetables with grated spiced coconut. Both excellent, both usually vegetarian.
- Nasi / mie goreng
- Fried rice or fried noodles. The safe order everywhere, and often the best thing on the table.
- Martabak
- The great Indonesian night-market indulgence — a thick sweet pancake folded over chocolate, cheese or peanuts.
Practicalities
Pedas means spicy; sambal comes on the side and is hotter than it looks — try a little first. Vegetarians do well here, but check that a dish has no fish paste or shrimp paste in it: ask for it tanpa terasi. Balinese food is often pork-based while most Indonesian food is halal; if that matters either way, ask. Restaurants above warung level add tax and service to the printed price, usually around fifteen per cent between them, shown as ++ on the menu.
Coffee
Bali grows good arabica up in the highlands, and every plantation tour ends in a tasting. You will also be offered luwak coffee, the one processed through a civet. It is expensive, it is a curiosity rather than a great cup, and welfare standards at the places that keep caged civets are frequently poor. Nobody minds at all if you skip it.
Reviewed August 2026. This chapter carries figures that expire — fees, levies, fines and phone numbers. They were checked against current sources in August 2026, and the hedging in the copy above is deliberate. Message us and we will confirm what is current for your dates.