From simple grab food to babi guling and by the beach. Bali never disappoints! Balie, the famous island for it’s beach and resort, I knew these would be the impressive ones, but I never knew the cuisine or food here would have a lasting effect on me as well. That is impressive and out of the blue. Surprisingly the food in bali is drastically different to the rest of the country, since the predominant religion here is hindu, the food are more pork dominated rather than beef, which suits me better. Every single meal I had was memorable and full of praises from me, even randomly ordered delivery ones was gobbled down with me wishing I had ordered a double portion. I have actually wanted to just include in my main sharing on Bali itself, but the meals I had were that good that they warrant a separate one.
Lets start with the cheapest food first. But disclaimer, cheap does not equal bad quality because all of the food I had were affordable and absolutely delicious. Grab Food is such a convenient way to get local food as well. Furthermore on our sightseeing days we were so shag after spending the whole day out that we do not want to head out for a meal. It is so affordable that for the two of us our order is only around 10 SGD. Furthermore we never did any research but simply chose one and try our luck. All of our orders are delicious. They usually took around 30 mins and ya bring along a recycle bag as they usually don’t come with any plastic bags and rather they will just hand you the boxes of food. Here are what we had, we got some local Ayam Penyet, Bebek Goreng, Nasi Goreng. All of them came nicely packed up to each individual sauce and all. One even packet the drink for us as well. I didn’t have pictures for them. Restaurant wise, I went to a couple as shown below.
Famous Naughty Nuri’s Ribs is another must try when you are in bali. I am sure this is up on almost all recommendations site. Known as the best ribs in town they have standards to upkeep. I was certainly caught blind when my grab pulled up and I saw how crowded they are as well as the queue waiting in front. Usually touristy places show their true colors when you dine there. The ambience is perfect with loud music blasting making it shine out in the night. We waited for a little while before being shown only to a side high top table. I love that the place had this cute little pigs out there as well.
We got the ribs, the butter fish as well as some snacks platter. The ribs is fork tender and well charred. Towards the side you are able to see the chef barbecuing them on the grill as well. The portion is huge as well with a whole slab. I am amazed by how tender and flavourful the meat is, it is also not overly slathered with BBQ sauce which I hate! While I expect America and ribs, you tell me bali and ribs, that was puzzling at first. But delicious in the end. The butterfish is also super delicious, fresh and flaky, seasoned just right. While the platter is the most underwhelming part of the meal and please avoid ordering it. I had a good meal here and wish everyone will enjoy too! The whole meal comes about 504,000 including drinks. The ribs cost 159K and the fish cost 95K.
Sisterfields Cafe is a famous brunch and cafe place over in Bali. It is located in the seminyak area and popular with touristy especially, being close to the awesome beach it is a great place for beachgoers. The ambience and vibes here is amazing. Tons of natural light, nice decor, a shining spot like the island. Super packed especially during lunch hour. It is open all day long from 7am to 10pm. While not cheap, it is a pretty cafe and nice for the instagramers peeps as well.
I got the Sticky Nam Jin Pork Belly which cost 130K and my friend got the pork Schnitty which cost 140K. Clearly, healthy is definitely not in our dictionary! In addition I also got a mango lime smoothie to cool down in this scorching heat. The dishes were alright, it might have just been a tat too heavy for me after being under the sun and I didn’t work out an appetite. The pork belly was tender and flavourful but the slaw and salad came up to be the item I prefered on my dish, the slaw with the tangy dressing is much better down the throat. I find the price to be too expensive and while pretty, the meal was ranked the last out of everything I had over here.
When in Bali, a special local speciality is Babi Guling which translate into the famous balinese suckling pig, fork tender pork and crispy skin is there for you. The most famous stall serving this is found near Ubud, the famous Warung Babi Guling Ibu Oka! It is the place to go and our driver immediately recognise it once we said it. Although we were warn that the standards have since drop and overpriced by our driver. We got the set which comes with a few of different parts of the babi guling with rice. It is alright, the pork is rather tasty and the skin is crispy. Although I kinda have too much of an expectation, the dish was just alright in all. My earlier grabfood dish taste so much better though as a matter of comparison.
Ultimo Italian Restaurant is another must go when you are in Bali, this is by far the most popular italian restaurant over there. This well received restaurant is located in Seminyak area and just a short stroll away from all the shops. It is open daily from 4pm to 1am. What I really love about this place is the ambience and vibes of the area, in addition to that, they also have such a huge varied menu! You can literally find anything that you might want, from antipasti to pasta as well as pizzas. The pricing here is also another reason why this place is so popular. I also heard that later in the evening there will also be a live band as well.
We got a ton of food to share after all we got plenty of quota after working out a volcano mountain earlier. Service started out with a bread platter after ordering. The breadstick is delicious! We got a pizza, a main each as well as a side of fries. The butterfish risoto I got is awesome as is my friend prawn linguine, check out the portion. We were so amazed by the number of prawns in it that we went to literally count each of them. You will never get this amount of ingredients over here in Singapore. Cost of the pasta? 12.50 SGD! Speechless! I got a house red as well to wine down the night and it was delicious. 5SGD? Order by the bottle please! The whole bill comes to 518K or around 50 bucks for the two of us.
La Plancha, a beachside restaurant as well as sorta a beach club is where we dine on our very last night. As in beachside, I meant it is right on the beach, right in front of where the waves crash on you and I meant that literally. We sat on these beanbags that they placed on the sand and we were right in front of the water as well as that extra SALTED EGG YOLK that I ordered! We were so close to the water and had an unblock view that we had to move a couple feet back later in the evening as the tide get higher. It is sure an experience to sip your beers, feast on the awesome food while you feel the sand and water between your toes. Milestone Checked! It is important that if you want to have such an awesome seat like mine to head here early, about 30 mins before sunset since the seats goes like hot cakes. These beanbags seats are on a first come first served basis as well. Just check out the pictures and view.
The menu is not too pricey in my opinion and the food is good. For such an ambience at this price, it is hard to beat. We got the ribs, roasted chicken, fried calameries as well as two drinks. Over ordered again but we still wipe it all of. The ribs was a huge disappointment but the roasted chicken is super good as is the calameries. I look like a kid being so excited over here. Sunset when bright, stars when dark, all accompanied with the smell of the sea and the sound of waves crashing. That should be the slogan. All senses is being use up here. This is how life should be. I had it all. With that, this is my food introduction to bali.
Seeing The World In Steps 