Makan Makan @ Bali

FOOD IN BALI
Most of the hotels and restaurants in Bali serves a variety of Indonesian and western delight such as fried rice and spaghetti. If you wish to try the real local food, you will have to go out to the streets and bazaars.

Some of the must try food when you are in Bali are bakso (meat balls noodle served with soup), babi guling (roast pork), bebek bengil (dirty duck). Some other food such as the satay and grilled corn from the street are very good too. Request the driver/tour guide to drive you to some of these famous local eateries.

Let me share some of the food I have frequented during my short stay in Bali.
BREAKFAST SERVED IN HOTELS
During my short stay in Bali, I have had the opportunity to experience stays at three different hotels. All these three hotels served toast with butter and jam on their menu. Some served pancakes and fried noodle but you can be sure they have toasts for breakfast. Tea or Coffee were served along with the breakfast.


My breakfast for the first morning in Bali, banana pancake in Hotel Bali Segara. They have a few option, but i went for this. I reckoned it was served with strawberry and coconut syrup. A little bit too sweet for my liking and the portion was too small!

On the 2nd day stay in Ubud, toast with jam and butter was served with tea.

Toast with jam and butter again....and tea. This was the 4th morning in Bali served by the restaurant in Hotel Grand Sinar Indah at Kuta.


I had an extra portion of fried noodle and fried rice with fried eggs. The fried noodle was good.

THE FAMOUS BEBEK BENGIL
This was on our must try list, the famous Bebek Bengil diner which serves the crispy duck. Bebek Bengil means Dirty Duck and it was the name of the diner instead of the name of the dish. I had the wrong perception that Dirty Duck was meant for the dish but it's not.

I had to say this was the best meal during my stay in Bali!

The signboard at the entrance bearing the name of the dirty duck diner.


The diner was designed by incorporating a lot of traditional balinese sculptures and outdoor greeneries such as paddy field and frangipani trees.


The paddy field was just next to the diner. Our table had a good view of this while we were enjoying our delicious meal.


A peak into the world of paddy field.


This salad was really good. Spinach in saffron sauce with a sprinkle of parmesan.

Duck breast with wine sauce. This was another very delicious dish.

This is my order, the crispy duck! Half a duck, steamed in Indonesian spices and deep fried for a crispy finish. Yummy~ Just found out that the bones can be eaten too since they were very crispy and brittle. Maybe next time I will try chowing down the bones too...


This was the vegetables served together with the crispy duck. I didn't try this cause it looks like some veges that I don't eat. I am not really a vege lover.

IBU OKA BABI GULING
Next, I am going to introduce the famous suckling pig. This was another must try on our list. The warung which serves the best babi guling is Ibu Oka and it is located in Ubud. I have seen this recommended on Anthony Bourdain's and several other travelling shows, and by some friends, so I was very eager to try this.


This is the sign, Babi Guling Ibu Oka.


An outlook of the warung. When we reached there, the place was empty as the food was not ready eventhough it clearly says "Open" with the sign on your right. Hence, we went to do some shopping nearby and came back about half an hour later.


Suckling pig ala Balinese style.


The eagerly anticipated meal. I was pretty hungry after all the shopping, so this ought to be really good.
The serving of the meal comes with big chunks of meat, a large piece of the crispy roasted pig skin, deep fried intestines, pork sausages, vegetables, carrot soup and steamed rice. And the spicy sauce on the pork servings made the dish better and doesn't taste too dry.

A closer look at the pork servings. The pork meat was good but i found the cripsy pig skin a bit too hard to chew. Anyway, I was hungry and chow, chow, chump, all went into my stomach except for the crispy skin. This was good but not the best pork meal. The siew yuk and char siew back here in Malaysia is much better!


Everyone was happily enjoying the meal. Look at Bird's hands, both hands funnily stretching out. Going for tissue and nuts at the same time? No idea what was he up to.

BAKSO
Delicious meatballs noodles served in soup. Another popular Indonesian delights served in warungs, and stalls out on the streets. Most bakso were made from beef but there were some which serves chicken bakso. I didn't have the chance to chow down any chicken bakso but the beef bakso was really good!


First try of bakso at the eatery inside the Garuda Wisnu Kencana Cultural Parl. The small portion was served with noodle and vermicelli noodle with beansprouts and green vege (sorry, my knowledge on green veges are fairly limited), and of course the main ingredients, the beef balls!
Taste like beehoon mee clear soup noodle served back home. The soup was fairly plain with a tinge of coriander leaves taste. But the meatballs really stood out and they were good.

Our driver, Ma-de brought us to this famous joint for bakso which was usually frequented by the local Balinese. Located in Denpasar, this little green shop known as Ayu Minantri I served very delicious bakso! Besides bakso, they also served Soto Ayam (sold out so no chance to try), Mie Ayam (fairly good) and Lontong (glutinuous rice similar to lemang served back home in Malaysia).


The best bakso in town! The vermicelli noodle was almost non-existence as there were only a few strands. But they were only playing second fiddle to the main ingredients here, the beef balls! Chillies, soya sauce and vinegar were available to spice up the bowl of bakso. I chose to add soya sauce and chillies to the broth, and it was simply delicious! yum yum!


The first bowl was so good, I've decided to go for another serving. So, I had a 2nd portion and this time I went for the bakso urat. The balls were really huge! At least twice the size of the normal beef balls! It taste slightly tougher than the normal beefballs as there were more beef veins mixed with the meats hence the name urat which means veins. Still it was very delicious!


GRILLED CORN
Deliciously grilled corn with honey and butter was another tasty delights found anywhere on the street of Bali. Some might be wary to try out the street food but I was told this grilled corn was really delicious.

I don't like corn but i trust my mates' taste in food. We will stop over for some of the grilled corns whenever we spotted a stall.

First time trying the grilled corn. The corn was freshly grilled over some red hot charcoals and honey and butter were added for the final touch. Voila and you have the perfect grilled corn. After trying this, the guys were hooked and was looking for more...


This grilled corn stall was in Tanah Lot.


Golden brownish grilled corn. A good and cheap snacks!


Thumbs up by the guys! Tried and tested!


OTHER FOOD
Blogging on some other food found in various warungs and eateries in Bali.


Special fried rice in a restaurant at the Bedugul bazaar. Surprisingly, this tasted as good as how it looked. The fried rice was served with a chicken wing and chicken satay topped with fried egg. A little spicy but it just made my meal a much better fare.


This was actually the first meal that we had in Bali, Nasi Padang. The food was a little salty but overall they were better than we expected. A very complete meal of meats and vege served with steamed rice.

Rojak ala Bali style. Some lontong, some veges, some crispy crispy stuff and some spicy nutty sauce in here. Oh..and a packet of fish cracker! I am good with this but some of my mates didn't really like this.


This is the lady preparing the rojak. This stall was found at the Kuta beach. There are many stalls selling various street food such as rojak, bakso and drinks along the beach.

Two local bottled drinks, Teh Botol and Fruit Tea. The Teh Botol was actually tea, and the fruit tea taste a bit sour and fruity. My vote went to Fruit Tea although the Teh Botol was not too bad.

End of entries for my Bali trip.

My others Balinese entries Glorious Bali Island - Part 1 and Part 2.