The Bali Eat List

Yes, yes, there are as many blogs and reviews about places to eat in Bali as there are places to eat in Bali, but mine makes for superior reading because I don’t gush about Ibu Ocha like a virgin about his first visit to the whorehouse.

Seriously though, ever since my trip to Bali, I’ve been trying to consolidate the places that we ate because a) they are really good places to eat and b) I’d like to keep the addresses some place handy because friends keep asking me for them.

So, without beating around the bush to cut to the mustard to get to the pit of the olive, here’s my list of places of good eating in Bali, in the format made famous by the famous Umami.

Bumbu Bali

Opened by a German, Bumbu Bali serves very good Balinese food that is pretty atas. They also have a hotel near the beach and a cooking school. Must-try: Balinese Ristafel, their ayam soto (very different from our local version) and their sate. Their braised pork (or is it beef?) is to die for. Prices are expensive for the Balinese but way cheaper than for what you get in Singapore.

Bumbu Bali is at Jl. Pratama – Tanjung Benoa, 132 Nusa Dua – Bali 80363 Indonesia, Tel. +62 361 774502, 772299

Warung Sanur

Forget Ibu Ocha, the haven for the turistes with mucho dinars. We asked our driver to bring us to a local favorite for Babi Guling and what we got was very good and very cheap Babi Guling with long queue of locals at Warung Sanur. For about S$3+ (this is the more expensive special large portion), you get a soft drink (my drink of choice in Bali is the famous Teh Botol), a rice plated with generous slice of Babi Guling, cracking crackling, homemade sausage, sate and a spicy soup made with chicken, pork and the stem of the banana tree. Basically, this was the best meal I had in Bali.

Warung Sanur is at Jalan By Pass Ngurah Rai, Sanur, Tel. +62 361 287 308.

The Dirty Duck Diner (Bebek Bengil)

The other Balinese (dish? food? cuisine?) thingy to have is the Deep-fried Duck. I have no idea why since it’s usually an emaciated carcass that’s a candidate for a poster against Bulimia and Jaundice. Anyway, The Dirty Duck Diner is a very touristy place but it not only does a good deep-fried duck, it does fantastic pork-ribs (I finished the slab of 12 ribs solo) as well as other Balinese food like Nasi Campur with the delicious Sambal Tomato Sauce). Again, prices are very expensive for a Balinese but cheap for Singaporeans. The huge spread (you see below) for 8 people cost just below S$100 or roughly, the price of a pizza and 4 drinks at the Four Seasons Bali. Reservations (way in advance) are required because The Dirty Duck Diner is very popular and there’s no parking in the very busy street. I’d recommend lunch and not dinner because it’s quite close to padi fields.

The Dirty Duck Diner is at Jln. Hanoman, Padang Tegal, Ubud, Bali, Tel. +62 361 975 489, reservations strongly recommended.

Murni’s Warung

I didn’t take photos because we didn’t manage to find time to eat here because we had to rush back for a BBQ. Supposedly, this place does a even better deep-fried duck than The Dirty Duck Diner and they also have Babi Guling. Prices are comparable to The Dirty Duck Diner. In fact we wanted to do a comparison but lacked the time. The restaurant overlooks a ravine, so go in the day time for the view of the river passing through the ravine.

Murni’s Warung is at Campuan, Ubud, Bali, Indonesia 80571, Tel. +62 361 975 233. It’s near the Monkey Forest (on the way to The Four Seasons Bali)

Mosaic

If there is a restaurant in Bali that warrants legitimate gushage, it would have to be Mosaic. This is Balinese Haute Cuisine, meaning you have to wear long pants to dine here. Every course is an expression of the Balinese terroir which is why Mosaic Bali is usually in the lists of top restaurants of the world. Every gourmand worth the title will have Mosaic on his list of places to eat in Bali. You should go too.

Mosaic is at Jl. Raya Sanggingan, Ubud, Gianyar – Bali 80571, Indonesia, Tel. +62 361 975 768

So there you have it, my Bali Eat List to put on your hit list. If you don’t have the time and need to prioritize, I would recommend: Mosaic, Warung Sanur and Bambu Bali in that order.

We ate at a lot of places but most are one-off-never-to-be-repeated places. In general, we’ve found that, with exception of Bambu Bali, the cheaper the place, the better the meal or you go really high-end. The middle ground, more often than not, will disppoint because the Experience Trinity of price, quality and service is low-yielding. But as always, go forth with an open mind and an open mouth and eat your way through.

Posted on 12th Feb 2009 in Balinese, Food and Drink, Makankaki

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There Are 4 Comments

Cowboy Caleb – The Bali Eat List commented on February 12, 2009 at 12:45 pm

[...] The Bali Eat List – quite a good list of eateries in Bali, but I may be biased because of the excellent photos. [...]

umami commented on February 13, 2009 at 5:49 am

I didn’t realise I had a format, thanks! The food looks damn good man, I must get to Bali one day.

ivan commented on February 13, 2009 at 10:58 am

@Umami: Your journal of eating-out with summaries of what you ate for the month/week is very fun to read and I’m discovering it’s very fun to write it too.

food.recentrunes.com | Looking back in hunger: a review of 2009 commented on January 1, 2010 at 4:13 am

[...] blog, after a year, finally released a list of places you might like to eat in Bali. Also, this year it was this blog’s turn to cook the Chinese [...]

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