Best Balinese Bites

Because I love spicy food and saving money, ninety percent of what I choose to eat is local, Balinese food.

As an added bonus, when I order at local warungs (family-owned, local restaurants), I get to utilize my broken Bahasa Indonesia language skills (or lack thereof).

Because of this, most of the first words I learned here have been foods and prices.

Here are some of what I consider the most delicious and widely available options that can be found in Bali, at quite low prices.

Bubur Ayam is a rice porridge. It’s often known as “chicken congee” in other parts of the Asian world. It is a warm, mildly soupy, salty porridge.

This dish is prepared with shredded chicken meat and condiments like fried shallots and sliced scallions. It may have a hardboiled egg or extra chicken broth added.

This is one of the first (and last) foods eaten by locals. In other words, it can be eaten suitably for babies or elderly because of the texture, softness and broth.

It has become a comfort food for me. Think chicken soup, but thin enough to drink, and tropical.

Black Sticky rice is one of the few sweet breakfasts available. The black rice has a nutty flavor. It’s served with a brown sugar sauce, dried coconut flakes, and sweet coconut cream.

A similar food that is sometimes available is black coconut pudding, made with almost the same ingredients but thicker.

Another common snack or meal is fried, battered bananas known as pisang goreng. Cooking bananas are used, and they are not as sweet as other, more common bananas.

These are great in a hurry and great with tea or coffee.

Banana or pineapple pancakes or crepes are a common option, especially in tourist areas.

Toasted coconut is often added. Occasionally, sweetened condensed milk might be added, but dry with toasted coconut is more common.

Serabi is a different type of pancake.

The Balinese version of serabi is made exclusively from rice flour and coconut milk and cooked over charcoal.

The edges get crispy while the center remains custardy.

It can be topped with tropical fruit jam, shredded coconut or sweet brown sugar syrup. It is delicious.

Nasi Goreng, probably the most famous Balinese food, is a stir-fried rice. Nasi goreng literally means fried rice.

It can be served for any meal. It’s frequently served with a fried egg for breakfast. It can also be made with seafood, various meats or vegetables.

Soto Ayam is a thick, hearty, chicken-based soup. It is really nothing like western chicken soup.

It is infused with turmeric, kaffir lime leaves, and is served over rice vermicelli noodles or broken rice cakes (sticky rice formed into cubes).

To this is added bean sprouts, fresh herbs like cilantro and scallion and a hardboiled egg.

Condiments include spicy sambal, kecap manis (a sweet, rich, thick, soy-based sauce) and fried shallots.

I have heard soto ayam is terrific for a hangover.

A very common noodle dish in Bali is known as Mie Goreng. This translates to fried noodles.

There is egg, seafood, chicken, pork, fish, or beef mie goreng.

It is made with bok choy, and other vegetables like water spinach, shallots, garlic and chili.

Mie goreng is often topped with spicy sambal and kecap manis.

After nasi goreng, this is probably the second most well-known, widely available meal.

Nasi Campur translates to mixed rice. It is seasoned rice with small portions of other local dishes. This can include fried or grilled vegetables, meats and sides.

Nasi campur options might include deep fried or grilled pork or chicken, grilled tuna, seasoned spinach, corn fritters, and whatever is available locally, really. It varies depending on location but is always delicious.

Babi Guling is one of Bali’s most famous dishes. It translates to spit-roasted pig.

Simply put, it is a suckling (baby) pig that is constantly rotated and cooked whole, typically over charcoal.

The pig is stuffed with a mixture of spices and roasted for several hours until the meat is juicy, and the outside is very crispy.

It is served with white rice, seasoned spinach and fried pork skin.

It is also commonly served with spicy Balinese lawar, which is typically made with chopped jackfruit, grated coconut, pig skin, meat, and spices.

Although babi guling is served to tourists daily, many locals reserve this for special occasions like temple ceremonies and weddings. It is a Balinese delicacy.

Sate Lilit is a type of satay. Lilit means “to wrap around”. Literally, the mixture is wrapped around a bamboo stick before being grilled.

Finely ground meat that can include fish, chicken, or pork, typically, will be mixed with grated coconut, Balinese spices and coconut milk to make a thick, sticky paste.

This paste is then wrapped around bamboo sticks or lemongrass stems (my personal favorite) and cooked on a grill.

These ingredients and style of cooking leave the dish with a smoky, nutty, spicy flavor that is unlike anything I’ve ever had.

It is often dipped in kecap manis or spicy sambal.

A popular way tourists sometimes have a meal served in Bali is a floating breakfast.

There are currently several resorts and hotels in Ubud, Bali that serve this.

Breakfast is served in a private pool floating on a raft made of reeds.

The raft will often be decorated with tropical flowers.

The flavors, sensations and scents make this type of breakfast quite memorable!

I have only begun to touch on some of Bali’s popular and delicious food choices.

There are so many more to explore like rendang, curry and martabak manis and martbak telor, but there is not enough time or space.

If you enjoy cooking and want to bring some of Bali’s flavors back home, there are numerous Balinese style cooking classes in Bali.

They are typically taught by locals who also speak English. They often include a trip to a local outdoor market (pasar) to buy the freshest ingredients.

This is a great way to take home the flavors that you enjoy in Bali long-term.

Overall, Balinese cuisine is filled with unique spice combinations and cooking methods available only in Indonesia, which is probably why there’s not a lot of Balinese restaurants around the world.

Most of the ingredients are very fresh and have short shelf lives so must be used quickly and efficiently.

That is both a pro and con of the cuisine.

That makes enjoying the food while you’re staying on the island that much more important and enjoyable!

Celeste A Vale, Bali

July 10, 2026