One More Day in
MallorcaBoats, calas, beach clubsLiveIbizaBoats, beach clubs, sunsetsSoonBaliBeach clubs, waterfallsHerePhuketThailand · islands, boats, nightsLiveBali · Food & the towns
Warungs first, then the places worth booking in Canggu, Seminyak and Uluwatu.
Food & the towns
Bali has an enormous amount of very good international food, and it is not what anybody remembers. The warung — a small family kitchen, often a few plastic chairs, usually one thing done properly — is where the island actually eats, and it is where we send people first.
Nasi campur is rice with a spread of whatever the kitchen has made that morning, and it is different in every warung and different every day. Point at what looks good. This is the single best-value meal on the island and it is not close.
Canggu does breakfast better than it does almost anything else, and it does it for a crowd that has been up since five surfing. It is a proper part of the day there rather than something you rush before the beach.
A produce and craft market that turns into a tourist one as the day goes on. Before about eight it is the former, and that is when to go. Haggling is expected and normal, and the first number is not the number.
The other side of eating in Bali: a beachfront table in Seminyak with the sun going into the sea. Not the best food on the island and not pretending to be, but the best seat.
The busiest proper warung in Canggu — a nasi campur buffet where you point at what you want and pay a fraction of what the café up the road charges for a smoothie bowl.
No booking, rammed at lunch, and not much English on the signs. That is rather the point. Go at half eleven or after two.
Modern Balinese from a Balinese chef with a Michelin background — the answer to "where do we eat serious Indonesian food" in an area otherwise full of Australian brunch. Balinese-owned, which in Canggu is rarer than it should be.
Wood-fired, dry-aged meat, and the big night out in Canggu that is not a beach club. The room is loud and good.
Expensive by Canggu standards and genuinely noisy. If you want a conversation, go early.
The flagship modern Indonesian restaurant on the island, in a striking bamboo-vaulted room on Petitenget. The one to book if you want a single proper dinner in Bali.
Lunch is the same kitchen for a good deal less money, which is the trick most people miss.
Beachfront Italian that has been there since the nineties and is the last of old Seminyak — upstairs, open-sided, straight out over the sand.
It takes few bookings and does not need to. Get there by five for a sunset table or you will not get one.
A local institution on the edge of Seminyak, always packed and mostly with Indonesians. Fried fish or chicken, rice, vegetables, and a sambal that will genuinely hurt you.
Ask for the sambal on the side unless you know what you are doing.
Twenty-five years old and still the Bukit surfers’ canteen. Cheap, cold beer, big plates, and everyone ends up there at some point in the evening.
Build-your-own nasi campur and the most genuinely local meal in Uluwatu — people describe it as eating at a friend’s house, which is about right.
Two practical notes. Carry some cash — warungs, market stalls, temple gates and beach parking are cash, and the further from Seminyak you get the more that is true. And Bali has an official tourist levy, paid once per visit; pay it on the government site with the address ending .go.id and nowhere else, because there are a great many lookalike sites charging more for the same thing.
Asked honestly, answered honestly.
A small family-run kitchen, often just a few tables, usually doing a handful of dishes properly. It is where most of the island eats and it is the best value food in Bali.
Nasi campur — rice with a spread of whatever that kitchen made that morning. It is different everywhere and different every day. Point at what looks good.
Before eight in the morning, when it is still a produce and craft market for local people. Later in the day it becomes a tourist market.
Yes, some. Warungs, market stalls, temple entrances and beach parking are cash, even though cards work fine in the bigger places in Seminyak and Canggu.
An official one-off charge for visitors. Pay it on the Indonesian government site — the address ends .go.id. There are many lookalike sites charging more for the same thing.
