Balinese food: dishes to know and where to eat them

Balinese cooking rests on rice, coconut, fresh spice pastes and, because most Balinese are Hindu, a great deal of pork. Many dishes began as ceremonial food and are now sold every day from warungs, the small family eateries found in every village. Some warungs cook only one dish, such as babi guling, bebek betutu or nasi campur.

Spice paste and sambal

Base genep is the Balinese spice mix behind many curries and vegetable dishes, and it also seasons chicken, fish and meat.

Sambal matah is a raw relish of shallot, garlic, chilli, lemongrass and lime, mixed with coconut oil. Two other popular sambals are sambal tomat, made with tomato and usually hotter than matah, and sambal terasi, made with fermented shrimp paste.

Dishes to know

Babi guling. A suckling pig stuffed with spices and cassava leaves, turned on a spit over a fire of dried coconut husks until the skin is brown and crisp. It was once mainly food for ceremonies such as house blessings and weddings and is now an everyday meal. A plate brings several parts of the pig: meat, crackling, sausage (urutan) and pork sate, with lawar, rice and a soup made from the bones.

Ayam betutu and bebek betutu. Chicken (ayam) or duck (bebek) coated in bumbu betutu, a paste of shallot, garlic, turmeric, ginger, galangal, candlenut, chilli and shrimp paste, then steamed or roasted. For bebek betutu the duck is stuffed with spices, wrapped in banana leaves and coconut husks and cooked in a pit of embers. Styles differ by region: Gilimanuk's is hot and spicy, Gianyar cooks it wrapped in plantain leaf, and Klungkung and Karangasem stuff the chicken with the spices. Plecing kangkung, fried peanuts or sambal come alongside.

Lawar. Chopped vegetables such as green beans and young jackfruit, mixed with grated coconut, spices and usually minced pork or chicken. Lawar merah (red) contains blood; lawar putih (white) does not. Lawar spoils quickly and is best eaten fresh, within about half a day, usually with rice and babi guling.

Sate lilit. Minced meat or fish mixed with grated coconut, thick coconut milk and spice paste, then wrapped around flat sticks of bamboo, sugar cane or lemongrass and grilled over charcoal. Lilit means to wrap. In Bali the usual fillings are pork and fish.

Nasi campur Bali. Rice surrounded by small portions of the day's dishes, for example shredded spiced chicken, sate lilit, lawar, vegetables, egg, peanuts and sambal. Street vendors wrap it in banana leaf. Nasi jinggo is sold along streets in the evening and at warungs in the morning.

Jukut ares. A soup of young banana stem (ares) simmered with chicken or duck bones until the broth is rich. It is served at ceremonies (yadnya) and eaten with rice, sate or betutu. Some babi guling warungs make it with pork ribs.

Sweets and jaje Bali

Jaje are Balinese traditional cakes. The soft ones, soaked in palm sugar syrup and grated coconut, are easiest to find at the early morning market (pasar subuh). Dry jaje keep longer and are given as souvenirs and used to complete ceremonies.

• Laklak: small green rice flour pancakes, coloured with suji or pandan leaf, cooked in a clay mould and topped with grated coconut and palm sugar syrup.
• Klepon (jaje klepon): glutinous rice balls with a piece of palm sugar inside that melts as they boil, rolled in grated coconut. The Gianyar version is filled with liquid palm sugar, so it is slightly elongated.
• Lupis, giling and pisang rai: triangular sticky rice, chewy coloured cakes and banana in a rice flour coating, all served with palm sugar syrup and coconut.
• Sumping: a Balinese nagasari, steamed in a wrapper with banana, jackfruit or squash.
• Bendu: a Jembrana cake filled with sweet coconut.
• Uli: steamed glutinous rice pounded smooth, often eaten with tape ketan.
• Cerorot: steamed inside a cone of young coconut leaf.

Coffee and drinks

Kopi Bali. Kopi tubruk, called kopi selem (black coffee) in Bali, is fine ground coffee mixed with boiling water in a glass, unfiltered, so the grounds settle at the bottom. Sugar is common.

Kintamani coffee. Arabica grown in the Kintamani highlands of Bangli regency at about 900 to 1,400 metres, often among citrus trees, with a soft citrus aroma. Farmers work in subak abian groups, a traditional farming system. In 2008 Kintamani Arabica became the first Indonesian product with a Geographical Indication certificate.

Arak. A traditional Balinese drink made from the sap (nira) of coconut, aren and lontar palms. Bali Governor Regulation 1 of 2020 governs arak together with tuak and brem: producers and distributors need permits, sale to minors is banned, and so is sale from street vendors and near temples, schools, government offices and health facilities. Arak is also used in ceremonies, and 29 January is Hari Arak Bali. Arak made from sugar falls outside the regulation. Deaths and serious illness have been caused in Indonesia by alcoholic drinks containing methanol, including drinks from licensed venues in tourist areas and counterfeit copies of known brands. Methanol cannot be tasted or smelled, even small amounts can kill, and anyone feeling ill after drinking needs urgent medical help.

Brem. Balinese rice wine, made by fermenting glutinous rice.

Festival food

The day before Galungan is Penampahan, when pigs are slaughtered across the island in the early hours. The meat becomes babi guling and lawar, and the blood is caught in an earthen vessel for red lawar. In Karangasem, megibung is a shared meal: six to eight people sit in a circle around one large tray of rice and side dishes and eat from it with the right hand, at weddings, tooth filing ceremonies, temple rites and village gatherings.

Pork, beef and halal food

In 2024, 86.40 percent of Bali's population was Hindu and 10.28 percent Muslim. Pork is central to Balinese Hindu cooking and appears in babi guling, sate babi, urutan and lawar, and red lawar contains blood. Hindu Balinese rarely or never eat beef.

• Reliably halal: Padang restaurants, run by Muslim Minangkabau people from West Sumatra, are the most dependable choice. Muslim-owned Javanese warungs serve nasi goreng, mie goreng, soto ayam and bakso; look for a halal logo at the entrance.
• Halal logos: BPJPH has been the government halal certifier since 2024, and its logo is a green stylised Arabic script. The older MUI logo, a green diamond with Arabic script, still appears, as MUI certificates stay valid during a transition period.
• Balinese food without pork: chicken versions of betutu, sate lilit and lawar exist, and a few Balinese warungs describe their food as no pork, no lard.
• Ask: whether the kitchen uses pork or alcohol, including in marinades and sauces.

Eating at a warung

• At a nasi campur warung, choose the rice first (some offer white, yellow or brown) and then point at the dishes in the counter. "Yang ini, tolong" means "this one, please".
• Some counters label each dish with a name and price; at others, ask.
• "Tidak pedas" means not spicy and "sedikit pedas" a little spicy. "Bungkus" means takeaway.
• Eat with the right hand.
• Payment comes at the end. Some warungs hand over a price card with the plate and collect after the meal. "Bon, tolong" asks for the bill.
• Bring cash: many warungs take no cards, though some do. A big plate rarely costs more than Rp 50,000 (2025). Tips are not expected at local warungs.

Where to eat

• Babi guling: Warung Babi Guling Pak Dobiel in Nusa Dua, also known as Warung Babi Guling Sari Dewi, serves babi guling plates and jukut ares with pork ribs.
• Ayam betutu: Ayam Betutu Men Tempeh in Gilimanuk, Jembrana, cooks ayam betutu with free-range chicken and is one of the sellers at the Gilimanuk betutu food centre on the former terminal site.
• Nasi campur with chicken: Nasi Ayam Kedewatan Ibu Mangku in Ubud serves rice with ayam betutu, sate lilit, lawar and sambal matah, and describes its menu as no pork, no lard.
• Nasi campur without pork: Warung Wardani in Denpasar serves nasi campur with shredded chicken, sate lilit, fried prawns, dendeng and sambal matah, and describes its food as no pork, no lard.
• Nasi campur by the beach: Made's Warung in Kuta began as a roadside stall in the 1960s and serves nasi campur.
• Point and choose: Warung Bu Mi in Canggu has a counter of dishes labelled with names and prices, and takes cash and cards.
• Fish: Warung Mak Beng in Sanur has served one set since 1941: rice, fish head soup, fried fish and sambal terasi, with the fish from the day's catch.
• Seafood on the sand: Menega Cafe sits on Muaya beach at the southern end of Jimbaran Bay and serves lobster, barracuda, red snapper, crab, king prawns and calamari.
• Kintamani coffee: Kintamani Coffee, Eco Bike Coffee in Kintamani has its own plantation, processing and roastery, and serves kopi tubruk among its coffees.