Whenever I’m travelling, I always find myself planning where to eat almost as meticulously as where to go. In a recent trip to Bali, Indonesia, I found myself facing the same predicament. When choices are overflowing and you have restaurants everywhere you turn your head, how do you decide where to eat?
My basic rule of thumb is to go local. If it’s possible to find out where locals eat, go there. Here in Bali, it wasn’t a restaurant that stood out. It was a dish. Every local I spoke to urged me to try BABI GULING or roasted suckling pig.
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| The famous Babi Guling from Bali, Indonesia |
The island was littered with warungs or eateries that sold their own version. While in the Nusa Dua area, the locals pointed us to WARUNG BABI GULING DOBIL.
Watch the video below:
This place is obviously extremely popular. It was not even noon and the place was packed. There was also a long line of Grab Food drivers that were taking orders for those who didn’t want to brave the queue. I realized that it was a good idea to order from Grab Food so that you can eat in the comfort of your home or hotel where it’s not too hot or crowded. However, it was also nice to try the full authentic experience.
The BABI GULING is essentially a one dish meal that’s based around pork. While the rest of Indonesia is predominantly Muslim, Balinese people practice Hinduism. Hence, there are no issues here when it comes to consuming pork.
A cup of white steamed rice is piled high with roasted suckling pig meat and crispy skin. There’s also a pork satay and some seasoned, shredded pork. Vegetables come in the form of a green bean and coconut salad called urap. Some sambal is thrown in along with a crispy piece of pork crackling. There is also a rich bowl of pork bone soup that comes with the meal.
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| The set BABI GULING meal from Warung Babi Guling Dobil in Nusa Dua |
The dish is spicy even if you ask for the mild version. Be warned, Indonesians love spicy food! Always ask for the mild version even if you think you can handle heat. You can always add more sambal later.
Despite the heat, the flavors are still very complex. The flavors aren’t overpowered by the spice. The satay is sweet while the roasted pig is succulent, juicy and mildly flavored. Everything comes together despite having so many elements in one plate.
We washed down our Babi Guling with some TEH BOTOL or bottled iced tea. This is one of my favorite drinks in Indonesia. It’s very refreshing and not cloyingly sweet like many other bottled tea drinks.
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| Teh Botol Iced Tea |
Because we loved this dish so much, we decided to try it again at another place. I did some research and saw some joints that were mentioned in online articles. However, we decided to trust our driver to take us to the place that he deemed to be the best. Luckily, he didn’t disappoint.
Our best Babi Guling experience came at WARUNG BABI GULING CANDRA in Denpasar. The serving here was significantly more than the first one that we tried. Both places charged less than IDR50,000 for the full meal. CHEAP!
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| The Babi Guling at Warung Candra |
The rice had to be served in a different plate because there was already so much meat! They added two kinds of pork satay. One was the usual sweet pork chunks and the other was a minced meat satay. They also included a pork sausage aside from the roasted pork meat, skin and crackling. We were in pork heaven!
This time, we washed down our meal with SUSU SODA or condensed milk mixed with soda water. I know it sounds weird, but I swear it was amazing!
Watch the full video from WARUNG CANDRA here:
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