UBUD | Ubud, Bali, is located in an idlyic spot, surrounded by lush tropical rainforest, terraced rice paddies, and Hindu temples and shrines. Whether it’s an multi-course meal, a street food bite, or anything in between, this Ubud food guide will help you find the best spots in town for eating.
A centre of traditional crafts and dance, Ubud is a popular place for those looking for a quieter paced trip. Ubud is for those looking for a holiday focused on health, wellbeing, and mindfulness, with plenty of resorts focusing on this.
When it comes to food, there are plenty of places incorporating local and traditional herbs, teas, and ingredients into their menus. There’s also lots on offer for those wanting to try Balinese warung favourites like babi guling and nasi goreng.
In this Ubud Food Guide, updated as at August 2023, I’ll tell you the places to visit if you want to experience the best food and drink in Ubud.
I’ve placed the tips in alphabetical order, and they’re all worth checking out. Are any of your favourites listed below? Are there any places that you think should be on my Ubud food guide?
667 Seafood Ubud
One of my favourite places to eat in Ubud is 667 Seafood Ubud. It’s a simple, open-air outdoor street-side affair with an open kitchen. The menu is simple. An assortment of top quality, freshly caught local seafood, cooked over charcoal and on the woks. Things like fish, prawns, octopus, clams, mussels, and cuttlefish.
Exactly what’s on the menu at any given time is dependent on what’s fresh and good on the day. You can choose a few ways for your food to be cooked, depending on the item. Generally it’s “plain”, with a sweet and spicy Padang-style sauce, or fried.
Arteas
Arteas is a beautiful tea shop, with a retail section downstairs, and a relaxing cafe upstairs. On the menu, you’ll find some of the best teas from across Indonesia, and the world’s top tea producing countries. Teas are selected that showcase the tea traditions of the respective countries that they’re sourced from.
Each tea is brewed and prepared tableside, tea ceremony-style, with different brew and steeping times used and explained to allow visitors to experience the different subtleties and flavour profiles of each tea.
Babi Guling Gung Cung
Babi guling, aka Balinese spit-roasted suckling pig, is arguably Bali’s signature dish, and there’s a good reason for it. The flavoursome combination of tender, juicy meat; melt in your mouth fat; and crispy crackling is unbeatable.
Babi Guling Gung Cung serve some of the best babi guling in Ubud. The signature combo gets you a generous serve of meat, served with rice, sambal, and Indonesian salad. It’s one of the most affordable meals you’ll have in town, too.
Bebek Bengil
When a restaurant has a signature dish, it’s unsurprisingly a good idea to order it. At Bebek Bengil, this dish is their half deep fried duck, served with steamed rice, sambals, and veg. It’s been the best selling item since the restaurant opened in 1990, and for good reason.
The duck is wonderfully spiced. Tender meat combines with perfectly crispy skin and a layer of melt in your mouth fat below it. The sambal, which range from medium to very hot, serve to elevate each bite.
Cerita Manisan
If you’re looking for dining with a view, that doesn’t compromise on the food, you should check out Cerita Manisan. You’ll be treated to views of a a 350-year-old Javanese Joglo and beautifully restored mountain-side rice paddies. The food showcases Indonesian flavours and ingredients, in a modern way, with unique twists.
Indus
Another restaurant with a view that doesn’t compromise on the food is Indus. Offering spectacular views over the Tjampuhan valley and volcanic Mount Agung, Indus is a restaurant that focuses on Balinese-Indian dishes, with flourishes from the wider region.
Highlights include the slow cooked beef rendang; salted squid salad with avocado; and grilled eggplant with tofu, tomato sambal, and lime leaves.
Jungle Fish
If you’re looking for a relaxing drink with some quality Indonesian and international inspired snacks, Jungle Fish is the place for you. Part of the Chamung resort, but open to non-guests, Jungle Fish features and infinity pool surrounded by gardens, alongside a bar, with plenty of lounges, sofa, and sunbeds.
Room4Dessert
Room4Dessert is a dessert restaurant, with a focus on sustainability, and Balinese ingredients. Uniquely Indonesian ingredients and medicinal herbs feature prominently across the menu, which is big on flavours and minimal waste.
The tasting menu is split into three sections – savoury snacks, desserts, and petit fours. Dishes change with the seasons, and depending on what’s fresh and good at the markets at any given time.
Naughty Nuri’s
Naughty Nuri’s might be a well known chain these days, but it still appears on many Ubud food guides for good reason. The signature BBQ pork spare ribs are fantastic. They’re marinated in Balinese spices and glazed over charcoal with house BBQ sauce. Be sure to grab one of their famous margheritas, lauded by none other than Anthony Bourdain, back in the day.
Nusantara by Locavore
Sister restaurant to the Asia’s 50 Best awarded restaurant, Lovacore, Nusantara aims to showcase lesser known ingredients and regional dishes from across Indonesia’s 17,000 islands. There’s a focus not just on the food, but cultures behind the food, and a desire to protect what might otherwise be (and in some cases was thought to have been) lost over time.
Old Friends Coffee
Owned and operated by Made Sipil, who grew up on a coffee farm in Belantih, Bali, Old Friends Coffee is a great place for a cup of coffee in Ubud. Made produces, roasts, and brews the beans that he uses at Old Friends, with complete control over the bean-to-cup process. The result is delicious coffee, available in a variety of styles.
Prima Warung Pure Vegetarian
As the name suggests, Prima Warung Pure Vegetarian is a vegetarian restaurant named after the owners and chef, Prima. It’s vegetarian versions of homestyle Balinese dishes, made with love, using the best quality local produce. Be sure to try the nasi campur, and cap cay.
Reina Jungle
If you are looking for quality baked goods and pastries, made fresh on site each day, Reina Jungle is a great option. Hidden away in an unassuming jungle locale, the sourdough, croissants, cookies, and more are all quality.
RÜSTERS
RÜSTERS is a multi-function venue, operating as a coffee roastery and café, restaurant, bar, and pottery centre. Coffee is roasted and blended on site, and is some of the best in town. The menu is global inspired, made using top quality local produce, with a minimal-waste philosophy.
Ubud Raw
Ubud Raw was founded by Rolf Gibbs in 2014, when he created his first batch of raw chocolate using nothing but cacao and coconut. Today, Ubud Raw is one of the best places for raw chocolate in Ubud. Their chocolate is excellent, using the best ethically sourced organic Balinese cacao beans.
Grab a sample pack of all of the different flavours, which includes my favourites, mint and goji.
Warung Be Pasih Ubud
A great option for seafood focused Indonesian dishes, close to the popular Monkey Forest attraction, is Warung Be Pasih Ubud. The seafood is caught daily by the owner and his family so you know it’s fresh and tasty. There’s non-seafood dishes on the menu, but seafood is what they’re best at here. The pepes ikan (fish steamed in banana leaf) is excellent.
Have you been to Ubud before? What are your favourite things to eat there, and your favourite place to eat them? What would you add to this Ubud Food Guide?