Bali food culture is not about the smoothie bowls you see on Instagram, and the sooner you accept that, the sooner you will eat well.
I’m Indonesian, so I thought I knew what I was walking into. Bali still surprised me. Same country, same language, completely different rules at the table. Here is what I learnt, mostly by eating.
1. The warung is everything
A warung is a small, usually family-run eatery, and it is where Balinese actually eat. Plastic chairs, a glass cabinet of dishes, a fan doing its best. You point, they plate, you pay very little. The fancy places are lovely. The warung is where the flavour lives.
2. Eat with your hand
Cutlery is optional and slightly suspicious. Rice, sambal and lauk (the dishes that go with rice) are made to be mixed with your fingers. Right hand only, always. It tastes better this way, and I will not be taking questions.
3. Gojek life
Bali runs on Gojek. Rides, food delivery, groceries, the lot. Half the best meals I had arrived on the back of a scooter, still warm, for less than a Melbourne coffee.
4. Everything is spicy
Sambal matah, the raw shallot, lemongrass and chilli sambal, turns up on everything, and I mean everything. Then there is the base genep, Bali’s spice paste, quietly hiding in most dishes. If you ask for “not spicy”, you will get spicy. If you ask for spicy, good luck.
5. Everything is lilit
Sate lilit is minced meat or fish mixed with coconut and spices, wrapped around a lemongrass stalk and grilled. Once you notice it, you see it everywhere. Fish, chicken, pork, on every plate, at every ceremony. Bali loves a lilit.
6. Pork is common
Bali is majority Hindu, so pork is everywhere in a way it isn’t across most of Indonesia. Babi guling, the spit-roasted suckling pig with crackling and lawar, is the star. If you eat pork, this is the place.
7. WhatsApp for all
Want to book a table? WhatsApp. A driver? WhatsApp. A massage, a villa, a cake for tomorrow? WhatsApp. Nobody in Bali checks email. Everybody answers WhatsApp.
8. The best places are named after people
My golden rule. If the eatery is called Warung Bu Something or Babi Guling Pak Someone, go. A person’s name on the sign means a person’s reputation on the plate, and in my experience these are always the ones that taste the best.
Bali taught me that my own country still has rooms I haven’t walked into. I grew up eating with my hand and putting sambal on everything, yet here it all tasted new again. Next time you land in Bali, skip the brunch queue, find a warung with someone’s name above the door, and eat with your hand. You’ll understand.
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