Experience Indonesia Culture By Eating In Bali Warung

Warung is one of the eatery places that are unique to Indonesian culture. Traditionally it’s a small neighbourhood shop. Sometimes they sell food, provisions, or other things. Growing up, I remember being given pocket money by my Appa to Jajan (buy snacks) in the Warung beside our house.

Bali Warungs

Warungs in Bali, the ones selling food, are still the same as they were years ago. They still sell traditional food, but many have been tweaked to cater to different types of customers.

You should put eating at the warungs on your Bali checklist, get a massage, visit the local art market in Ubud, and attend a cooking class to fully experience Balinese culture.

Warung Made

Warung Made is one of the most famous restaurants in Bali. They sell local Balinese and Western, Japanese, and Thai food.

The interior brings us back to 80s Indonesia. There are Indonesian Kerupuk (crackers) in big glass containers, batiks, paintings, and batik paintings. At the same time, it had more than ten shops inside the compound. It’s a bit absurd for something called a Warung to have an international bookstore inside it. But they do.

My go-to order here is Nasi Campur Special (special mixed rice). The mixed rice contains some nice gravy on the rice, veggies, chicken cooked with coconut, beef rendang, urap (the Indonesian version of vegetable salad), curry fish, chilli prawn, fried soybean, crackers, seafood skewer, and pickles.

There are many other fantastic dishes here. My tried and approved ones are tuna salad, fried grouper, ribs, and banana fritters.

The star of Warung Made is sambal Matah. Sambal Matah is another type of chilli-based condiment. It’s so delicious that I could eat it with only rice, and I have done it before. You can get Sambal Matah in many places in Bali. I have tried it in Warung Eropa, Bebek Bengil, and other restaurants, but nothing, I repeat. Nothing came close to the one at Warung Made. It’s worth a visit for its Sambal Matah alone.

Warung Eropa

Warung Eropa was a bit hard to find. Once we did,  all of us ordered the duck right away. Soon after, the fried duck and rice combo came with plenty of Sambals. We also ate and loved the perkedel jagung (sweet corn fritters) and the lemongrass wine.

Warung Mak Beng

This place is a bit out of the city. It took us close to an hour from Seminyak to reach, but it was WORTH IT. They only sell one set of meals: fried fish, fish soup and rice. It’s the best-fried fish I have ever had in my life. Don’t miss it while in Bali, especially if you love seafood.

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