bali food

Why Bali dishes are special
They are distinct from dishes prepared elsewhere in Indonesia - and are considered by most international gourmets to be a cut above them.

Bali's four most famous specialties
Be sure to try these famous specialties:

• Babi Guling
  Spit-roasted, crispy skinned suckling pig
  
• Bebek Betutu
  Spiced duck slowly cooked in palm or banana leaves
  
• Lawar
  Minced innards mixed with chopped vegetables
  
• Bubuh Injin
  Black rice pudding (served with sweetened coconut cream)

In Bali, most home cooks use quality meats, fresh seafood and newly harvested fruits & vegetables seasoned with an intricate blend of herbs and spices. Hot chilies are liberally used (though visitors can easily request "mild" in eateries).

Balinese alcoholic beverages
Popular drinks
Native specialties:

• Tuak
  Sweet palm wine with low potency
  
• Brem
  Sweet non-distilled rice based drink with modest potency
  
• Arak
  Distilled rice based drink with strong potency

Imported spirits, wines, beers and soft drinks are expensive in Bali due to a hefty import tax. More affordable are the Indonesian made beers, soft drinks, wines (top seller is theHatten brand rose).

Balinese cuisine at the table
Most visitors sample few if any local meals because authentic Balinese is difficult to find in restaurants. The best way to enjoy the real thing is to be invited to dinner in a Balinese home or to attend a temple ceremony or festivity that serves Balinese fare.

If that's not in your cards, you can sometimes find Balinese meals in small roadside eateries called warungs. Or, for a plusher setting, dine at the tourist-focused Bumbu Bali restaurant (just north of Nusa Dua).

Although the atmospheric Ketupat restaurant ikuta specializes in Indonesia fare, it does offer some Balinese mainstays.

Other main cuisine in Bali
Indonesian
Preparations originating in Java, Sumatra and other parts of Indonesia are easier to find in the Bali restaurants that cater to tourists. Bargain prices usually prevail. Well-known specialties include:

• Satay (or Sate)
  Charcoal-grilled meat or prawns on mini-skewers.
  
• Gado Gado
  Fresh and parboiled vegetables tossed in a spicy peanut sauce.
  
• Nasi Goreng
  A fried rice mixture with finely chopped vegetables and either meat or prawns. For the sibling Mei Goreng dish, noodles are used instead of rice.

International cuisine
Many restaurants
You may be surprised about the large number of Thai, Chinese, Japanese and European restaurants in the tourist areas of Bali. There are even American fast-food eateries like McDonald's.

Balinese fruits
Succulent tropical fruits
Be sure to sample a wide variety of Bali's fruits including mangoes, papayas, snakefruits, rambutans and passion fruits. They can be eaten out of hand or blended into superb mixed-fruit drinks. Your favorite gourmet store back home may stock those fruits, but they will never be as fresh, ripe and tasty as in Bali.

Drinking water
Caution
Never drink tap water in Bali unless you're positive that that the hotel or restaurant purifies it. Otherwise, you could get sick. The same is true for drinking beverages containing ice cubes made with tap (instead of purified) water. Sealed bottled water bearing established brand names is safe, widely available and inexpensive in Bali.